Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from Ao no Exorcist, which springs from the mind and hands of the wonderful Kazue Katou.

Author's Notes: This begins around chapter 83 of the manga. I have a rough outline of where I want the story to go, but we'll see what happens. Rather large plot points keep shifting in my head, so I'm not sure if this will have any romance or not.

This chapter has not been beta read, so if anyone would be interested in being my beta, I'd love to hear from you! Also, reviews are greatly appreciated but are by no means necessary; chapters will not be dictated by response, only the speed at which I write them. Enjoy!

Coming into Bloom

Chapter 1: Something Sweet

Freezing cold wind whipped her scarf about as Shiemi Moriyama shut the door labeled as the school's landscaping tool shed and placed her portal key into the zippered pocket on the side of her book bag. She quickly walked out of the small, rarely used corridor located off the side of the grand courtyard and headed to the main entrance of the school. It was a bit further out of the way than was ideal, but Chairman Mephisto felt that the area provided the privacy she needed to use her key to True Cross Academy for her regular high school classes without too many people seeing.

Shiemi had stayed up later than anticipated the previous night to mulch and cover the last flower bed in her garden that needed winter protection. It was far later in the season than she normally would have done it, but she managed to finish before the first harsh freeze had arrived overnight. Having overslept a bit, she was running behind the schedule she had set for the day.

She had already swung by the old boy's dorm where they were going to throw the Christmas Birthday Eve party. There had been no sign of either Rin or Yukio when she had arrived. After having quietly sneaked into the cafeteria, she had seen two sets of dishes on the service counter and no prepared bento in the the kitchen. That meant that the twins had already left for school or were finishing getting ready and wouldn't be passing by the cafeteria again before heading out. She had giggled happily. That meant that what she was planning on doing would be an even bigger surprise!

Instead of a small potted tree or an artificial one, she had asked Nii-chan if he would be willing to start growing a large Balsam fir… at his own pace of course. To make him as comfortable as possible, she had cleared a few of the tables away to accommodate his larger form and instructed him lay down in the sunniest part of the room. She had then set some light seasonal music to play on an old radio that her grandmother had owned and left water nearby in the largest pot she could find in the kitchen. She wanted her familiar to enjoy himself during the day since he most likely wouldn't get much out of the festivities themselves that evening. It was the least she could do seeing as he was doing her a silly favor.

She wanted the evening to go perfectly. No, she needed the evening to go perfectly. She wanted some of her last memories of being in cram school to be amazing, unforgettable, and full of laughter and smiling faces. They all needed that right now.

Looking at the tall clock tower that rose high above the school, Shiemi saw that she only had fifteen minutes before homeroom started, so she picked up her pace. Thankfully her leg movement wasn't limited by the heavier, layered kimono she usually wore this time of year since she was in her winter school uniform. The gravel on some of the pathways did make moving quickly a bit tricky in areas and she'd almost slipped twice now. Shiemi knew she was rather clumsy, so having not actually fallen to the ground was a rather large accomplishment for her. The past nine months had greatly increased her co-ordination with all of the missions and physical education classes.

Shiemi briskly walked past dozens of milling students who were laughing and talking with their friends, joyfully ignoring the prefects that were trying to move them along. It made her smile to see so many people out, enjoying the beautiful but cold December morning. The winter exams had concluded two days ago and they were relatively stress free on the final day before the break.

She spotted Yukio and would have waved to him, but his attention was focused on a group of boys in their grade who were walking along the edges of the fountain, occasionally tapping their feet on the thin sheet of ice that had formed on the remaining water, most likely in an attempt to to crack it. She wondered if he had ever done something similar, just for the fun of it, as she saw him speak sternly to the teens who then hopped down, disbanding and going their own separate ways. He always acted so mature, it was hard to imagine.

"Oi, Moriyama-san! Ohayou!"

Shiemi slowed her paced and glanced around before she spotted an arm flagging her down. There, near the steps leading up to the main doors of the high school, were Koneko and Shima. She jogged over to her friends with a smile on her face. She didn't have much time to spare, but she could at least say greet them in passing.

