I had the urge to write earlier today, so i started writing something but uh... i lost inspiration about halfway ahahaha. 8D; And it shows. )x
Also, i feel as though this idea is too similar to my other story 'Silent Heart' (which i wrote when i was a n00b LOLOL-shot- Okay sorry, i'm very bored at the moment so don't be frightened of Twi. ): ), but ah well. Call it... a revision. 8D

Nyuu my obsession for drawing has taken away a lot of inspiration to write it seems. x3x Oh well. I enjoy it more anyway. Hope you enjoy this... oneshot thing.

Yeah. Nothing else to say other than n00b fanfiction scares me, but y'all have heard that before so i'mma shut up now.

-flutters off-

Disclaimer: I do not own Gash Bell, it is property of Makoto Raiku.

Compile

The pen stroked across the page, marking down the neat handwriting in a delicate manner, each stroke made creating a letter, soon a word, a sentence, and then an entire paragraph as deep thoughts continued to flow into something tangible. As the ink began to cover the paper in the form of writing, it drew to the bottom edge of the page and the woman writing flipped over to the next side, only to continue her work.

Sherry leaned against the back of her chair, briefly stretching her arms before resuming her previous actions: writing down the events of the past few days in the book she contained. Its front cover was simple, nothing particularly interesting to look at, only being a deep crimson with her name printed in gold at the upper right corner. She had kept this diary for a while now, only a couple of years. In fact, she had always kept something to write in, always compiling her thoughts into the pages of a book, so to look back on a future date and remember her past.

Despite the fact that most of her past she would rather forget, she still held a firm belief that it was best to remember everything. Issues, concerns, troubles, all should not be tossed away so easily, they should be kept in memory at all times, whether to remind one of past mistakes or of another important matter. In any case, the woman chose the decision to collect her thoughts throughout the years—especially with the most recent events occurring in her life.

Within the pages of her diary, one would see the introduction, with its content mostly being about her dear friend Koko; how she was such a good friend to her and that Sherry hoped for the best for both. A few more pages down, the thoughts morphed from hope to pure excitement—how Koko was finally going to college and attaining the happiness she had sought all her life. Sherry expressed her delight in Koko's good fortune in these paragraphs of endless talking. She had written that the light at the end of the tunnel was almost there, just as it was predicted to be.

However, such rapture was not recorded much longer. Very soon afterwards, the mamono battle entered both of the two women's lives, and stories of distress and anger followed, page after page of endless discontent. The events of Koko's possession and the burning of her town were engraved in this journal—the most haunting event of Sherry's life, not including her attempted suicide as a little girl. The battles became her life and obsession, it was what she lived for now, and the one and most important thing other than her treasured friend was written.

Brago.

He had become her motivation, her reasoning, her strength, her pride, and was nearly as important as the air being breathed. The demon was not merely a creature tarnishing her life, but rather became her life. For the rest of the book, there was not a single page where his name had not been mentioned. He was her companion, her hope, and inseparable. As Koko was dearly valuable to the woman, the demon had become just as important.

The pages following that contained the demon were yet another deep story within her life. She wrote of him saving her the night of Koko's forced betrayal, how violent the creature was in the beginning, and how she noticed a softer aura when around him. Not only was she recording her story, but Brago's as well, without the demon knowing.

Staring at the page she had been working on, the woman mused over any more thoughts she could write that had not been told and continued her work, the pen in her hand scratching at the paper in swift strokes as the minutes slowly rolled by.

"What's taking you so long?"

Her ear perked at the intruding sound in the silent room and she glanced to the left out of the corner of her eye. Brago, having been there all this time, simply resting on the couch placed against the wall underneath a large window, turned his head so to stare at his bookkeeper firmly.

"I'm almost done," murmured the blonde before returning her gaze upon the paper, quickly scratching her thoughts upon the paper.

"You said that five minutes ago!"

"Don't rush me!"

The demon glared before turning his head to look at the ceiling above, glowering at it as thought it had offended him in some way. Brago had not ever been entirely patient, especially when Sherry did a form of leisurely activity, such as reading or writing, as she was presently doing. Although she had promised to train after finishing her work, he could not afford to lose any more time than what had already been lost. Such time being wasted on simple activities irritated him to no end, when he could be training—which was much more important in his case.

