Chapter Four

Mistaken Manga

The first thing Shiemi did when she got home was to pass through the store to greet her mother before rushing through her garden. She had been talking with Yuki and Rin after delivering Yuki's order from the shop and hadn't realized how late it was until the sun had already set. Thankfully, she had already tended to her garden before the errand so all she had now was some homework before bed.

She opened the door to the out building she had made her home and walked in. Leaving the light off she ventured to the small bathroom where she washed her face of the days grime. After she removed her shoes and stockings, throwing the latter in the hamper the large striped bow followed soon after. Shiemi wasn't fond of the school uniform Sir Pheles had given her. It was so tiny that she felt almost naked. Her own clothing had been much more comfortable even if it was ill suited for cram school.

Removing the rest of her uniform, she walked back into her small bedroom. At first, she had moved into her grandmothers old space as a way of becoming closer to her garden and memory. But after the incident with the minor demon her mother agreed it was good for her to have her own space and be used to living on her own. It had been lonely at first and she still worried about demons and intruders even with the warding. After all, Amaimon had come and gone twice already with no one being any the wiser.

"Are you going to take much longer? I've waited enough as it is."

Shiemi shrieked and looked around wildly for whomever had spoken. Lounging on her bed was Amaimon, watching her curiously. She covered herself as best she could and raced back to her bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. What was he doing here? Just because she was curious about whether he had some good in him or not didn't mean she wasn't still terrified of him.

With shaking hands she slipped the silk robe her mother had gotten her for her birthday on. She had planned to go back out into the bedroom. The only problem was that now that her hand was on the doorknob she couldn't seem to force herself to turn it. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, willing the demon on her bed to be a figment of her tired imagination.

With delusional hope giving her the necessary coursge, she twisted the knob and poked her head outside. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on her bed that was empty. Relief washed over her and she stepped out of the bathroom. Perhaps the appearance of the demon prince was a hallucination left over from the fever. Walking further into the room she kept an eye out just in case.

"Finally."

This time the voice came from behind her, between her and the bathroom. There was no where to run, he'd catch her before she could take another step. So with dread welling up inside of her, Shiemi turned around to face the demon.

He didn't look malicious, but then he never did. Amaimon always had a board look to him with his blank face and half lidded eyes.

Shiemi didn't know what to do, her mind was completely empty. It seemed rude to outright ask him why he was here. She was also afraid he might kill her for the insult. So instead she blurted out the first thing hat came to mind.

"It's healed!" She said louder than she meant to. Her cheeks heated up with an embarrassed blush. "You mark has healed. I was- I was surprised when it healed though."

Shiemi brought her hand up to cup Amaimon's mark. From the moment she had been told what happened she had dreaded the ugly scar that would take the place of the wound. Instead of lumped and gnarled flesh, a circle of silvery scar tissue had appeared with strange writing in it, it looked more like someone had branded her rather than bit her. Sir Pheles had been the only one capable of reading it, saying it was the language of Gehenna.

Amaimon brushed her hand away and pulled the collar of her robe down. She was hesitant at first, fearing he might bite her again, but after a moment she craned her neck to give him a better view. His thumb glided over the spot causing Shiemi to shiver at the sensation.

Leaning away from him she adjusted her robe, making sure she was as covered as much as possible. She'd like to just change into her nightgown and go to bed, but it didn't look like she'd get a chance to sleep anytime soon.

"Ah, is-is there anything you need?" She ventured, hoping she didn't sound too rude.

"It's come to my attention that humans view a bond such as this differently then we do in Gehenna." Amaimon said with a frown. He looked frustrated with the very idea. "Tomorrow we will go to the haunted house together."

There was complete silence as her brain tried to process. "Um." Was he planning to take her out on a date? "I'm afraid I don't understand."

His frown deepened further. "Tomorrow evening I will pick you up. Be prepared." And with that said he walked past her and out of the room.

Shiemi stood there a minute longer in the dark shaking her head. "But, there aren't any haunted houses in True Cross Town." She mumbled quietly to herself. What did this mean? Was she going out on a date with a demon? He didn't really give her a choice in the matter. Why would he do that if she was just a pawn in his games with Rin? This was all so confusing!

Moaning to herself she fell to her knees. "Why?"

XxX

Amaimon ignored the penetrating stare of his older brother in favor of the odd assortment of things his brother had collected while here. It ranged from small trinkets and action figures to an entire bookcased wall of anime and manga. It was from this very wall that he had gotten his idea to take his bride in a date from.

Finally having enough of the hole being burnt into the back of his skull, he turned to face his brother. Mephisto was wearing the shirt with his latest favorite character in the front. "What is it, brother?"

"Where did you get the idea to take Miss Moriyama to a haunted house?" He asked.

Was that all that was bothering him. Walking down toward the end if his Japanese media wall, he plucked the manga that had given him the idea. He tossed it through the air to Mephisto, ignoring his brother's outraged cry. Giving him a sour look, his brother turned the book over and promptly blanched. He flipped through a few of the pages and closed it.

"You will not do anything that was illustrated in here." He said waving the book at him.

Amaimon tilted his head In confusion. "Why not? Isn't that what a wife is supposed to do? That way seemed more fun."

Mephisto shook his head. "Absolutely not. Things are different in this day and age. Most women expect you to get to know them before they'll do these types of things regardless if you've laid a claim to her."

"Get to know her?" He said slowly. What an odd concept.

"Yes. Take her out for dinner or the movies. Something like that where you two can talk to each other. That's how it's done now." He waved the manga around again. "If you try to do this with her I'll have no choice but to lock you up."

Amaimon stiffened at the threat. His brother never made such claims loosely. "I understand." He said before leaving. He only had a few short hours to come up with an activity that fell with in his brothers criteria.

"And stay out of my hentai!" He called just as Amaimon left the room.

A/N

Sorry this chapter is so short but the next one should be longer. As always, please leave a review with your thoughts on the story. I love to read them.