"Ohayou, Shima-kun! Miwa-kun! Where is everyone?" she beamed, her breath creating white clouds that swirled in the air as she spoke.

Koneko waved his greeting before tugging his hat further down on his shaved head, and then went back to blowing his own steamy breaths onto his gloved hands. She could hear his teeth chattering together behind his hands as she drew closer. The poor boy had told them that got cold easily, so she wondered why he was waiting around outside instead of heading in to warm up.

"Bon and Izumo-chan took off after they had their first argument of the day over how much he's been playing housewife for Lightning. He mentioned he might be late tonight and he was livid when she asked if he was bringin' him along as a date," Shima laughed as she rapidly approached them, and Shiemi puffed out a giggle in return.

"Oh, and Rin texted us that he's on his way. He wanted to give Koneko a small grocery list or something for tonight, so I'm keeping him company out here in the cold," Shima continued, stroking the top of the shorter teen's head, which shifted the knit hat he was wearing enough to expose one of Koneko's prominent ears. The offending hand got swatted away with an indignant cry of 'I told you to stop that!'

"But he also asked us to ask you—" Shima stopped abruptly, and turned to follow her when she didn't slow down and started up the stairs after her.

"Sorry, guys, I need to hurry! " Shiemi kept heading up the steps. "Paku-chan isn't coming today and I need to do some things for her! I'll see you tonight!"

"Wait," he called at her retreating form. "Rin wanted us to ask you if that creep's been bothering you!"

Shiemi cringed at the reminder of her newest classmate, Amaimon, or as the teacher had called him, Ambrosius Faust. It was the last day of the term, and she was pretty sure she could tough out his presence. She wouldn't have to deal with him for a week after that, and hopefully whatever interest he had in harassing her would disappear along with him by the start of the new term. However, she wasn't sure as he seemed the type to hold a grudge.

She turned her head around and sent Shima and Koneko what she hoped passed for a convincing smile, quickly shaking her head. "Tell him I'll be fine!"

Shiemi went back to focusing on where she was headed right before she was about to crash into an upperclassman, but they both to stop managed themselves just in time. Having narrowly avoided the older girl, Shiemi murmured a soft apology and dipped a quick head bow before she continued around irritated senior.

She reached her locker a few minutes later and took of her winter gear before switching out her boots for her dress shoes. Grabbing what she needed for her first two classes, she placed her book bag into the locker, shut it, and got to homeroom with eleven minutes to spare. That would be more than enough time to get a head start on the day's notes if there were any! She practically skipped her way to her desk.

People were slowly trickling into the classroom, but she couldn't say she really knew any of them, other than some of their names. She had only been there for two months and it was still difficult for her to engage with people she didn't already know. The conversations she'd had were awkward since she didn't get most pop culture references, didn't read manga (until very recently thanks to Izumo!), and the Moriyama household didn't own a TV. Not many fifteen and sixteen-year-olds were interested in talking about the weather and gardening for any length of time. Shiemi imagined she'd eventually get to the point where more people would approach her to talk and she'd actually have things to reply with, but for the time being, she was fine with cultivating her current circle of friends.

Her only friend in class B, and former cram school classmate Noriko Paku, hadn't been able to make it in and had asked her to take notes. Despite having other friends in the class that could have done the same, Nori had asked her, and Shiemi had been honored and readily accepted the task.

When she was younger, Shiemi's mother had criticsed her handwriting on the slips that went along with the shop's orders, since most of the Exorcism materials they sold required very specific instructions or dosages to be used effectively. So, since then, she had taken extra care and practiced to make her writing as neat and legible as possible. Unfortunately, she couldn't write neatly and quickly, but things were bound to be pretty easy today since she had been told most teachers weren't going to delve into anything new. Coming in early gave her a leg up on a chance to use her best penmanship for her friend's benefit.

Puffing up her cheeks, she blew a quick burst up air upward to lift her bangs and cool the thin sheen of sweat on her forehead.

