Shima was walking to Leah's room, stomach churning.

Lying to her should have been easier. Not pleasant, obviously, but after doing it for so long, one would think it would be easy. Well, it wasn't. Now Shima had something else to pin at Leah.

Of course Lewin hadn't contacted him. No one knew about that Illuminati agent, not his parents, not Bon and definitely not the Order. But Maira wouldn't be so quick to trust him if he told her truth; that he was tired of it all, tired of his family and Bon and everything that was expected of him. He was pretty sure something like that would end with his entrails splattered. Or worse.

He stepped into her room, only to find her the same way he'd left her yesterday; hunched over that trice-damned plant, fingers glowling slightly.

"It shouldn't take that long, should it?" He asked out loud. The amount of time it for her to respond was big- too big for someone like her.

She turned to face him, though careful not to move her hands. Her face was completely pale, and the dark circles under her eyes were only making it worse. Her hair was matted and her eyes were dull, almost as if she wasn't really there.

"Yeah..." She murmured. Shima made an effort to peek over her shoulder and see how far it had gone. He wasn't sure how the plant should look, but he was pretty sure that it used to be blue, once. Now it was the color of an aged banana- literally.

He hesitated for a second before reaching out and shaking her slightly. "I think it's done." Leah, despite the second, rougher shake, didn't move a muscle. Shima frowned, Was it possible that Amaterasu was truly taking over?

This time he skipped all formalities and pulled her away. She fell backwards, hours spent on her knees rendering them weak. The fabric of her clothes swirled around her and finally clung to her. Shima wondered when was the last time she ate properly. Even through the fabric, it was easy to start counting ribs.

"I'm not done!" She protested, and desperately tried to crawl back to it. Shima watched on, completely apalled. Once again, Leah cupped her hands over the flowers, but nothing happened. No glowing.

Leah let out a pained howl, like a wounded animal. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't like this, at all. He reached out to her again, this time in an effort to comfort her; she was shaking and sobbing, like she was about to have a panic attack. Then all at once, she shot up and away from him, emitting a low, guttural sound that didn't belong in a human voice box.

"Do not presume to touch me!" It sounded like two people speaking together. One was definitely Leah, with her high but sure voice. The other was booming and demanding to be obeyed. When she finally turned to look at him, Shima realised just how dead he was. Because there was no way in hell Leah's eyes turned white when someone touched her.

He did back up, although he wasn't sure that leaving would be a good idea. The now really possessed Leah growled at him, two voices mixed together. Something in the way she glared at him told him that, if Amaterasu wanted him dead, he'd already be dead. Heck, even if she was taking her time, he still wouldn't be able to survive her; summoning Yamantaka was too costly, and it really wouldn't help if he wound up passed out on the floor.

"Make her stop." She spat out each word like it was his doing... whatever it was.

"I- what?" He asked stupidly, cold sweat already beading on his forehead.

"I don't care if have to tie her down, make her stop stealing my power!" She yelled, completely infuriated.

"Stealing?" What?

Instead of another annoyed response, she sighed and suddenly Leah crumbled to the floor. After two heartbeats, Shima bent down to check her pulse. She was alive still. Her skin was too hot though, as though she had a fever.

Did demons get the flu? Because he'd really need a good excuse for that.

Leah didn't show up. Neither did Shima.

Maira knew it was for the best- Lucifer had banned them from seeing or talking to her, and he wasn't aware of the number that order had been disobeyed. Still, it would help her feel a little better. Going back into friendly territory would be nice if it weren't for the fact that she was going in as a triple agent. And the fact that she'd immediately be swarmed by Angel, who never really trusted her, because he doesn't trust anyone except Lewin. And she couldn't even ask him for help!

Just how the Hell was she supossed to pull this off without having a heart attack first?!

She was just about to get into the van when Lucifer reached out and tugged at her sleeve. It would have been very childlike, if he wasn't a billions of years old Demon king. Maira turned around just the same, the ever present fear of being discovered hammering in her chest.

"It is not everyday someone throws themselves into danger so willingly." He began, and the paranoid side of Maira shivered.

"Let us hope that the results will exceed expectations." He said finally, and she wasn't sure what to feel; relief, because he was still none the wiser, or misery because even he didn't think she could do it?

Without further ado, Maira was loaded into the van, and well on her way to what was probably the most ill advised decision she'd ever made.

"I could not help but notice Amaterasu's absense." Lucifer said absently.

He was staring at the ceiling, but Shima knew full well to whom that complaint was directed.

"She is... not feeling well. Her vessel is exhausting, as she put it." He answered. He'd missed Maira's departure because of Leah; according to Amaterasu, she wasn't used to channeling too much power. The result was an extremely weak Leah that managed to act like a junkie. It had gotten so bad in the morning that he had to tie her down in a chair and force feed her, while making sure she didn't try to zap him.

There was a way the lie rolled off his tongue, that made him shiver. It had really gotten easy for him to do it and frankly, it was worrying him. On the bright side, Lucifer still trusted him to a certain point and, unless he had some sort of secret ability to tell when people lied, Shima was good to go. He just had to mix in some truth and consistency, and no one would know any better.

What, or who, did worry him was Castillo. Other than the fact that- as his captain- she was extremely dissapointed with him taking Amaterasu's side, she kept cornering him whenever they were out of Lucifer's office. At first it felt like when Leah did the same thing, but even while pretending to be Amaterasu, Leah could never be nearly as scary as Castillo. Shima had seen the woman take down humans that got in the way, and even recruits that got too nosy, and it wasn't pretty. He knew that, if she ever set her mind to it, he would be dead before he knew what hit him.

For the time being however, she was harmlessly standing next to him, keeping her sight locked on Lucifer's heart monitor. She, unlike everyone else in Lucifer's inner circle, looked peachy. She wasn't starved half to death or addicted to sunlight shenanigans or stuck with babysitting someone with the above problems. One would have thought she'd be troubled; she really, really hated the idea of sending Maira in as a spy. In fact, she had suggested simply executing her, since she wasn't going to be traded like the other one had. Lucifer had, for better or worse, listened to Amaterasu's plan instead.

And now Maira was being shipped off.

Rin blinked once.

Then he blinked again.

A good full minute had passed, and no one had dared moved, or even breathe. Bon was kneeling in front of Lightning, who was casually perched on the teacher's desk. Bon, who had never let anyone boss him around- because no one dared to, really-, was kneeling at the feet of Lightning, who might as well have fallen asleep in that one minute.

Then, the moment of shock was over, ended mercifully by a shrug of the man's shoulders.

"No."

Bon shot right up, an embarrassed blush creeping into his face. "W-what?! Why?"

"You see, I'm not a great teacher. Besides, everyone says you're pretty good on own. Not much I can teach you anyw- oh."

While Bon was basically choking on his next plead, Lightning casually pulled his phone out of his pocket, and smiled at the caller ID.

"Oh my, really? Why, that is wonderful news! Yes, yes! I'll be right there!" He said excitedly once he answered it.

"Well, I'm afraid that is it for today." He waved at the classroom of stunned students and literally ran out, not even bothering to put his things back in his bag- he just gathered them clumsily in his arms and took off.

"W-what... What was that all about?!" Izumo exclaimed suddenly, and Rin wasn't sure if she was referring to Lightning's sudden burst, or Bon's out-of-character... plead.

This should have been longer. Like, 500 words longer.

Anyhow, just read chapters 71-72 of the manga, and I thought I should put Bon asking to be Lewin's apprentice in the story. I am going to be using these two anyway, might as well add even more drama... like Bon's man-crush.