AN: Hello, yall missed me ? I was taking a long shower. I hope you'll love more Minos here lmaoo, Good luck. Thanks to Smoke for correcting the chapter.

Chapter 3: This is What you Wanted, Right?

As Minos walked towards the exit, he heard a noise outside. When he arrived, he saw Lum electrocuting someone, then realized who it was. He laughed softly, which Lum heard and stopped to look at him. The boy who had been kneeling in front of her raised his head and when his eyes caught sight of him, he stared in horror as the big Oni put his hand on Lum's shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

"Tell me Lum, what's going on?" His voice was unnaturally calm and gentle, sounding almost like a snake guarding its venom.

"That subspecies just touched me." She answered with a coldness that could freeze any living person without taking her eyes off the human in front of her.

Minos brought his face closer to her head, whispering in her ear.

"I love it when you talk like that."

A bitter taste came into Ataru's mouth, but mostly disgust. Seeing Lum and this guy too close made him want to vomit. He thought about what had happened with Rupa, and sometimes even about the other dramas. Lum, who always went elsewhere when there was a problem with him. Had she just done the same thing in front of him again?

He then felt a chill down his spine when he noticed that Minos' eyes continued to look at him with a mischievous smile. Something was wrong. Still, he wanted to make him react.

"You, you're the guy from earlier!" He announced.

Minos raised an eyebrow while keeping his smile.

"Nice to see you again." He replied with a lowered voice.

Lum then changed her expression, while frowning.

"You know him? This guy claims to know me." She had told him while looking at him.

"Yes." Minos replied with his eyes closed while he was still smiling.

Ataru felt his spine shiver again as Minos moved closer to him.

"We crossed paths this morning."

Ataru looked at him with wide eyes, he was ready to tell him anything, but he was cut short.

"Bring him to me in my research room, I would like to have a word with him, alone."

The Onis made a gesture of order and grabbed both of the boy's arms to be dragged away. However, before Minos entered the building, he approached the girl with the bright green hair again.

"I won't be long, I'll be fine."

Before she could answer him, he sealed his lips against hers and closed his eyes. Ataru's heart wanted to flee from his chest, an amount of rage that he had never felt before birthed in his veins. He had seen Lum try to cheat just to piss him off so many times before, but never, never would she have dared to kiss anyone but him. The anger that gnawed at him was meant this time for the man to whom she offered her lips.

When the Oni stopped, he gave him a look that could mean only one thing; "she belongs to me". He withdrew from her and walked away, only to be followed by the Oni who were dragging Ataru. The human tried to struggle, and shouted several times at Lum who was watching him out of the corner of his eye.

Once inside, Ataru was shocked at the gigantic size of the palace. Hundreds of pillars held up the ceiling and most of them were marbled with a tabby texture. Although the palace appeared to be a building that might be in an ancient style, technology was hidden within. The human was forced into one of the elevators, now surrounded by plenty of other people.

"Ahoy!" Ataru tried to shout at the larger Oni who had his back to him, only to be hit on the head. This pissed him off even more.

After dragging him a bit more they arrived in a strange room, which looked like it could be a kind of research laboratory, but in a very dark and old style. Minos went behind his desk and sat down, still holding his scepter. The other two Onis forced the boy to sit across from him. They left when Minos raised his hand to tell them to leave.

The two looked at each other, Ataru stared as if his eyes were replaced by machine guns, but Minos still remained with a very smooth, almost chilling smile.

"The morning of the first day isn't even over when we meet again. I could have sworn we'd meet again atleast at the end of the last day."

Ataru stood up to put himself forward.

"What have you been doing? Where did you send me? What have you done to Lum?!"

Minos sighed.

"I thought you wanted a moment without Lum, so I took her for myself."

"What?! I may love all the other girls, but I refuse to see Lum with another guy, she is part of my heart!"

"You're so illogical... But to answer your question, I didn't do anything to her. She came to me on her own."

Ataru blinked and growled.

"What do you mean, after what happened two months ago, I refuse to believe it!"

"Obviously, something happened so she could come to me."

Minos looks at him with half-closed eyes, like a snake.

"This morning we made a pact you and I, five days of freedom for you for one day of your life for me."