The ends of her hair were still damp with perspiration after having been tucked into her scarf on her way to class, and the heater in the classroom left the air feeling humid and thick, much like a greenhouse. While she loved working in her greenhouses, semi-wet hair against flushed skin in a hot room was uncomfortable. She might not have been wearing her fleece jacket, scarf, and mittens anymore, but she was still wearing a woolen sweater over her long-sleeved dress shirt and thick winter stockings and they were doing their job of keeping heat in very well.

Hoping nobody noticed, she toed off her shoes and swayed her legs back and forth under her chair in an effort to cool herself off a bit without resorting to fanning her red cheeks.

The loudest thing in the room was the steady tapping of the teacher's chalk against the board, but the rustling of paper and low whispers was growing as more students filled their seats. The class was around one third full now and there were still twenty seats open.

Shiemi had been trying hard to be a good student the past couple of months since passing her mid terms and entering high school, but a classroom setting was still fairly new to her. Private tutoring had been easier. Then again, she had gotten overwhelmed and confused when Yukio had been helping her, too. Even with the one on one help, she tended to get a bit spacey and became easily lost, especially when covering a certain subjects, but he always took the time to help her understand and kept her relatively focused. He was an absolutely amazing teacher.

In a little less than half a year, he had taken her from a girl with an incomplete junior high education and correspondence coursework (which he had also helped with) to a someone who was able to pass an entry test for a prestigious private high school. She never knew she could learn so much, so quickly, but he made it happen, even though he had demurred and said that she was the one who was making amazing strides in her academics. When she insisted it was all due to him, he had gently, but firmly stated that he was just working with what talent was already there, and being naive wasn't the same as lacking intellectual capacity. His words of encouragement had always made her want to work even harder. To be more like him.

He was so dedicated and talented for his age, which, apart from being cute, was what caught her attention right when she first met him… but he seemed to have become more distant. Maybe he was pushing himself too hard. The smiles were still there, but they lacked the warmth they used to have and no longer reached his eyes.

Shiemi felt like most of her own smiles had been forced the past few days, and she was doing the best she could to keep herself from falling apart with artificial cheer, hoping it would take root inside of her and become real.

Although the "choice" had supposedly remained for her to continue her Exorcist training, it was left unspoken that she needed to drop out. She had promised her mother. Shiemi didn't understand why her mother had even bothered letting her go to cram school in the first place if she knew it was going to conflict with what she was expected to do. Shiemi hated secrets and lying, especially when seeing the disastrous results after her friends had kept so many. All of things that they had tried to shoulder alone inevitably came out and blew up in everyone's faces. When that would happen, they would all tackle the issue together, and after, hopefully having learned a valuable lesson in trusting others, they would became stronger as a whole, as friends. But it seemed a never ending cycle of mistrust and lies, regardless of all that they'd been through.

And now, Shiemi was doing the same. Despite how close it came to lying, she tried to rationalise that omitting the truth wasn't as bad... but she knew it was. They needed to know why she was leaving cram school. They deserved to know, but she couldn't tell them. They'd never look at her the same way again.

So, now, to make it up to them and herself, Shiemi was pouring herself into what she did know was right: helping her all of friends as much as she could, while she could. That's why the notes were important. That's why the party was so critical. Hopefully time would eventually censor the memories she was making and shine the most focus on the things that had made her happiest.

Finally starting to cool off, Shiemi began to toe her shoes back on when she felt the hairs on the nape of her still damp neck prickle and the eerie, hair-raising feeling raced down the skin of her back like a cold electrical wave pulsing through her. She shivered as the weird chill swept over her shoulders all the way to her fingertips. Mixed with the damp heat of her drying sweat, it almost made her feel feverish.

Apparently, the newest 'student' had arrived to class early as well. It was uncanny that the recent, unpleasant feeling of what she could only describe as hackles being raised happened every time he came into the room. She resisted the urge to rub her arms and rid herself of the goosebumps that remained, knowing he was already watching her.

