Cactus Flower

A/N: Had rewritten this from something that didn't really make sense. Sorry for the tardiness.


"You're going to charm every person you meet. They're going to worship you like a god."

AU: If Iblis had a daughter born fourteen years before the Okumura siblings.


"This is your uncle."

Senryū is ten years old when she meets her uncle for the first time. He's introduced as her father's only living relative in Japan and as a headmaster of a certain academy in Tokyo.

Senryū has never been to Tokyo.

Kanazawa is small, quiet, and far away from the noise of Tokyo. Ayako had thought it a great idea to move from the insomniac city and into the refreshing province. The farther they are from the city, the farther they are from prying eyes and a certain uncle who tries too hard to be on friendly terms with them.

Too bad she had underestimated his title as the King of Time and Space.


Ayako's apartment is just enough to house two people comfortably, with a bedroom for her and another for her daughter. There is a small kitchen in one corner, fitted with a stove, an oven, a sink, and a fridge. The dining area could fit four people comfortably, with the island counter separating the area from the kitchen fitting an additional two people on stools. The living area sits across the dining area, and is furnished with a three-seater couch, two armchairs, a short coffee table, and a television set.

The decorations are simple, homely, quaint enough to embody the relaxed atmosphere of the region.

So Mephisto Pheles stands out, as he usually does, against the backdrop of maple leaves in the autumn season.

"Kanazawa is beautiful! I understand now why you'd choose to move here out of all the provinces of Japan."

Ayako doesn't drop the groceries in her arms, but she does drop the smile she had been wearing. She's not that surprised that he managed to find them, but she's surprised that it took him about a year to do so.

"What are you doing here?" She glowered at him.

He looks hurt by her words, and responds dramatically, "You had moved away so quickly, I hadn't had the chance to say goodbye!"

She blinks, but her scowl doesn't disappear.

"You're not welcome here." She said as she places the groceries on the counter.

"Can't I at least see my niece?" He asked with a charming smile.

Charming? To anyone but Ayako, it seems.

"No." She had answered quickly.

"Kanazawa is hone to a lot of Buddhist sects."

Ayako exhales through her nose, knowing full well what his intentions are, and says, "You want to set-up a branch here, then be my guest, but they are not interested in any of your exorcist business."

She sounds so sure of herself, but she had never once spoken to any monk from any sect about Senryū's… condition. She feared for her daughter's safety, after all. The sects might not be related to the True Cross Order, but it was better to keep Senryū's real identity a secret.

Which might be one of the reasons why her daughter had began her rebellious phase a little too early.

But Mephisto doesn't know that.

He shouldn't know that.

"You're putting ideas in my head, Ayako-san!" He exclaimed at her statement, thinking it an interesting suggestion, "I never thought of-"

His cheery expression was met with Ayako's furious glare, "Get out."


But Ayako's unwelcome glares and scalding remarks have not deterred the Demon King of Space and Time from appearing whenever he wanted. Which is why he appears one Saturday afternoon while Ayako was relaxing with a cup of tea and Senryū was doing her homework.

"Hello, my dear!"

Mephisto's cheery demeanor was met with the most ferocious look a ten-year-old girl could muster.

But Ayako snaps at her daughter's lack of hospitality, "Senryū!"

To which the little girl's glowering response is: "What?"

"Your uncle." Ayako nods to acknowledge him, gesturing Senryū to greet him properly.

The little girl blinks once before narrowing her eyes.

"Hello." Her response was gruff, and Mephisto could think of three different sources of her anger.

1. Ayako has told her about him in the worst way possible.

2. Senryū, as a child, is distrusting of everyone but her dear mother.

3. She's just shy, that's all.

Mephisto replies to her curt response with a smile that hypothetically bring a smile to any child's face.

"You're scary!"

Except Senryū.

The little girl rushes to her mother's side, a look of disgust on her face. Mephisto's eyes meet Ayako's-and it is true what they say:

Like mother, like daughter.

He just hoped that Yukimachi Senryū would later on take after her father.

The little girl definitely inherited Ayako's dark hair and her father's orange eyes, but beneath that pretty exterior must lie something sinister, something dark.

At least, Mephisto hopes so.


After Mephisto's unceremonious arrival, Ayako was thankful he left at the instant of Senryū's immediate dislike of her uncle. What Ayako didn't expect, however, was Senryū's resentment to be directed towards her as well.

"Where's my father?"

How formal. Senryū must be taking after all those historical dramas she watches late at night when Ayako was sound asleep.

"Senryū, we talked about this…" Ayako tries to explain, "He's not here."

"Why?" The little girl presses.