He stood up and walked slowly over to him.

"Just think, we're still in your hometown, Tomobiki. But obviously, it has had some changes. What day of your life do you think I took away from you for things to have changed as they did?"

Ataru's eyes slowly widened as his eyebrows stopped being so pronounced, the realization was all so sudden.

"The day I won..." He had first whispered to lower his head and look around as if trying to wake up from a dream. "You just took the day I won in the first game of tag!"

Minos' hand was under his chin, and an ever so evil smile was on his face, he seemed impressed with what he had just said, but in the end he rolled his eyes.

"I could have done that." He flew up to stand behind the teenager. "But no, I didn't take that day. I went even further."

He continued to float as he went a little further. Ataru continued to watch him out of the corner of his eye, this guy was pissing him off to no end.

"I just took the most important day of your life! A desired wish in the near future against an essential event in the past to build a lifetime."

This time he blinked while looking at him, having no idea which day was actually the most important day of his life. Maybe the day he had met Shinobu, that day had always been very important for a while, or the day he had gotten the first name in his notebook... No that sounded stupid.

Seeing the boy's silence, Minos snickered while closing his eyes.

"You really have no idea?"

Although Ataru wanted to answer, Minos had closed in on him quickly. His face imposing upon the others.

"I simply took the day you were born." He said in a terrible yet calm voice.

Ataru had almost no reaction. In fact, it was inside him that he had reacted the most, his brain was flooding with so many questions, his legs were shaking, and his stomach was boiling. The Oni had then walked away.

"This must come as a shock to you, right?" Asked the Oni arrogantly.

Ataru struggled to find words.

"Why?"

"To put it simply, you're like a thorn in my side... If I had made Lum win in the first game of tag, she would probably still have had at least some interest in you. So it was better to remove you since you were born."

Ataru's voice was choked in his throat, almost impossible to get out.

"This planet, Lum should have won it. But your existence made it lose, and on top of that it has totally changed." Minos in turn took on a much darker voice than before, almost as if he was holding himself back from throwing himself at the teenager and strangling him until he died. "You took Lum from me, you changed her, and you took all her Oni pride with her."

At first Ataru breathed heavily but then he shook his head, and frowned harshly.

"She wanted this! I didn't do anything to make this happen!" He replied with a louder but rather shaky voice, unable to digest the words he had heard earlier.

Minos managed to calm down, then let out a chuckle.

"Anyways, you got what you wished for. Even though the world you came from doesn't exist anymore, you're a stranger now and you can do what you wish, without any problem!" He announced to him with open arms.

But the teenager was not really convinced, he kept his expression while looking at him, but tried to think of any ideas to get him out of there.

"I want to cancel the contract." He calmly stated..

The Oni lowered his arms, and gave him a sly smile, then walked slowly closer.

"Do you really think things work that way?"

Again, although Ataru was still seated, the Oni was standing, lowering his head to look at the human boy with dominance. His free hand snapped and a golden scroll appeared that he grabbed. Ataru recognized the object, it was the contract. Minos opened it, showing him the entire paper.

"You see? You signed it, and you can't take the signature off." He said very slyly.

However Ataru finally started to read what was written on it, he squinted his eyes while trying to concentrate in order to find words that could interest him, and didn't pay attention to anything else around.

"It is written that I have until the end of the contract to recover something I lost to cancel the pact." Ataru said in a very sober voice, while his eyes were still looking at the paper.

Minos' reaction was almost comical. He blinked while losing the composure that made him a superior being. He took the paper and while sweating, he also read what was written on it.

"It was written at the bottom in very small text." Informed the other boy.

But while Minos put his glasses back on properly, he bit the inside of his mouth having discovered such information. He then began to growl.

"Damn witches and their stupid pacts." He muttered.

He snapped to make the contract disappear, and turned around while closing his eyes and tried to look natural, and to not show the embarrassment he had after what he had just learned.

"Certainly! You can cancel the pact... But," He opened his eyes, his serpentine gaze returning. "Do you really think I'm going to let you?"

Ataru regained his seriousness, and continued to visually challenge the Oni in front of him. But this time, Minos relaxed, and rested against his desk.