Trying to surreptitiously glance two desks back, she reached down to the right to pull her shoes on by hand and saw the lanky body of a teenage boy unceremoniously drop himself into his seat, with no books or supplies to be seen. Shiemi highly doubted he had anything with him other than dozens of various sweets which he would suck on and crunch loudly throughout class, leaving wrappers and paper sticks all over his desk and the floor by the end of the period. He obviously wasn't there to learn. The teachers were too terrified of both him and the headmaster to complain about him being a nuisance and all of the other students had decided that it was in their best interests to keep silent about the strange new foreign student, as well, at least while in class.

As she suspected, Amaimon was staring impassively in her direction.

Shiemi refused to look at his eyes and hoped that he didn't notice her peeking at him through the thin curtain of hair that was concealing her face as she slowly tugged on the first shoe.

Currently, a lollipop stick was hanging from his slightly parted lips, held in place by clenched fangs. One side of his lip was slightly higher than the other, almost what she would consider a sneer but not quite. Maybe it was some sort of warped sense of a morning greeting for everyone around him or maybe it was meant to intimidate her. Whatever it had been, it didn't last long before he closed his mouth to roll the candy around and suck on it hard. His long tongue flicked out to lick his lower lip and readjust the lollipop to the left side of his mouth before sucking hard on it again before that awful, muted half-sneer reappeared. It all seemed very deliberate...as if he knew Shiemi was watching him.

Shiemi almost feel out of her seat when Amaimon confirmed that he was aware of her attention by hunching over in his chair and leaning out, cocking his head down until it was level with hers.

Steadying herself with one hand on her desk, a blush seared across Shiemi's cheeks as she quickly tugged the other shoe on, bolted upright, and averted her gaze back toward the front of the room. Apparently she hadn't been discreet enough and Amaimon knew she was looking.

She tried to finish taking notes since class was due to start in a few minutes, but Shiemi's fingers had stilled again after a few strokes. She flexed them around her pencil and attempted to re-focus and clear herself of the uneasy fog that had invaded her mind upon seeing the demon king.

Although she'd told Shima she could handle it, having no fellow Esquires in her class and no Paku to distract her today with quiet chatter left her feeling incredibly vulnerable. A sitting duck, with a very large, very dangerous predator lurking in her pond. He hadn't actually done anything so far, but she doubted he enjoyed wasting his days in a classroom just to unnerve her with his endless stare. Honestly, why was he here?

Shiemi had replayed the confrontation between her, Rin, and Amaimon in her head numerous times since it occurred. She had concluded that he had most likely already been enrolled at the time, since he had been wearing a school uniform when it happened, and she vaguely remembered Shima, Koneko, and Bon commenting similarly.

And then he had been introduced to her class less than ten minutes later. From the history they had previous to their most recent encounter, to the exchange in the hallway, to be added into her class, and for him to be harassing her in such a way… Amaimon was there for a reason, she was sure of it. He couldn't have enrolled in the school if he hadn't been given permission, could he? And what about the wards, barriers, and mazes that were in place to keep higher-level demons out?

Chairman Pheles, who controlled those defenses and school enrollment, had blatantly stated the Esquires were all pawns in his "game" when he had called them to his office a few weeks prior. She had no idea what he could have meant at that time, and she still didn't, but now she had a suspicion that her "important role" role was tied to what her mother had recently told her. She couldn't imagine that the True Cross Academy director would put her in harm's way by allowing his brother to be there if she was of any importance to his plans.

But as intimidating and mysterious Mephisto Pheles —no, Samael the King of Time— was, of the two Princes of Gehenna keeping tabs on her, Amaimon was the only one who had physically threatened both her and her friends… several times now.

And he was two seats behind her at this very moment.

'Stop thinking about that! Think about the party! There's still so much to do! The tree-trimming, the decorations, getting the costume on…' she urged herself, and then it struck her. 'I didn't pack my Santa costume in my bag!'

It wasn't the end of the world; she'd go get it after she finished setting everything up, but it was just another thing she had to add to her to-do list.

