Dog Days are Over

"I shouldn't be visiting graveyards this often."

With the moonlight shining down the place and the starry sky that accompanied it, the coal tars infesting the place were even more of an eyesore than usual. The King of Gehenna began to light his fire, idly scaring (or burning) the pests out of his way. He wasn't doing this out of boredom. More because of the frustration from ruling for 20 years and still having to deal with low ranking demons trying to assassinate him every breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner. He wasn't very good at keeping track of time. Not that it was his fault. Gehenna wasn't exactly keen on being logical about Time and Space. A certain crook would have laughed jovially and made a reference of Wonderland, and how the current King was Alice Liddell.

The fact that the him of now would understood that reference made Rin shivered. He wasn't going to start wearing a dress and chasing white rabbits, thank you very much.

Although, that very same crook would also reminded him that 20 years were a very short time for demons if it wasn't for Rin literally stabbing him in the back before cutting his tail off.

The short demon frowned at the memory. He didn't regret it one bit. He just hated that even after death, Mephisto still rubbed on him the wrong way.

"There you are." With a grin, Rin jumped on top of one of the broken statues, standing on both of its wings and looking down at his prey. "Heeeeey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" And of course, his prey's prey was even taller and broader than Rin himself. But the demon got the idea. It was a pitiful Flesh Hound, compared to Rin himself, but he thought he could spar with it for a while. After all it wasn't like he could demand Kuro to play with him all the time. Especially now that it was the Cait Sith's naptime.

The Flesh Hound growled but a sniff of Rin's scent was enough to make it backed away and ran with tails between its leg. "Oh, come on!" How weird that despite he got assassinations attempt at almost every turns back at Gehenna that every other demons that were in Assiah were smart enough to escape. Rin jumped down from the statue. He wasn't about to chase it, too much effort.

"Ah…" Rin turned around at the Flesh Hound's prey. "T-thank you." The young looking ghost looked up from the ground, having been cornered by the demon dog previously. The Demon King almost winced at how teenager the ghost sounded. And from the coal tars surrounding this place, his death must be recent too.

"Heh. Don't sweat it, kid. You should just move on to avoid this kind of confrontation ever again." Rin gave a reassuring grin and an advice. Which he one hundred percent sure was going to work on cheering this kid up.

And of course, he was wrong. He could almost hear Bon saying that in deadpan.

"I can't!" The ghost screamed. "I have- I have to warn my family! You-Know-Who is back! I have to-" He began to wheeze, "W-why am I not in my house? I chose to be a ghost, didn't I? Why am I-"

"Whoa! Kid! Calm down!" Rin grabbed a hold of the ghost. Could dead people have panic attack? "Calm down…" This kid's death must be very traumatic. Despite his size the ghost was trying to curl and be as small as possible. "Hey, what's your name?"

"C-Cedric…."

"All right, Cedric. Come with me, it's not safe here." Neither was Gehenna. But with Rin protecting him, everything was going to be fine.

Cedric nodded, wiping his tears and looking far younger than he did earlier. "O-okay…"

Rin smiled encouragingly, helping the boy stood up. He pulled out the key that was hanging around his neck like a necklace from beneath his shirt. The boy looked at him curiously as he was twisting the key in empty air. When the door appeared, the shock on the boy ghost's face was priceless. Rin chuckled a bit. "Come on. I'll make you some tea." He gestured with his head as he opened the door, revealing a pristine kitchen on the other side. The surprise on Cedric's face didn't last long, and instead of confusion or fear, it was an expression of wonder plastered on his face.

"What kind of Charm is this?" The brunet asked as he stepped inside.

Rin shrugged casually, "It's just a key." He wasn't going to admit he had no idea how it worked. Or that he did but already forgotten it. "Sit." He pulled a chair for Cedric. The dead boy looked hesitant before experimentally touching the seat. His brows creased in obvious confusion.

"I thought I was dead…" Cedric murmured, taking his seat.

"You are." Rin served the chamomile tea to the ghost. "Believe me, I won't bring you here if you were alive."

Cedric stopped reaching for his cup midway. "I am? But then- how come I can touch- where is here anyway?"

"That." The shorter man pointed at Cedric, "Promise you won't freak out?" The ghost nodded warily. Rin looked skeptical but knew better than withholding information. "You are in Gehenna. Spirit World. Or as human calls it, Hell."

By now, his tea was completely forgotten. "Excuse me?"

"Aaaah, don't worry. Since I took over, the demons are more interested in trying to kill me than humans." Rin waved off Cedric's incredulousness.

Cedric, however, was still confused and very much incredulous. "...and you are?"

"You can call me Rin. 'Your Majesty' in front of anyone else not Kuro or Ukobach." Before Cedric could ask his next question (plural actually, he has several of them), there was a slight tremor, almost like an earthquake. "Speak of the devils." Rin snickered as if he just told the funniest joke ever.

"RIN!" The Cait Sith mewled his name as he charged through the large double door. Cedric seemed ready to run to escape the impact of a giant two tailed cat only for said cat to poof and decrease in size. Rin caught Kuro with his right hand and the little chef demon Ukobach that had been riding Kuro with his other, pulling them into an embrace. "You are back!"

"Yeah. I see you are already well rested." Rin said fondly.

"Who's that?" Kuro peered curiously at the human ghost.

"This is Cedric. He's… um… Cedric." Rin introduced his guest, a bit embarrassed to realize that he was in fact didn't know who exactly Cedric was.

Kuro frowned, "You shouldn't be inviting strangers to your home, Rin…."

"It's fine! He's a human ghost! He won't be able to do anything to me!" The King of Gehenna put down his two companions on the dining table. He turned around and saw Cedric's full cup. "You don't like chamomile?"

The ghost snapped out of it. He was a bit embarrassed to have stared at Rin. He had never seen a cat like that, and whatever the little pink figure was. "Oh. No, it's not that…." Cedric drummed his fingers on the table's surface. "I just don't feel thirsty…"

Rin had learned enough tact over the years not to bluntly say that it was because the boy was dead. "Ah…" He scratched the back of his head, "Well, what do you want to do then?" The man looked at Cedric expectantly.

Said dead teenager immediately answered, "I need to go back to Hogwarts." He said with determination, only to falter at the next sentence. "I- Even though Harry- I know Harry will warn them- but-"

"No." Rin cut him off. He didn't know what or where Hogwarts was. But he certainly wouldn't let a ghost haunt any place. "What you need to do is to move on. Accept the fact that you have died."

"If that's what you were going to tell me… then what's the point in asking me what I want?" He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Cedric Diggory has died. It was all so surreal. This place was surreal.

Rin sighed. He could sense a headache coming. "If you want, I could always send you back to that place to be a Flesh Hound's midnight snack. How about that?"

Cedric tensed, "Please don't."

"Yeah. Thought so." The shorter man nodded. "You can stay here until you are ready to let go. Much safer than out in Assiah or anywhere in Gehenna without my protection."

"R-right." Cedric still didn't understand what Assiah and Gehenna were. He doubted they were really Hell. Or that Rin was its King. But the man was nice enough to let him stay, even if he was a bit strange. So why complain? "Thank you."

Rin looked caught off guard for a split second before beaming brightly. "You're welcome."

Cedric returned the smile with less intensity.

He guessed he won't be coming home anytime soon.


Notes: Crossposting this from AO3 just to see if I get more reviews here lol