Polo, the mighty Girlehkins and their army of gherkins.

"I'm a Shinigami." He replied quickly, looking at her for a moment before gasping with pain and clapping his hand to his forehead again. "And I'm not supposed to tell you that... Just get rid of me, quickly. Hide... Somewhere... Just get... Very far away." He stuttered haltingly, trying to force the words out through a haze of pain. He wasn't sane... He could barely cling to what little sanity he had left. He had to get away. Quickly. Before he lost control... Before he hurt somebody. Suddenly, Kougu felt a spiral of dizziness threatening to engulf him. "Quick!" He gasped desperately. "The way out..." His eyes glazed over for a moment, then he shook his head, clinging to his consciousness with the grip of a dead man. He just didn't trust himself... He couldn't.

"Thanks!" Kougu gasped, flinging himself at the door. He crashed hard into the doorframe, then vanished, using his shunpo to reappear at the front door. He flung it open and forced his way through, then ran with the fastest shunpo he could muster. He neither knew nor cared where he was going... He just knew that he had to get far, far away... He forced himself not to think, struggling to get a grip on himself. He hated himself for losing control, yet there was nothing he could do. Nothing at all. Just keep running - faster than the speed of light. Kougu lost track of how long he kept running, yet when he finally couldn't run any more, he found himself in some sort of forest, deep, deep within it. He had no memory of having entered it, but then again, everything had just been a blur... Kougu fell to his knees, heaving a sigh of relief as he realised he was completely back in control. It always happened when he overused his Kidou... More so with healing than defending and attacking... But he couldn't think about that. He had to shut his mind, forget it... Kougu dropped his hand to his pocket, resting it reassuringly against the dagger before dropping onto his back on the carpet of dry leaves. It was a comfortable enough place to spend the night...

Kougu folded his arms behind his head, staring dreamily up at the leafy canpoy that just blocked the stars from his sight. Kougu grabbed the knife from his pocket and twirled it around in his hand, lovingly caressing the engravings along the blade. Each time his fingers stroked over them the would glow with a pale silver light, then fade into shadows once more, reacting to the reiatsu emanating from him. Kougu sighed, sliding his hands over his face before running them through his dark hair in a weary gesture. He was always getting himself into such troublesome situations... He should have heeded the warnings of his captain... He should have stayed away from all living creatures. Souls were his only concern... Souls? He sensed some nearby, only he hadn't though of it until now. Recent appearances... Kougu clambered wearily to his feet, stumbling instinctively forward as he searched for the souls. He had to perform konsoh before Hollow appeared... It would be easiser if he wasn't so exhausted he could barely stand. As though on cue, Kougu fell to his knees. He showed no annoyance, simply a dull acceptance as he climbed patiently to his feet again, dragging them over the ground as he forced himself on.

Kougu walked onward, gradually gaining strength until the spring returned to his step. Eventually he reached the edge of the trees. He paused a moment, then used his shunpo to flash to a location a short distance away. He spun the dagger around, then tapped the end of the handle against each of the souls' foreheads. He ignored their terrified expressions and fearful questions. It had nothing to do with him... Plus, he was, as usual, distracted. Kougu's dark eyes were locked on the horizon, watching as the sun began its gradual ascent. His dagger was held limply in his hand. All his defences were lowered. He was an easy target... Yet if he was aware of this at all, he seemed not to care in the slightest. It seemed as though there was nothing more important in the world than watching as the sun slowly began to rise, its bright light searing his retinas.

Kougu was knocked to the ground, the breath knocked out of him. He clutched his dagger in his hand, refusing to be parted from it, yet he made no move to use it. He stared up at the wolf, his face showing no emotion. "You're that same wolf from before." He informed it, clearly making a statement rather than asking a question. "Can I help you?" He asked politely, seemingly unconcerned regarding the vicious fangs snapping so close to his face, or the putrid scent of blood that the beast's breath brought to his nostrils. Kougu lay still, completely relaxed under the wolf's weight. He refused to hurt the creature. It was living. He did not hurt the living, for they were not part of his world... Yet he was part of theirs. He had a body... An existence... His situation was a strange one, but not was not the time to think about it. He had a dangerous situation on his hands... All the same, Kougu felt his attention wandering he turned his head as a butterfly fluttered past, watching it's progress with dreamy eyes.

Kougu attempted to shrug, but found that he couldn't accomplish this wih the fangs sunk into his shoulder. He showed no hint of pain, fear or anger. He simply lay there, completely relaxed. "I haven't seen her since I left her place, and I didn't shoot at her. I don't have a gun. I'm sure she'sl alright - she seems strong..." Kougu trailed off thoughtfully, staring off into space for a moment before turning his eyes back to the wolf, though he could not meet its eyes when its jaw was clamped around his shoulder. "I'll help you look if you like." He offered placidly, attempting a slight smile.