Shiemi was startled out of her thoughts when loud crack followed by an absurdly acoustic crunching noise broke the relative quiet of the room. She wondered if he was deliberately being obnoxious with his constant, loud eating in an attempt to antagonize her when she couldn't see him staring at her. Or did he regularly eat that much junk no matter what he was doing? If so, he had a really high metabolism to stay so lean.

She moved her hand to write again and immediately stopped when more crunching ensued. Really, did he need to be so loud? It was almost as if he was munching away right next to her ear instead of being a ways behind her. Was he using some sort of magic or was she just too focussed on him and it just felt that way?

Whatever the case, he finished his candy with an audible gulp, and the regular sounds of the classroom rushed into the room once more as if they'd been dampened while he was eating. This was ridiculous. Why could she not just tune him out? Shiemi fought to regain her focus before Amaimon— too late.

The momentary peace she'd received was shattered by the crinkle of another sucker being freed from its wrapper. It was irritating and unnerving at the same time, his endless grazing. But worst of all, Shiemi knew whatever bizarre show he was putting on was for her and her alone within these walls. Nobody else seemed as affected as she was.

'I can't let him get to me. I have to be brave. I've stood up to him once already walked away from it… with Rin's help. But... but I won't always have Rin and Yuki-chan to be there for me, like now. I need to remember that—'

Her thoughts faltered as she felt something hit her near her right shoulder and heard whatever it was fall lightly to the floor. Furrowing her brow both in question and in shock, she glanced down saw a small white paper stick with traces of orange dye on one end. A used lollipop stick. He'd thrown his trash at her!

Shiemi noticed a handful of the other students look her way, after they'd obviously seen something fly a short distance across the room and hit her, but they said nothing and then acted like they were going back to what they had been doing. She imagined they were continuing to pay attention to see if anything would happen and that made her even more nervous. It felt like there were far too many many eyes on her, but one set made her far more nervous than all of the others combined. A cold, nervous sweat started to break out on her skin.

She quickly debated whether it would be wiser to ignore the Earth King or acknowledge that he wanted her attention. He had made it very clear that he hated to be ignored. So, taking a deep breath, Shiemi smoothed the irritation and fear out her features the best she could and turned herself in her chair to face Amaimon.

For the moment, it seemed he'd decided to actually sit in his chair, with his left knee up, one arm casually draped on it, and the other leg stretched out below his desk. His right arm rested on the tabletop, his hand toying with the discarded plastic wrapper, dark claws lightly tapping and scraping the wooden surface each time he moved his fingers. The demon's pose looked slightly less sinister than him crouching on his chair —or desktop— like a living gargoyle as he was wont to do. It didn't make much of a difference to Shiemi in the long run as hew was still here but at least he looked less imposing this way. One of the eight Princes of Gehenna in your class would be unnerving no matter how he sat, especially if his gaze was constantly trained on your back. Or like right now, looking directly into her eyes.

Shiemi felt the odd shiver pass through her body for the second time that morning but it seemed even more intense, and she briefly wondered if it was just her nerves or if he was actually doing something to her. Trying her best not to tremble too much, she kept his gaze.

The last time they had made this much direct eye contact he had told her to die and then took a swing at her. Granted, even that only happened after she had refused his "offer" to demean herself and crawl away as an apology after stopping him from antagonizing a shell-shocked Rin (which was her fault) and pushing the Earth King down. On top of her refusal to bend to his will, she'd yelled at him some more, vowing to become an Exorcist. Probably not the wisest decision she had ever made, but it was her one of her proudest. She needed to continue to be brave!

Seconds ticked by and nothing happened. After around ten more had passed, Shiemi couldn't help but fidget with the hem of her skirt as she averted her eyes, settling them on her hands clasped in her lap.

Sadly, it was so much easier to act brave when there were strong friends around, but at the moment that wasn't the case. Shiemi had already backed out her ardent vow to fight for the innocent and the weak against demons - not that she rescinded the vow lightly or that it was truly by choice. In one sharp instant, all of what she had said and done in her stupidly brave moment days ago suddenly felt hollow and she felt even more pitiful and small under his golden stare.

'No! I'm not weak!'

