Like I said, I've never been one who enjoyed doing extra work, especially dangerous ones like invading the most technologically advanced fortress in the city, guarded and owned by a paranoid mutant scientist. It generally goes against my morals, but something about going on a hunt with an old friend made me excited. Maybe I did miss the old days. Of course, the first thing we did was to tell the girls back at Alexei's place about the plan. Sara, understandably, decided to stay at the mansion and wait things out. Irina, on the other hand, wanted to join us, but she had a meeting with some rather important guests, and couldn't make it at all. Becca, as I expected, was giddy with anticipation about the prospect, and she immediately jumped at the idea of coming with us.

“Boss, you're not like, gonna stop me cause it's too dangerous or some shit? Saying some BS like how I'm a little girl, and that crap?” Becca said, after I gave her the ok.

I just shrugged and said, “You know the dangers, and you're an adult. Why would I stop you?”

“Exactly! Youth should have the chance to enjoy the hunt!” Alexei added.

“Fuck yeah! Do I get some kick ass weapons? Tell me that I get some kick ass weapons!”

“Well, I have some old stuff collecting dust in the basement. Let's see if there's something that fits you.”

“Sweet!” Becca exclaimed, “Boss, you fucking rock! Unless, like, you only got some rocks and shit in your basement, cause that would be less awesome.”

I chuckled and led Alexei and Becca to the car. After doing my best to calm my secretary down a little, the three of us took one of Alexei's many (expensive) rides back to my own place. When we got there, Becca all but bolted out like wild animal, and I had to hurriedly unlock the door. The second I did, Becca ran off inside, not caring that this was, afterall, not her place, and after a few open doors she found the stairs to the basement.

“Holy shit boss!” Becca shouted, her voice echoing from the basement, “You got like, machine guns and shit! I'm pretty sure everything is illegal though.”

“Uh, just be careful down there,” I answered, shouting back, “I havn't done any maintenance on those things for decades. Don't blame me if accidental you blow off your hands.”

I heard a loud clanking sound, followed by some shouts and obscenities before something intelligible finally came out, “Fuck, boss! Tell me that before hand!”

“My bad.” I said with a laugh as I went down the stairs.

When Becca saw me she lightly punched me in the shoulder, pouted, and went back exploring the mountains of boxes that littered the basement. I had a lot of useless junk that I collected over the years there, from more recently stuff like sub-machine guns and rifles to ancient crap that I got from my days wandering the globe when I first came to Earth. I wanted to get rid of most of the older stuff a few years back, but I got lazy half way through and decided to just stick everything in old cardboard boxes.

“Er, what the hell are half the things in here anyway?” Becca said, holding up a strange rod-like object.

“Actually,” I answered, “I not too sure. I just took stuff that looked interesting back in the day. I think that thing you're holding is an old blood ritual staff used by some high-priest. Or maybe it's just a piece of wood, honestly, I've no idea.”

“How about this thing?” She said, this time holding a weird glowing orb that looked like a mix between a crystal ball and a lava lamp.

“Either a channelling device used for mental magic, or a lump of pretty coloured glass.”

“And this?” This time Becca held on to a rectangular piece of metal, “This do anything magical?”

“No...” I answered, “I'm pretty sure that's just a paperweight I bought at a flea market. Not sure how that got in there, really.”

“So it's useless.” Becca said, tossing the thing aside. “Do you have anything that's, like, actually useful? All I see are thing-a-ma-jigs that don't do anything.”

“Hm, I think there's a few boxes over there with things that you can use.” I said, pointing to a bunch of boxes near the left corner of the room.

Becca jumped at the boxes and started to pull out one bladed weapon after another. She tested some out, passed on others entirely, and generally looked like she was having a good time. Alexei and I only stood there, amazed that someone can be so excited looking at outdated, pretty much worthless weaponry.

Becca sorted things out for a good half hour before she finally found something that caught her eye. She held a beautifully forged katana blade. The blade, created sometime in the early 16th century, was roughly 28 inches long, and should still be deadly sharp. Well, I'm only assuming all of this, because right now it's covered in old newspapers. I accidentally lost the old sheath when I used it as a paperweight a few years back.