Kougu pushed himself into a sitting position, his left arm dangling uselessly by his side. "I don't say 'booyah'." He reflected thoughtfully, poking his injured arm with the dagger as though to amuse hiself. Indeed it did seem to amuse him, for he chuckled slightly before speaking again, this time talking directly to the wolf as opposed to himself. "I'll help search in a minute, just let me fix this." He began, tilting his head sideways to gesture toward the arm. "You really got in deep... Ripped up all the muscles..." He informed the wolf wonderingly, poking the arm again before forcing himself to focus. He slipped the dagger back into its holder, mumbled something incoherent, and set about healing his bleeding shoulder. After a few minutes he was able to feel his fingers again. He flexed them experimentally, pursing his lips thoughtfully and redoubling his efforts as white-hot pain shot up his arm. He was somewhat surprized that this creature had believed his words... He had thought that the situation might get tricky. Who'd have guessed that such a creature could be so trusting? Kougu certainly hadn't... His actions had made it seem that he thought of everybody to be guilty until proven innocent...

He rotated his shoulders a few times then got to his feet. “Where would you like me to search?” He asked pleasantly, glancing around eagerly. He hadn’t had many challenges lately, only low-level Hollow, and he was eager for some sort of mission. Plus, he was looking forward to seeing the girl again. They had nit even exchanged names before… There hadn’t been time, because he had left so suddenly… Wait… Why had he left? How did he know her? Ah yes, the gunshot. But why had he been in her house…? And why had he left? Kougu shrugged off the thoughts, assuming it didn’t matter. His memory was dreadful, he had long since embraced that fact.

Kougu nodded, turning to flash off in the other direction with a short step of shunpo.Next thing he knew something furry collided with the back of his legs and he was falling, then... What? Moving, but not running? He glanced down to see the wolf beneath him,giving a faint chuckle. He braced his right arm against it and vaulted off, hitting the ground running beside it. He kept his hand resting lightly on its back, his touch so gentle that it was hard to imagine his long-fingers hands every successfully wielding any sort of weapon. Kougu kept beside the wolf, hough his mind wandered elsewhere. He should go back and let the other wolf know he had found her, for there was no doubt in his mind that this wolf was the same girl from before. He could sense it. At the same time, he was quite content to run beside her... Ah, well. Thinking was tiring. He could do that later.

Kougu frowned slightly in confusion, Watching her as she licked his hand, then progressed to his shoulder. The wounds were well healed, yet it seemed she was easily able to detect them? He thought about this for a moment, finally coming to the conclusion that the blood staining his clothes was pretty much a dead giveaway. Lost in thought, Kougu stared mindlessly into nothingness, his mind far from the real world and his body somewhat empty without it. He was shocked out of this stupour completely when he felt her tongue brush across his cheek. His face creased into a confused frown again as he reached up a hand to touch the spot. He hadn't been injured there.... Why, then...? That had been strange. Strange and unexpected... He wasn't sure how to react... He glanced briefly a her, his confusion clear on his face. Then his thoughts began to stray again and the creases left his face as his eyes slid out of focus again. Why had she done that? He couldn't work it out...? More than that, why had it had such a large effect on him? He didn't even understand his own reaction... Suddenly, Kougu was jerked out of his stupour by the sound of the girl giggling. He felt a smile curve his lips, a natural smile, not his usual forced one... He didn't waste another moment thinking, but broke into a run and kept pace easily with her.

Kougu gave a faint chuckle, reaching up impulsively to brush his hand across her face. His smile stayed on his face and for once he found it easy to maintain, for it sat there naturally, without him even having to think about it. He gazed at her for a moment, then glanced down awkwardly when he realised he was staring. He tended to do that alarmingly often... And drifting off in thought. They were bad habits, he ought to- But wait... Wasn't he drifting off right now? He was... Kougu turned his attention back into the situation at hand, his eyes sliding into focus again. "Who are you?" He asked softly, his words barely above a whisper. He didn't even know her... Not even her name... Yet he felt closer to her than anybody else he had met in the living world. He supposed that made perfect sense... Nobody else had been nice to him. He hadn't minded much, but he couldn't deny it felt good not to be hated for once...

"Uh..." Kougu hesitated, suddenly reluctant. He didn't want to give his name... That name... He hated it. He hardly ever felt hatred, but his name was truly something he despised. For once, Kougu found that he could not decide which would be better: A lie or the truth... The smile had vanished from his face by now, and his dark eyes were locked on the ground. "I, uh..." He began again. He cleared his throat, then tried one more time. "I-" He sighed softly, then reached up a hand to scratch his head and gave an awkward forced laugh. "So... Simple Failure? That's an... Unusual name." Kougu attempted to change the subject, scratching his head awkwardly as he avoided eye contact.

Kougu felt her hand, warm against his cold cheek. He reached up to touch it, then slowly pushed it away, meeting her eyes with his dark, intense gaze. "There's no such thing as failure. The only people who fail are those who stop trying!" Kougu's voice was strong, passionate and emotive, so different from the way he usually spoke. He seemed to realise this, for he clenched his jaw, but he refused to drop her gaze. It was important that she understood... That she didnt doubt herself... He didn't know why, he just knew that it was... "You've had a hard life." Kougu said softly, stepping closer to her and placing his hand gently on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." He murmured softly, his dark eyes brimming with some half-hidden emotion. He didn't know why all this had hit him so hard... Besides that, what the hell was he doing, talking to a living person? No... Not just talking. Comforting her, his hand on her shoulder... If anybody found out... But why would they? Only one person knew he had come to the living world this time - the rest thought him dead. Kougu quickly dismissed the bitter thoughts, not willing to allow them to show on his pale face.