She forced herself to look at him again, refusing to let herself fall any further into self-doubt than she already was. She couldn't go back to being a shrinking violet. No matter how weak she was, people still believed in her. She just had to believe in herself. First things, first…

"D-did you want something, Amai— Faust-kun?" There, she had broken the silence with only the slightest of stuttering and almost saying the wrong name! That wasn't too bad, right?

Amaimon's face remained unreadable while he used the fingers of one clawed hand to take the newest lollipop —this time a green one— out of his mouth. Licking it twice, he narrowed his eyes at her only slightly, but she didn't like that it looked like he was considering something. He didn't say anything for what seemed like ages, and when he finally spoke, it was in a voice loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.

"Stay after classes."

Apparently, that was all he had to say since he placed the candy back into his mouth. His eyes remained fixed on her, and she dreaded what she needed to say next. She already had something scheduled, plans that even the Chairman was aware of since she had felt obligated to invite him after Yukio had gotten permission to use the old boys' dorm to host it. She couldn't back out!

"I c-can't… not today." It took all she had to not start fidgeting again and she settled for clenching her fists. "I already… I already have plans."

"What did you say?" he asked with a hint of incredulity in his voice, and Shiemi swore she something flash in his eyes. He didn't look overly dangerous with his relatively benign expression and the stick wagging in the corner of his mouth as he talked around it, but she knew better. "You're defying my commands again, bride?"

'Stop calling me your 'bride' in front of people!' she wanted to yell at him, but settled for pinching her lips and snorting lightly out her nose in indignation. 'I'm not your anything!'

"Answer me."

Eyes widening in panic, Shiemi quickly looked around and saw that more people had turned to gawk, not even hiding that they were watching and listening anymore. Amaimon didn't seem to care in the slightest, but she couldn't help but blush furiously at the all of the unwanted attention. Why couldn't he have just stared at her like he had for the past two days? Even that was less awkward than this!

"I said I can't today," she repeated quickly, lowering her voice and hoping he would catch on. "I'm throwing a... a party."

She might be deficient on common social etiquette, but she'd been scolded plenty of times by her friends for having certain conversations at bad times and inappropriate volumes. Shiemi felt that this was one of those moments that they would have pulled her aside or started flapping their arms at her (Izumo had rolled her eyes and her and explained that it meant to 'stop talking' or 'quiet down' when she finally asked why people did that). She didn't think the Earth King would appreciate either of those.

He tilted his head slightly, blinked… then stood up and started toward her. That's when she felt her heart leap into her throat, and thoughts of being brave started to crumble into dust and blow away as if they never existed. She wasn't sure what he planned to do, but she couldn't just wait to find out.

In her panic, she almost tried to summon Nii-chan, but swiftly remembered her familiar was growing the Christmas tree in the boys' dorm, and for whatever reason, he hadn't helped the last time she was in this situation, either. Nii-chan had stood there on her shoulder, shaking and unresponsive. It had been Rin who saved her from being hit. She also wasn't sure what the fallout would be from summoning a familiar while she was in her normal classes even if most, if not all of the class, wouldn't be able to see him.

The demon languidly walked over, dragging his hand along the empty desks between their own, his claws scraping along the tops, eyes pinning her like a bug. It was an open threat. What could she do?! Her mind went into overdrive as panic set in, desperately searching for something that would stop him in his tracks.

'Pheles-san would probably—' and an idea for leverage struck her. 'Pheles-san! Amaimon said he'd promised his brother he'd be good!'

Amaimon was almost to her desk when she blurted out, "Faust-san already knows! He gave us permission to have the party on campus. I invited him to come! I have to be there!"

Sheiemi doubted that the Chairman or some of the others she had invited would show up to a silly party thrown by teenagers to celebrate birthdays and Christmas at the same time, but Amaimon didn't need to know that.

He paused only slightly upon registering her words before walking the last of the distance to her chair. She had begun stand up to get away, but by that time, he was standing so close she could feel the fabric of his pants brush against her knees, and she fell the short distance back into her seat with a soft thump.