If memory serves, that particular sword should be one of the greatest creations by the genius Muramasa Sengo, renowned for his madness and the cruel, violant nature of his weapons. The sword in Becca's hand was something that I picked up during my travels to Japan a few centuries back, and I went through quite a lot of work stealing that particular sword. The last possessed owner was on a blood frezy when I faced him, and he wasn't exactly sane enough for me to convince him to part with his weapon. In the end, I had to pry the weapon out of his cold, dead hands to get it. A lot of work just to have it sit in a box for the next few centuries.

“Holy shit boss! This thing's awesome!” Becca exclaimed, peeling the newspaper off the blade, “I want it!”

“Can you even use a sword, Becca?” I said, looking sceptically at Becca's slim build, “Swinging that thing around requires more energy then you might think.”

“Boss,” She replied, giving me that classic look of distant, “I'm not a couch potato. I can run 10K, and I've been playing tennis ever since I was 6. If I can swing a tennis racquet for 5 hours at a time without breaking a sweat, then I think that I can handle a stupid sword.”

I honestly didn't think that Becca was the type to do that kind of physical activity, but thinking about it now, it does make more sense. I mean, she must be doing something to maintain the insane amount of energy she radiates every time I see her.

“And I'm also pretty sure that particular sword drives people insane, Becca, so...”

“Oh, don't worry about it, the old Japanese dude already said that it's fine.”

“What old Japanese dude?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh, the one standing right next to you? Duh?” Becca answered, looking as if I was an idiot, before a look of revelation appeared on her face, “Oh wait, uh, he says that you guys can't see him, something about projecting an image into my brain... And uh, he says he's the dude- I mean, he's the spirit that lives inside the sword.”

“Wait,” I said, “you can see the spirit of the sword?”

“I'm pretty sure I can, boss. He looks like this really old fashioned Japanese dude, wearing some kind of robe thing. All mean looking. Yup, pretty sure he's there.” Becca said, before pausing briefly, “He says it's not a robe, it's a... yukata or something? Whatever, it looks like a damn robe, so I'm calling it a fucking robe.”

“Interesting, Mark,” Alexei said, cuting in, “if I'm not mistaken, it appears that the sword has chosen its new master, no?”

“Yup!” Becca exclaimed, “Swordie here says I'm in charge now!”

Becca paused again, looking a bit annoyed, before saying, “I know what your name is, you damn sword! It just has too many fucking syllable, so I'm calling you Swordie! See, much nicer than something like Muramasa or whatever.”

She paused again, “I also don't care if you're a katana, your a long piece of metal with a pointy bit, and a sharp bit, so by definition you're a fucking sword! Who cares about what type of sword you are?”

“That's right,” Becca added after a much shorter pause, accompanied by a look of triumph on her face, “I do win!”

Alexei and I were a little taken back by seeing Becca argue with the feared katana known for devouring the souls and minds of many fierce warriors. I couldn't even imagine why it would choose Becca of all people to be its master, and I also couldn't help but ask.

“Uh, Swordie says that it doesn't want to be in a cardboard box for it rest of eternity,” Becca translated when I asked that question, “and it thinks that I'm a better owner than you will ever be. Ouch, boss, seems like Swordie here doesn't like you much, but don't worry, you're still number one in my books!”

“Wow...” I muttered, “it's standards sure has dropped.”

“Hey!” Becca exclaimed, before giving me a friendly poke to the side, “What's that supposed to mean! Swordie says I have a lot of potential!”

I just gave a look of confusion at that final remark. Unless the sword really has lowered its standards over the past years, which I doubt since its yet to choose a true master ever since its forging, then Becca really does have talent for the weapon. This would normally be a good thing, but previous owners of Muramasa blades have all but crazed killers and psychopaths with a thing or two for bloodshed and genocides. I can only hope that Becca doesn't go down that path, or at the very least, she does it without making too much trouble for me. Cleaning up for mass murderers is a massive chore, trust me.

“Ok,” Becca continued, this time addressing her sword, “So, like, what else can you do?”

She paused for another moment, before staring at something in the distance with a look of shock or wonder. It was hard to tell. However, that expression quickly turned into one that I see on Lilith a lot. Becca's gaze also lowered a bit, and her face quickly brightened a few notches.

“So uh...” Becca said, stumbling, “If you can project that into my head, can you also make it so that I, uh, so that I can touch it?”

“Becca...” I said as a warning, not wanting whatever it was she was fantasising to continue.

The girl cleared her throat, looked at me with embarrassment, and quickly tried to hide her emotions from me.