They talked about this before; before Senryū's rebellious stage had manifested in refusing to go to bed by nine o'clock in the evening, eating too much, and being overtly rude to guests. She told Senryū that her father couldn't commit to such a relationship and left Ayako as a single mother.

Senryū didn't cry back then, but instead asked, "Doesn't he love you?"

Not, "Doesn't he love us?"

Ayako could have concluded from that experience that Senryū doesn't long for a father figure in her life, doesn't cry and beg for Ayako to bring their father back, doesn't feel sorry for herself when they see other families around town, but Ayako is wrong.

"What happened to him? When is he coming back?" Senryū continued to ask, with each question growing louder and more insistent than the last.

"It's what's best, Senryū." Ayako says for an excuse, "I don't think he's coming back. I'm sorry."

She reaches to embrace her daughter, but the girl pushes her away.

"You're lying!"

And Senryū's hands are hot, hot, hot, almost burning, almost as if…

"Senryū!"

Smoke emanates from Senryū's hands and a fire blazes inside her eyes. For the moment, Ayako is terrified, shocked into a stillness as her daughter rages.

"Why did he leave? Was it because of me? I want to know, I want to know!"

Senryū screams and shouts, clutches onto Ayako's skirt-

"Tell me!"

And the fabric burns and tears at her touch.

"Senryū…"

The little girl pulls away immediately to look at her steaming hands, before looking back at her mother in horror.

"What did I…? Did I do that?" She points to Ayako's ruined skirt. "What's… happening, mommy?"

Ayako had never seen Senryū so frightened before.

"Senryū, calm down." She reaches out to Senryū and scalds herself at the touch.

"Ah!"

"Mommy!" The little girl instinctively rushes to Ayako's side to seek comfort, but Ayako's automatic response was to pull away and exclaim:

"Don't touch me!"

Of course, any child who hears those words from their mother is sure to run away.

"Mommy, I don't know what's happening."

But then again, Senryū isn't like most children. She was raised by Ayako to be strong and resilient, beautiful and gracious. Ayako raised Senryū to become a girl who will later on become a well-loved woman.

"You're going to be loved by everyone you meet. They're going to worship you like a god."

Ayako doesn't take into account the possibility of her daughter being treated as the spawn of a demon, rather than the daughter of a celebrated actress. And Senryū had often spoken about her dream of becoming an actress just like her mother. With her bright smiles and sparkling eyes, who's to deny Senryū of her dream?

Apparently, it is the reality that she is no ordinary human being, but she is the daughter of the Demon King of Fire.

"Senryū, please just try to calm down." Ayako pleads as the terrified girl is currently in danger of setting herself, and likely the entire house, on fire.

Ayako has no other choice, so she says:

"If you calm down, I'll tell you everything you want to know about your father."


Of course, any mother would know that their terrified child would sooner cry than listen to whatever they have to say, but in Senryū's case, she falls unconscious while Ayako was in the middle of telling the young girl everything she ought to know about her birth and about who she really is. Ayako resists the urge to cradle her daughter in her arms, knowing full well that her daughter's body is burning to the touch, and perhaps the slightest contact would merit a nasty burn. It's a wonder to Ayako, however, that Senryū's dress is unmarred and unburnt.

It's Senryū's favorite sundress, after all.

In Ayako's hand, there is an old cellphone whose screen displayed a single contact with the name, "EMERGENCY." Her thumb presses lightly on the 'call' button, hesitating whether it is the right time to call such a person.

A few moments pass, and her thumb slips, or so she thinks, and a call is being made.

Ring. Ring.

After four rings, a loud knocking on the front door is heard.

"Shit."

Ayako mutters something incorrigible before approaching the door.

When she opens it, a confident-looking Mephisto Pheles meets her displeased face.

"Why the sour face, Ayako-san? I am her guardian, after all."


The Demon King of Space and Time stood in Ayako's living room, leaning down on one knee before her unconscious daughter, a gentle look on his face as he reached to touch the girl's cheek.

Ayako wishes that his hand would burn upon contact, but it doesn't.

Her skin is still warm, a slight jolt erupts from the contact and Mephisto feels as if he had touched the searing-hot skin of his younger brother when he was feeling a particular emotion quite strongly. He turns to Ayako then, notices her burnt skirt, and offers a consoling smile.

"In retrospect, you did have another choice."

But the woman feels repulsed by his expression and responds bitterly, "Do you think I would consider that option? My daughter's already terrified of you."

Of course she wouldn't consider it. She wouldn't even consider leaving Mephisto to 'babysit' Senryū for a day to be a solution to anything.

"How rude!" He plasters a look of hurt on his face. "This form was made especially to appeal to children."

"I don't want you anywhere near her."