Shiemi nervously glanced around at the classroom before tilting her head up to watch for any sudden movements by the demon that seemed to have it in for her. She heard people whispering around her and even the teacher had turned around at this point, but nobody made a move to help her —not that there was anything that she or anyone in the room could do if he chose to attack her.

Amaimon lifted his gloved right hand up and she winced, expecting the worst, but was surprised when he reached into his school blazer's left pocket and withdrew something. She didn't see what it was and she didn't have time to try and peak, as he leaned down uncomfortably close, placing the same hand palm down on her desk. His long claws clicked loudly against the wood as they made contact and the ends of his loose tie brushed against the tops of her thighs.

Shiemi hadn't been this close to his face since he'd tried to kiss her in the woods to seal their 'marriage,' and even though she could control her body this time, there was still very little she could do other than try to lean further back. Unfortunately, he matched her movements and if she kept pulling back, she would fall out of her chair. She could smell the almost overwhelmingly artificial fruity sweetness of his breath as it fanned against her cheeks, and she could make out the individual wrinkles of the dark bags under his golden eyes. Even if they had been on good terms she would have felt on edge. This was far too intimate for her, regardless of the context.

Once again, Shiemi felt that uncomfortable tingle start to flow from the base of her scalp and outward through her body, practically all of the hairs on her skin standing on end. She gasped and started trembling when the sensation didn't subside but instead flowed over her again and again like tidal waves overlapping each other, and she began to truly fear that she was having a seizure or worse as her body began to ache from her shaking. Shiemi imagined he could probably hear the air crackle with the nervous energy that had to be radiating off of her stronger with each pulse she felt. If this kept up, she was certain that she would pass out.

"Tomorrow at sunrise," Amaimon said in an even, if somewhat garbled voice, after observing her for a few seconds. He appeared either oblivious or ambivalent to her discomfort.

With his free hand, he pulled the sucker out of his mouth with a loud smack and held just it below the gap between their faces. At least she thought she saw it there out of her peripheral vision. It was getting hard for her to focus on much of anything other than the endless depth charges resonating inside of her, drowning out her senses.

And then, the pulsing abruptly stopped.

Despite being happy the sensation had ended, it was jarring going back to feeling normal. The pain that had settled into her bones lingered and Shiemi shivered, her lips parting wide in shock as she sucked in a large gulp of air. She knew that it had most likely only been a few seconds, but it had felt so much longer.

"No friends next time." The right corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibility as he tapped his lower lip with the candy. Cocking his head, he added, "Just me and my bride."

Now that she was fairly certain she wasn't going to be harmed —at this moment, anyway— Shiemi became conscious of how her heart was attempting to beat its way out of her chest and she was trying to resist the urge to pant. Her eyes blinked repeatedly a few times and she gently shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind and calm down. That was next to impossible seeing as he was still centimeters away.

'If only he would leave!'

Amaimon pushed himself up with the hand on her desk, and she immediately thought her prayers had been answered. That is, until he put what remained of his lollipop into her slack mouth before she even realised what he was doing. With that, he turned and walked away.

'What? Did he just—?!'

Bewildered and not sure what to make of what had just happened, Shiemi quickly pulled the sucker out of her mouth and dazedly looked at it for a moment while trying to collect herself. Indeed, the sweet in her hand was the same one that had been in his mouth not a minute ago. Her mind absently identified the flavor as something similar to green apple, and she vaguely hoped it was regular human candy.

She, along with the teacher and everyone else who was in the room, watched Amaimon walk out of the door as the chimes that marked the final warning to get to class filtered into the room.

Shiemi snapped back into reality and her face began to turn an undiscovered shade of red as the whispering of the students grew louder and people started guessing that it was a lovers quarrel or something equally outlandish in her mind. They only stopped after the teacher cleared her throat and cast a disapproving glare over the class, with the majority of it resting on her.

Oh, how she wished she could just burrow into the ground right now and stay there for the rest of the winter!

Ducking her head down in embarrassment, her eyes caught sight of something dark laying next to the notes she'd been taking that hadn't been there before.

It was a bronze key.