“Right. Anyway boss...” She said, after finally gaining her composure, “Can I keep it?”

I said with a heavy sigh, “I guess so. Just be careful with the damn thing.” The responsible part of me is telling me that giving a bloodthirsty sword to an immature girl like Becca would not be the best idea in the world, but I never did listen to the responsible part of me. I'm just amazed its still alive.

“Fuck yeah!” Becca exclaimed as she gave me a big hug, before running off to test out the weapon. “Like I said, you're the best, boss! Swordie says he's got a lot of shit to teach me, so I'll be borrowing your backyard for a bit. Thanks again, and I'll be careful!”

With that she all but jumped up the stairs and, presumably, headed straight to the backyard. I just sighed again, and started to clean up the mess that Becca made. After Becca was out of earshot, Alexei burst out in a booming laugh.

“That girl never fails to impress me!” He said between bouts of laughter. “The legendary masterpiece of the mad Muramasa, owned by a girl who is barely out of her teenage years! It is a good time to be alive, yes?”

“I just wish I had your sense of humour, Alexei.” I muttered, imagining all the effort that I will inevitably endure because of Becca, “You're not going to be the one cleaning up after her if she decides to go on killing rampage.”

“Sometime tells me that she will not have that problem, my friend.”

“And I also wish I had your optimism.”

“Anyway, Mark.” Alexei answered, ignoring my last remark, “We had best make sure that Becca has not destroyed your yard!”

Good point. If that stupid sword was going to teach her anything, it's probably going to involve cutting things. I also wouldn't want my next door neighbour calling the cops when he sees a crazed girl swinging around a bladed weapon. I just hope they think it's a fake, although I'm pretty sure that even those are illegal.

Alexei and I made out way to the my modest backyard, and was surprised to see that Becca had not sliced apart all of my hedges and the wooden fences that surrounded the field. In fact, when I arrived, she seemed to be in trance like state. Becca was sitting down on the grass, the sword impaled on the ground in front of her, her eyes where closed and the her face was unmoving; tranquil. Her chest rose up and down to the pulse of her calm breaths, and with the soft wind blowing her multicoloured hair, she actually looked like a master swordswoman. She was stunning. Alexei and I just stood there for a good while, admiring the scene.

I hadn't realized how long we were standing there for, lost in Becca's meditation, but when she finally sturred from her trance, the sun had set and the evening breeze was upon us. If she hadn't moved, I think that Alexei and I would never have left.

But Becca did get up, and after brushing some dirt off her skirt, she let out a huge breath of air, and said in a cheery voice, “That was fucking awesome!”

“Good to see you back, Becca!” Alexei said.

“Oh, uh, hi. Didn't see you guys there.” Becca answered, before looking around and realizing that it was already dark, “Uh, how long was I out for?”

“No idea.” I answered.

“Wait... Uh, Swordie said that it's been about six and a half hours. Damn, that didn't feel like it was that long.” Becca said, before pausing a bit, and addressing her sword again, “Oh, so meditation or whatever you call it is supposed to feel like that, huh. Well, beats sleeping I guess.”

“You should probably come in.” I said, realizing for the first time that everyone was outside in the chilly Autumn night for that long.

“Right. I'm starving, boss. You got anything to eat?”

“I'll fire up the grill.” I answered, “There's beer and coke in the fridge, feel free to take them.”

“Sweet!” Becca exclaimed. She tossed her sword to the side, bolted to the kitchen, grabbed a can of coke from the fridge and plummeted into one of my lawn chairs. She really does know how to make herself at home. Alexei followed her, and after grabbing a bottle of beer for himself, he took a seat beside her, and their chatter quickly drowned out all the background noise.

Alexei did offer to help me cook, but I declined, thinking that Becca would be bored just sitting there. So after firing up the old gas grill, I made some burgers and hot dogs, and for the rest of the night, the three of us ate, and chatted about a whole lot of nothing. It's times like these that I'm glad that I came to the human world.

* * *

When the clock turned twelve, and the new day dawned, I took the now thoroughly drunk Alexei to the guest bedroom upstairs, and laid him down. With his constitution, I knew that he would be perfectly fine the next day, so I wasn't really concerned. I went back down stairs, and found Becca snuggling up on the living room couch, the lights out save for the flashing colours of the TV.

