Chapter Two:

Lemon Demon

"Eins, Zwei, Drei!"

Taking the form of a hamster was something he was quite used to. Like his brother, it was a convenient way to get around without arousing suspicion towards his demonic nature, though it was highly troublesome for everything else. Amaimon had only recently had his body returned to him after his brother had deemed him well-behaved enough to go and explore on his own in his true form. The idea of having to change back against his will for a second time made him more than upset, but he felt it was a great deal more pleasurable than being tortured or eviscerated.

In a great puff of smoke and a snap of Mephisto's fingers, the once lithe demon was transformed into a miniscule hamster, his signature tuft of hair still present on top of his furry head. Amaimon quickly got to his hind legs, looking expectantly at his brother. Mephisto merely smiled at the sight, his expression betraying nothing.

"Now, the longer you behave, the quicker the sentence will pass, is that clear?"

"Yes, brother!" Amaimon darted across the rug and onto the desk where he quickly hopped into the hamster wheel, steadying himself. He maintained his momentum, pushing the wheel along and broke into a scurrying run, finding the action to be very fun.

Fun was something Amaimon lacked. Mephisto knew this all too well. Yet, were the Earth King to have more fun, things like True Cross Academy would constantly be in a state of repair. While Mephisto knew that many of the things that occurred on school grounds weren't always the fault of his brother's lacking attention span, it certainly didn't benefit from Amaimon's constantly changing whims to explore.

He closed his eyes, remembering a time when a scavenger hunt gone awry ended up in thousands of dollars of damages to a local group of independent shops. Amaimon had been sent to find some rather obscure items, but the idea of getting to explore the previously unexplored was too interesting to pass up. Of course, in no time at all, the thrill of challenging the local fauna got the better of him. Mephisto sighed, opening one eye to watch the little hamster of a sibling run at top speed in his wheel. He was staring straight ahead, his mind on his nonexistent goal. Mephisto leaned forward, resting against the desk as he watched Amaimon silently over steepled fingers.

"Enjoying yourself there, dear brother?"

"Yes! This is fun!"

"I see," he closed his eyes again. "You enjoy running around looking for things to destroy, don't you?" He chuckled, leaning in a bit closer. "Sometimes I wonder what I should do with you. You're such a little trouble maker! I often think my town would be in ruins if I let you go so easily. It really is such a shame that you have to be locked up here like this. If only you had a little bit of room to find yourself." Mephisto's lopsided grin allowed a fang to poke through as he continued to watch his brother run.

Amaimon only barely registered the words coming out of his big brother's mouth and interpreted them as signs he'd be getting a bigger cage. He quickly stopped to look at his brother, realizing only too late the consequences of his actions, and he became caught up in the momentum of his still spinning wheel, turning and turning until the sheer force of its spin sent him falling flat to the bottom.

He squeaked weakly as it finally slowed to a stop and rolled out of the hamster wheel before immediately scurrying past it to face his brother in excitement.

"Does this mean I'm getting a new cage? Does this mean I'm getting new toys, too?!"

"Hmm, something like that, yes!"

"Yay!" He cheered, hopping up and down on his tiny little paws. Mephisto sighed, his smile taming slightly and he placed a cupped hand onto the desk for his brother to crawl into. Amaimon quickly hopped on, scurrying up his arm rather than staying in his palm and took his rightful place by his brother's side. It was almost an honor to be allowed to perch on Mephisto's shoulder like that, surveying the little kingdom his brother took so much pride in. He never could understand his brother's love of Assaiah, but it never stopped him from taking it all in. Mephisto's eyes traveled up to look at the little hamster and he straightened his posture once more, leaning back in his chair.

"For now, however, you're to be on your best behavior. Step out of line, and I'll be extending your little punishment," he put emphasis on the little. "Make sure you remember that. I won't have a repeat of last time." Mephisto stood, picking up his top hat and placed it gingerly on his head, quite pleased with his appearance.

"I won't forget this time, brother!" He peered over Mephisto's shoulder, watching as he stepped through the door and into the magically connected office of the academy. Mephisto stared at the annoyed expression of his brother, standing impatiently before the two, his tail twisting violently.