Both knew his reasons for thinking, with there only being two very obvious. For one, in this war, everything was at stake for the loser: his pride, his name, and the title for king. It had been every mamono's dream to achieve the title of royalty, and like all others, Brago did not want to dismiss this chance.

Second, the war was heating up to the very last rounds of the battles, with there only being eight teams left. Not to mention the deep threat for the safety of the Makai…

"Sherry…!"

"I'm done already!"

Setting the diary and pen down upon the desk, Sherry sat up from her chair and glanced at the demon, whom was already staring at her with his clouded, red eyes. For a second, Sherry briefly remembered recording her thoughts on his eyes, how they would have scared small children or most people in general. Yet to her, she was used to his harsh gaze, and to this day, the woman found more comfort in them than fear.

"Are you ready?" inquired the mamono as he sat up from the couch, moving his legs so his boot-clad feet touched the floor.

"Not quite, let me freshen up quickly and then I will," said Sherry after a moment, keeping her gaze locked with Brago's a second longer than planned, and she blinked and hustled off quickly before he could respond. If only he knew, she mused quietly.

As the woman hurried out of the room, the demon groaned irritably as he sat up, now glaring at the doorway from where the other had passed through. "Stupid, she could have done this later," he muttered before standing up and thrusting his fists into his furry pockets. With a last grumble, the being started to walk forward before he let his eyes fall upon the red diary lying on the desk, singled out from the other books and things here and there set on the hardwood.

For a second he stared silently at the front cover, the red of the book almost matching his eyes. His eyes traveled from the blank center of the cover to the upper right corner, where he noticed Sherry Belmond was printed, and he hesitated before any legible thought entered his mind.

"Stupid," he muttered lowly yet again as he stepped towards the desk and grabbed the diary from where it lay, hitting the pen as it rolled and landed on the floor below. The demon ignored this as he opened the book to a random page, somewhere along the middle, and read a few of the lines to himself.

'…but the immense feeling of relief was so overwhelming, I didn't really know what to think at first. I was just happy to know that Koko was back, after such a long and tiresome battle…'

He blinked, staring at the words before him as his brows pulled together, continuing to read more of the lines following. "What the hell…? This is what the woman wastes her time doing?"

Continuing to read through, the demon stared with a stern look on his face and then flipped to a random page, only to find more of the strange collection of thoughts poured from his bookkeeper's mind onto the paper. Each page was different, some longer than others with words, but as he forced his mind to comprehend the work, he began to recall some of the incidents recorded, and began to realize this was more than useless rambling—Sherry had been recording time.

As curiosity began to nag at the back of his mind, Brago didn't notice the footsteps coming closer and closer, but continued to read bits and pieces of writing in pages, but began to note some odd things about the content, particularly what was written about him.

'I thanked Brago for helping me with my injury today, but he didn't respond back. I wonder if he really feels compelled to help me in these situations or if he only views it as his duty, like I had done in the beginning of the battle. I'll never fully understand him…'

'…but I don't understand these feelings, they have been there for a while but I simply ignored them. I was too focused on saving her to notice. Even so, I'm sure they'll go away…'

'Last night I had a dream about him, about Brago. He had asked me to dance, which I thought kind of funny because he would never do such a thing…does he even know how to dance?…'

'I wonder why Brago likes to sit on the edge of my bed when I sleep… Not that I mind, I find it nice, for some reason. But still, it's just something I've always wondered…'

'I don't get these feelings, they haven't gone away and it's been a little over half a year now. Whenever he's around me, I always feel a sense of happiness that comes without warning—like Koko always made me feel. Why is this?…'

The demon continued to stare, reading over the lists of thoughts poured onto the pages. Each line mentioning an incident or thought that was bluntly stated; he couldn't help but wonder just what was running through the woman's mind. With his brow still pulled down, Brago turned to the very last page with words—what had recently been written, and stared with wide eyes as he read.

'He hasn't left my mind yet, not a single day has passed where I haven't thought about him. I try not to; I try to concentrate on training and the battles yet to come, what I can do better that was done wrong in previous fights so to improve my skills, maybe even play the piano some while I can. Yet still, everything I do doesn't stop these thoughts.

'Just yesterday I had been wondering what it would be like to kiss him… I've never had a boyfriend before or someone that close to care about, every man that my mother attempted to get me to see just was not worth it. Koko has been my only true friend my entire life, but now Brago has entered the story as well. The battles are raging on and the end is coming near, we both know it—all the teams know it. The time is coming where he's going to leave and I'll never see him again.