“Hey, Becca.” I said, sitting on the couch myself, “Why arn't you going to bed? We have a big day tomorrow.”

Becca noticed my presence, and schooched closer to me. She naturally rested her body on my shoulder, seeming more relaxed.

“I'm not sleepy.” She answered in a whisper, “I got a lot on my mind.”

“You know you don't have to go if you don't want to.” I answered, afraid that I was pressuring her into something she's not comfortable with, “You can stay here if you want.”

“It's not that,” she answered, moving even closer to me, “I've been thinking about the last couple of days.”

“Ah, it must have been a shock, huh. Finding out your boss is a Demon, being chased by thralls and Angels. Sorry about that.”

Becca let out a cute little chuckle, and said, “That's not it, boss. I'm not regretting anything. It's actually been the best few days of my life. Meeting Alexei and Irina, running around town, eating fancy food. You know, nothing interesting ever happened before I met you, boss.”

“Really?” I asked, resting my hand over her shoulder and pulling her closer, “You seemed like you were the type of girl to have a lot of fun when I first met you.”

“You still remember that, huh?”

“Wouldn't forget it for the world, Becca.” I said, smiling, “That was definitely the most interesting interview I ever had, especially after you slapped the guy that went before you, and gave the poor kid the finger.”

Becca laughed, and said, “He deserved it, though.”

“I'm not too sure about that. Well, maybe he deserved it a little.”

“He was totally eyeing me up, boss.” Becca said, pouting, “I could have been raped.”

“Do you even remember what you wore that day?”

“Not really.”

“You had a skirt that rode up way past your thighs. Every time you moved we could see your underwear. Your V neck shirt was pretty much transparent as well. Even I was 'eyeing you up', as you called it.”

“Pervert.” She muttered, giving me a friendly shove.

“Guilty.” I answered with a chuckle, before shoving her back.

We both laughed, and after a while, the conversation naturally died down. The two of us enjoyed the late night TV programme together for a while. It was an old re-run of a popular cartoon, one that I've seen dozens of times already, but watching those same scenes with someone beside me was nice. I allowed those monotonous flashes of the TV screen to drown my conscious, and enjoyed the warmth radiating from the little multicoloured girl by my side, and I imagined that Becca was doing the same. I don't know how long we just sat there, watching the mesmerizing lights of that TV.

“I'm surprised you still gave me a chance, after all that.” Becca said softly, continuing the conversation as if there was never a pause at all.

I smiled, thinking back on those days, and whispered, “You should have seen the other candidates.”

“Worse than me?”

“Well, they certainly didn't have your charm.”

“So definitely not worse than me.” She replied, smiling a charming smile.

We fell back into a peaceful silence. A comfortable silence... A long silence.

“You know,” she continued weakly, her gazed fixed hazily on the TV screen, “I think I was even trying to make myself look bad back then.”

“Why would you do that?” I answered, half asleep.

Becca shrugged, and said, “Cause no one likes me either way. I thought I might as well just be myself for once. I was fired from my last job within the hour.”

“You seem to get along well with Alexei and Irina though.” I said, half muttering from drowsiness, “And don't let Sara know I told you, but she likes you as well, in her own way. As for me? Well, I wouldn't have hired you if I hated you.”

“I know.” She answered, her voice barely above a whisper, “And sometimes I still don't believe it. Sometimes I think this is all a dream, and when I wake up I'll be back in my shitty old life, with the same shitty parents who don't love me, and the same shitty friends who are only there hoping for a chance to fuck me. I'm afraid that I'll go back to that life, boss. That's why I believed that you were a demon so easily, cause I was willing to believe in anything. I just wanted to get away from it all. I just don't want this to end. I don't want you to leave.”

I placed by hands on Becca's head, and stroked her soft hair. I could feel her body tremble.

“I'm not going anywhere, Becca.” I said, closing my eyes, “I'm not going anywhere.”

“Thanks, boss.” She muttered, sleep clearly taking over her now.

“Come on, off to bed with you.” I answered, kissing her on the cheeks one last time before I broke off our embrace, “I'll see you in the morning. I promise.”

Becca mumbled something, and reluctantly grabbed her sword from the side of the couch before she started to make her way towards the downstairs guest bedroom. When she made it just past the hallway, she turned back toward me one last time.

She gave me a warm look, and said, “Next time, boss, kiss me properly.”