Mephisto could smirk at the stubbornness of this mortal woman. To think that even after ten years she still had the will to deny any of his willing assistance, that she still had the audacity to speak against him as if she had the power. Surely, the girl would take after her mother's adamantine personality and hot-blooded temper. And if combined with Iblis' strength and power…

He can't help but feel excited for this child.

"And how do you plan on stopping me?" He stood to his full height, and towered over the woman. "What you did a while ago is quite admirable, Ayako-san, though you could have done it a little bit earlier."

The mere fact that she, the woman who had detested him for ten years, called him before anyone else was a feat in itself. But he would greater appreciate it if she called him while her daughter was on fire, so he could see for himself how strong she is.

"My daughter could have set the house on fire." Ayako grounds out.

Mephisto's mischievous expression doesn't falter.

"Oh, her power hasn't reached its full potential." He explains, "Even if her demon heart is sealed away, there's no guarantee that there won't be a repeat of this."

There's the smallest hint of fear in Ayako's eyes, and Mephisto knows that a mother's sadness surely overpowers a mother's fury.

Ayako hesitates, and her voice comes down to a whisper when she asks, "She wouldn't be able to live a completely normal life, then?"

Mephisto sighs. "You should already know that answer to that, Ayako-san."

Ayako's eyes drift to the sleeping girl on the floor and she thinks to touch her daughter's face. She leans down, knees nearly touching the back of Senryū's head. One of her hands reach slowly to cradle the girl, afraid of being burnt. But when her hand skims Senryū's hair, she feels nothing but a gentle warmth. She moves to cradle her daughter, clutching Senryū's body to hers.

She carries Senryū's slumbering form and lays it down on the couch.

After, she turns to Mephisto. Her soft expression hardens before she says, "There's a reason why I allowed you inside this house."

"And I thought you were finally extending your hospitality towards me!"

"A…" She paused. "Strange man came the other day."

"Oh?" He cocked his head in curiosity.

"You exorcists aren't the only ones who are aware of demons, right?"

He nods.

Ayako sighs before continuing, "They introduced themselves as the one who will lead this world into the light."

Mephisto knows only one group who calls themselves as such, and their name is bitter to his tongue.

"The Illuminati."

If his eyes darkened to an unsightly color, if his mouth formed a jagged scowl, if time suddenly stopped and an ominous atmosphere suddenly filled the room, he wouldn't mind at all if he were in Gehenna. But he was a gentleman demon here in Assiah, he wouldn't show his darker side before this human woman whom he wants to consider him an ally. By all means, he should present himself as a polished demon, a demon unlike any other.

So he clears his throat, and straightens himself up.

"Yukimachi-san." His tone suddenly becomes formal, "What exactly did they tell you?"

Ayako doesn't utter a word, but the apprehensive look on her face says just as much.

"Ayako-san, my older brother will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Now, if you want my help, you will tell me what happened."

Ayako says nothing, but the apprehensive look on her face had flushed all the color from her cheeks.

Does he look so terrifying, after all?

"They claimed to know a cure." Ayako responded after several seconds of silence. She continues nervously, "A cure… to my daughter's… condition."

"Impossible." He states.

"It seemed worth a try." She tries to reason.

"No." He grounds out. "What did you tell them, Ayako-san?"

"They offered my daughter a second chance!"

Oh, no.

"It was something you could never offer!"

Oh, these humans and the temptation of a second chance.

Mephisto resists the urge to laugh at the look on Ayako's face. It was as if she was accusing him of something, as if she's figured everything out, as if she's bested him at what he does best.

Trickery is all in the mind, and to Mephisto, Ayako hasn't the slightest idea of what she might have gotten herself and her dear daughter into.

"I just hope you said no, Ayako-san." He says, a little laugh bubbling from the back of his throat, "Even if my brother won't take it for an answer."

"Why?"

"Because if you said yes, then consider your daughter dead."

If Ayako's already terrified face could become even more frightened, then it would have been so.

"No, no…" She mutters in disbelief, searching his eyes for any semblance of mockery. "My daughter… She wouldn't…"

Ayako begins to sob uncontrollably, clutching her slumbering daughter to her chest. So Ayako said no, then? Mephisto knows that a mother's fear for her child outweighs her own selfish dream for her child.

"As long as I am here, Ayako-san." He says, voice no longer foreboding, but with a comforting tone. "No harm would come to your daughter."

Ayako looks at him then, and it is not a look of anger nor of fear, but a look of pleading.

"Have faith, Ayako-san."

The woman nods, and again, and again, until her surrender is embedded into her mind, until her stubborn pride is replaced by humble desperation.

"Please." She begs.

Perfect, Mephisto thinks, All according to plan.


A/N: A little shorter than I had wanted, but it's an update! Yay?