A/N: Hi all! I'm glad so many of you liked the first chapter :) here's the next one

Published: 11/09/2017

Warnings: Language, I guess? Also, some slight spoilers for the Blue Exorcist Manga nothing explicitly states, but there

Chapter 2

Infuriating Little Baby Cousins

Nero had always been considered by most of his peers to be a freak. Not that Nero gave a fucking shit what anyone else thought about him, but it was the general consensus of… Well. Everybody.

Silver hair, supernatural reflexes and strength, never seemed to get sick, could shrug off blows that would leave anyone else at the very least dazed. The list went on.

You would think that, in a town like Fortuna that prided itself on the knowledge of the Savior and the hunting of demons, that someone with the Savior's likeness would be more well received.

That wasn't the reality at all.

Fear supersedes all else, and, when looking at Nero, parents would flinch away in fear and in turn teach their children to follow said example.

Nero had only one person he could call friend, and one person only. This was why, no matter what happened, no matter what was done and said, no matter how things ended turning out or what twists and turns life decided to throw their way, at the age of five and a half Nero had decided he loved Kyrie with all his heart.

Of course, most people would take one look at a small little five year old professing his love, smile, find it cute, and think nothing of it. Those people did not know Nero. Whenever Nero decided to do something, he would do it with his all. He would pour his very soul into it because that's the kind of person Nero was.

And, Kyrie was worth it, Nero decided. She didn't run from him like the other kids. Yes, his strength scared her. Nero could see that. He pretended not to notice the look of fear that had shown in her eyes the first few times she had witnessed Nero casually lift things that would take a group of grown men to do with ease. It had lessened with time, but regardless, Kyrie had never run, not like the others.

No, instead, she had stood by him.

Him, the abandoned orphan that had been found at the steps of the Order on a cold winter night. Him, the little freak with the silver hair. Him, the insufferable little smartass that had been known to make teachers and students alike snap.

She stood by him.

She had always stood by him.

Credo, of course, hadn't approved but had reluctantly let it slide.

It made Nero smile, even as he had to cover his arm and leave it in a sling that he knew perfectly well he didn't need. Yes, the arm had come as a major fucking what-the-hell-is-going-on, oh-my-fucking-god and blah blah moment, but Nero was over that.

It's not like he intended to show the arm to anyone. Why would he ever do something as stupid as that? Besides, this arm had helped him protect Kyrie. An unconscious Kyrie since Nero didn't think even she would continue to stand by him if she knew he was a goddamn Hanyou, but still.

Then, he felt it. Like a pulse, ripping across time and space. Startled, Nero gazed off into the distance.

What… What the hell was that?

It hadn't felt like the rise of the Tower, but it sure as hell was something. Nero gave a shiver as something ancient, in the back of his mind, told him to run. To hide. That this, whatever he felt, was older, stronger, and far more twisted than anything he could possibly imagine.

This concept might have worked on most children.

However, on Nero, the result was rather simple.

Face scrunched in concentration, Nero tossed a pack over his back and began to make his way towards the source of the disturbance.

"Bring it, bitch."

"That thrice damned twisted little cousin of mine! Could he not have at least tried for some subtlety? But NO, instead, little cousin, you raise your goddamned tower in the middle of a rather inhabited city and start announcing that you're having a party to attract ArchDemons from all corners!"

Mephisto was royally pissed off.

Hiding the existence of demons and the supernatural world was hard enough. Yes, it helped that ordinary people just didn't have the perception to see or perceive spiritual entities in any way, shape, or form. However, there was a limit to just how skewed that perception was.

For example, when one raises a GIANT FUCKING DEMON SPEWING TOWER IN THE MIDDLE OF A GODDAMN CITY!

Even Mephisto hadn't been able to conceal it entirely. It didn't help that a Leviathan, of all things, had spawned from the tower and ripped past the illusions he had cast to keep the whole thing concealed.

Little cousins were infuriating creatures to the point where even he, the great Samael, was resisting the urge to tear his hair out.

"You ask me for one favor, Vergil, and I honor it. I honor it because I'm a good cousin. And how do you repay me?"

Anime tears began to rip their way down Mephisto's face.

The incident at Temen-ni-Gru was already being looked at by the best of the True Cross Order. That incident was slightly behind them. True, the after effect of Vergil tearing open a whole to Gehenna itself was one they'd likely be feeling for years, but the one thing Mephisto would never forgive his baby cousin for was the task that now lay before him.

"Damn you, Vergil!"

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork!

Mephisto was swamped in so much of it that there were actually pieces of it just randomly floating in random corners of the Academy.