'But I'm afraid, what will I do when the end does come? It's as though I'm in a fairy tale—I wonder if this is all real. These battles are unbelievable, and despite how I loathe the fact that this is what took my friend's happiness from her, it has almost become a way of life for me, I do not mind these battles as much as before. I am always near him whether I fight or not, so isn't it only natural that I should ponder over such thoughts? It's only natural curiosity and how everyone tends to think of strange things. However, I don't get why it has to be him of all people—I never questioned this with Koko, even. There was never a stage I went through where I asked such questions. This is something different; it just has to be…!

'Yet still, I can't help but wonder if I'll ever have enough courage to…'

A heavy silence as powerful as his Gurabirei spell pounded against the mamono's senses, and the demon stared blankly at a few selected lines in the reading. Sherry had taught him how to read cursive in the past and he had gotten the grip of it fairly easily, but just in case, he reread the lines in his head over a few more times, checking to see if his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"Brago?! Just what are you doing??"

The demon froze upon hearing the call of his name, the pressure of the silence breaking as the voice of none other than his bookkeeper penetrated into the room. Turning around, his red orbs landed on the owner of his book and the two held eye contact for a moment.

Blue eyes wide, Sherry redirected her attention to the crimson diary in her demon companion's hand, and she sucked in a breath as she tensed, noticing that it was partially opened with one of his fingers holding the page. The mamono caught her eye and glanced at the page in his hands before turning to look at the woman again. He threw the book down onto the desk again and shrugged before the other spoke up.

"Brago, what did you read?"

"Nothing," he muttered, his brows turning to a frown once again.

She sucked in another breath and repeated her question. "What did you read?"

Scowl deepening, Brago answered again, "Nothing."

"Brago, I know better than that, what did you read?" Sherry questioned firmly, attempting to slowly release the air being held so to breathe properly. Her companion stared back at the book on the table and turned to look at the blonde before him.

"What's the point in it?" he inquired, and the woman blinked before her own brows narrowed.

"The point in what?"

"Wondering such things," the demon answered, and motioned his head towards the diary, its cover now set on the table. Sherry's heartbeat drummed in her ears as a heavy pause settled around the two and she swallowed, her blue gaze never leaving her companion.

"It's stupid," Brago muttered, and the blonde blinked before speaking up as well.

"I-it's not uncommon for someone to want to record their own thoughts, I don't see how it's so dumb, Brago!"

"I'm not your typical someone, Sherry," Brago said lowly. "If you want answers, don't just sit there thinking about them, like you waste your time doing."

An irritating twitch began to nag at the back of the woman's mind, but she ignored it as she scowled, slightly turning red as she spoke. "Some things I won't be able to find out, you know! I can't answer every question!"

The woman suddenly gasped as the other stepped up and grabbed both of her wrists while pulling her forward, her heart now beginning to race rapidly in her chest as the demon gazed upon her quietly, his red eyes scanning every movement she made. Her azure eyes stared into his crimson and she felt her mouth becoming dry as she wondered what he was doing.

He kept his unmoving gaze on her, all the while making sure his grip never loosened around her wrists. Brago was shorter than Sherry by about another head, but his strength was still much greater than hers, being inhuman, and for once Sherry felt slightly nervous. The bookkeeper stared down at the demon as a peculiar gleam glittered across his eyes, and he pulled against her wrists and brought her face down a little closer to his.

"I'll answer this one for you," he murmured, and the woman's eyes widened before she realized what just happened: the mamono had quickly brushed his lips against hers, and she could feel the slight poke from his jagged teeth as his mouth moved over hers briefly before releasing.

The woman stared silently before the other smirked slightly and pushed her wrists back before his scowl resumed place on his features. "Now, hurry up so we can go train. We've wasted enough time already."

With that, the mamono quickly walked out of the room, his hands placed back in their usual residence of his furry pockets. The woman continued staring at the ground, her eyes wide in disbelief at the scene of what just happened. Only when she released the breath she had been holding did she slowly come back to her senses, and the blonde raised her hand to touch her mouth gently.

Blinking, Sherry turned around and stared at the doorway, the corner of her mouth slowly turning into a soft smile and she laughed slightly before glancing at the diary set on the table. She straitened her back and stepped towards the desk, picking up the book and pen on the floor.

"I suppose a last minute entry wouldn't hurt."