"Where the hell have you been?! Don't you know how long I've been standing here?!"

"My, my, what brings you to my office so early in the morning?" He held out his arm towards the desk, Amaimon speeding down it and onto the wooden surface where he immediately allowed himself into the small metal cage. He quickly closed and locked the door, sitting quietly in the middle of his little prison, looking between the two demon brothers innocently.

Rin watched the hamster with both suspicion and amazement, a small "Whoa" escaping him. It took him no time at all to forget the demon rodent and his anger was once more focused on the headmaster.

"Oh, I don't know! Could it be the fact the classroom is locked?! I actually woke up on time today by some miracle and the stupid class isn't even meeting?! Why didn't anyone tell me, and where the hell is Yukio anyway?! Why am I…"

Amaimon sat, watching his younger half sibling continue to rant while Mephisto merely smiled, amused at Rin's suffering. When a sudden shadow loomed overhead, he darted to the far corner of his cage only to see Mephisto's arm come to a rest on it. He patted the top of the bars rhythmically as he waited for Rin to give in.

"Are we done?" Rin had finally ended his tirade, looking as though he had just completed a difficult battle.

"Y-Yeah, but that doesn't me—"

"Ah, ah," Mephisto wagged a finger at him tauntingly. "If you had read the amended syllabus, you would have seen that there would be no classes today. As for Mr. Okumura, he's away on a special job. I hope that answers all your questions!" He finished his explanation cheerfully, his grin growing at the sight of Rin's disbelief.

"Wait, what?! Amended syllabus?! When'd that happen?! Do I even have one of those?" He flung his sword and backpack from his shoulders before diving into it, pulling out a number of crumpled papers that he skimmed feverishly, looking for any sign of the amended syllabus.

Mephisto watched Rin stew in his suffering, taking the temporary moment of silence to sit down behind his desk. The school's office was an almost mirror image of his home office save for some minor details. Student's like Rin were far too reckless to leave valuable items like his memorabilia out for all to see, and only the bare minimum decorated the tables, Mephisto changing things up now and then according to his mood. He rested his head in a hand with a smile as Rin casually threw homework sheets to the floor in an attempt to locate the syllabus that he could only pray actually existed.

At the very back of a very tattered and very drooled on notebook was the syllabus and he glared down at the words "No class" printed in red ink. He sunk to his knees depressingly, hanging his head in defeat. "This must have been what Yukio handed out last week. Dammit." After a few more seconds of sulking, he began shoving the mess of homework and notes into his backpack again, pulling it over his shoulder. His expression had lightened considerably as he got back to his feet, replaced by a more determined smile.

"Thanks anyway. Guess I'm going back home and getting some sleep," he sighed turning back for the door.

"What's your hurry? Since you have all that free time on your hands, perhaps you'd like to do some odd jobs for me."

"No way! All your odd jobs are either too stupid or too much trouble. You can't trick me into washing your windows again, you clown!" He quickly darted for the door, slamming it behind him. Mephisto's smile was genuine, finding his brother's simple-mindedness to be of the utmost hilarity.

Amaimon blinked, his ears ringing from the sudden silence and he watched the door a bit before looking up at his brother.

"Brother? How long do you think it'll take him before he realizes he's left the demon sword behind?"

"I think he'll walk right back through that door right about," he paused, confident in his timing. "now."

The door swung open with such force it threatened to come clean off its hinges as Rin rushed back into the office, snatching up the sword with an embarrassed whine.

"Don't think this changes anything!" With that he ran back out, slamming the door shut behind him a second time. Mephisto sighed, attempting to hold back a laugh before he noticed the shape of a small box on the floor in front of his desk.

"And what's this?" Before he could leave his chair, the door of the hamster cage had been flung open and Amaimon dove to the floor to examine the rare drop. He scurried up to the box, turning it over until it was right side up. A rather comical chibi lemon danced on the cover of the red and white candy box, its expression one of surprise and delight.

"Explosively sour flavor in every drop," Amaimon read the words slowly before looking up at Mephisto for permission. "They're lemon bombs! Can I eat them? Can I, please, brother?"

"Oh, why not? Knowing Rin, he'll never even notice they're gone for another week."