If Vergil wasn't dead, Mephisto would kill him himself.

Actually… Come to think of it, didn't he have two little cousins? Mephisto titled his head before giving a shrug. Even if there was another, it couldn't really be too bad, right? What harm could another cousin possible do?

Just then, an underling barged in. Tsubaki, if Mephisto's mind was accurate. The one who pretended to have that rather eccentric girlfriend, Kitty was it? Mephisto wasn't sure anyone bought the story, really, but to each their own. He arched a single eyebrow and watched as the Exorcists gulped.

"This had better be good," Mephisto began, "as you can see, I'm rather busy." he waved to the paperwork, which, really, he'd have tossed away if Azazel hadn't cursed the whole wretched lot of it to appear anytime he tried to open a manga, covering the pages.

Satan had nothing on Azazel as far as Mephisto was concerned.

"Two… Two or our spies reported seeing the Son of Sparda kidnap the children of the Paladin! I came to report it to you immediately.''

.

.

.

Mephisto's swearing could be heard on the other side of the globe.

Okay, Dante supposed this hadn't been his brightest ideas. In his defense, he'd always been more of the act now, kick ass, ask questions later kinda guy.

"Where- are- you- ah, my glasses!"

Dante hissed. Yukio screamed as he was tossed straight into the air. Spinning around, Dante drew Ebony fired a charged shot. One of the demons chasing them burst into flames. Summoning Rebellion, Dante charged a blast and swung, watching as red energy ripped apart his opponents. Then, without missing a beat, he picked up the fallen glasses, twirled them, and shot them straight up.

Yukio could only blink in shock as he landed back in Dante's arms, his glasses falling onto his face seconds afterwards.

"Not working. Hm. Come on, kiddies, were going on a trip!"

Suddenly, there were two Dante's and Yukio screamed again. The one holding him glared. "Stop being so loud! How do you think they keep finding us?"

Yukio gulped, falling silent, face lit with fear.

Daddy had just started his training at the Academy, but this? This was… This was just way too much. This was scary. This was frightening. Yukio just didn't know how to deal with it, and the strange man wasn't making it much better.

Still, as Yukio focused on the literal horde of demons chasing after them, he came to a rather startled decision. Screaming and fighting back against the weird ojjisan in the red cloak would mean they had to face those demons. The same demons that Rin had fought until he couldn't move anymore.

Rin at that moment gave a loud snore, punctuating the point.

"Hm. Aha! Some sort of barrier around this place! Perfect!"

Yukio couldn't help the childish screech that left his lips as the man leapt through the air, seemingly landing on platforms of glowing red energy before rising higher and higher. In his defense, he was just shy of his eighth birthday. Around them were the skeletal beginnings of a skyscraper, of all things. Landing on one of the rails, the man grinned before turning to look down at the demons.

Yukio followed his gaze and watched in shock as the demons collided against an invisible barrier that left them on the fritz, collapsing and shattering apart.

What?

"There's a barrier keeping low level demons out. Interestingly enough, it's keyed to let higher level ones like us through." The man explained on seeing Yukio's confused look.

Oh. Huh. That made sense.

Wait…

"I'm not a demon! Wait… You're a demon!"

Then, Yukio attempted to scramble away. A single eyebrow arched in amusement, the silver haired self proclaimed higher level demon just smirked at him.

Yukio slipped.

He screamed and closed his eyes, ready for the coming pain of colliding with the ground. It never came. Instead, he blinked and opened his eyes, only to realize that the man had apparently caught him.

"Careful, careful, little spawn. You'll go splat."

Yukio glared.

"I'm notta demon!" Yukio spat out.

The eyebrow continued to arch.

"You're something, alright, and human ain't it kid. What's your name? I'm Dante," the man introduced himself with a dramatic bow before smirking up at Yukio with an air of arrogance and self assurance.

"My daddy is gonna kick your ass." Yukio sniffed.

The man blinked several times before tossing his head back and laughing. Yukio's eyes burned with anger. How dare he laugh at daddy!

"Oh, kid, I hope he tries." The mirth faded into what Yukio could only as cold burning rage. He flinched back slightly at the sight. The man locked eyes with him again. "I got to the pair of you before he did, after all. I'd like to have a little chat with the man that had something so important to do that he didn't realize an army of demons were currently targeting his children. Believe me, kid, I'm gonna enjoy it."

Then, Dante crunched his knuckles, eyes gleaming. It might have been more menacing if Rin wasn't storming from his perch on Dante's shoulder.

Yukio shivered.

This… Was not going to end well. He just knew it.

A/N: Thoughts? Responses? Suggestions? Criticisms? Feel free to leave a review :)