"Come on, Moroboshi, think about it, you're not going to miss out on what you wished for and end up cancelling everything?" He asked him while crossing his arms. "See, you wanted what you wanted. You paid for it, so take what you're owed and don't worry about the rest."

He waited a second for a response from the boy, but the boy did not flinch.

"I would advise you to do what you must do... You don't want to be my enemy, Moroboshi."

"At the end of the pact..." Ataru finally began, "Will everything go back to normal?"

At this question, Minos' eyes were darker, but his smile continued to grow, this reaction spoke volumes about what he expected as an answer.

"What do you think?" That was Minos' only response.

The human boy kept his composure, even though he could feel drops of sweat sliding down his back.

"I want Lum back." Was finally the answer Ataru gave for the Oni's proposal.

At first, Minos gritted his teeth, but then laughed.

"You are really stubborn..." Minos commented.

He moved closer to him, and gripped his hair tightly to force the growling teenager to look at him.

"Such a wasted opportunity, all for a girl who wasn't meant for you."

He let go and slammed his fist against the table, which brought Onis guards into the room. Without waiting for an order, they grabbed the boy by the arms as he tried to struggle.

As he began to be tightly held by the guards, Ataru shouted at the guards several times, but one of them managed to put something against his mouth, a sort of metal plate that stuck. The other managed to tie his arms against his back. The teenager's eyes widened and he shook his head in all directions so that the thing that was now against his mouth could leave.

Minos looked at him, and held his chin tightly so that once again, they looked into each other's eyes.

"You'll see what it's like, the irony of existing in a world where you no longer exist."

He let go and ordered the boy to be sent to the jail of the palace. The teenager was forced to walk and follow the guards. After they made him walk through many different corridors, they finally arrived in an almost white room. There were several cells, whose doors were glassed. It reminded him of the cells in some Science Fiction movie that took place in space. He was put in one of them, and before he could rush out, the glass door closed on him, making him bump against the door.

The guards snickered and walked away. Ataru, who was on his knees, began to bang his head against the glass several times so that it would break, but it was mostly his head that was starting to hurt, and the glass seemed to be completely undamaged. He stopped before his head burst open, and tried to release a sigh behind the iron plate he had on his mouth.

He worked his head for an idea. With his hands tied behind his back, he nimbly tried to get them under his buttocks and finally under his legs so that they were in the front. After this first successful exploit, he reached into his trouser pocket for one of the small pins that he always had on him. He had a habit of keeping this kind of thing if he ever came to be tied in the bell tower of the school when the Stormtroopers wanted to take care of him. Most of the time they left him to rot all alone; the boy had to anticipate this.

But having both hands tied was more complicated than expected. With one hand, which had turned the pin, he tried to put it through each hole that his mechanical bracelets had in order to free himself. Though it was quite complicated, because his hands began to sweat and the pin began slipping from his fingers. He eventually managed to find something and pressed deeper to turn, so his hands were finally free.

Very quickly, Ataru removed the iron plate from his mouth, which felt like it was stuck with glue. Once free, he made noises of disgust and wiped himself with his sleeve. Finally, he stood up and inspected the glass door. Indeed, it seemed very thick, and if he tried to break it with his fist, he might get hurt. At least, if he went "gently", he just had to regain all the rage he had earlier in order to release all the strength that he was hiding. And finally, he would just have to run really fast.

The boy thought about the Oni who was responsible for everything that happened to him. He tried to reminisce about all the people who had tormented him, but he realized that the anger he had for them was nothing compared to Minos'. Rei, Shingo, Rupa... all these men had hurt him because they wanted Lum for themselves, but they were nothing against the scum that was Minos.

With a great momentum, he ran against the glass, ready to hit as hard as he could... But the door opened, and he ran straight into the wall in front of him.

He "peeled" his head back against the wall, and looked behind him with a faint look at the reason the door had opened. He fully regained his senses when he saw a woman who had a magnetic card against the scanner in his cell. This woman appeared to be older than Sakura, her hair was rather long and was black with a bluish sheen. He frowned as he looked at her, then he saw that she was just a human.

"Is everything okay?" She moved closer to him and helped him to his feet properly.

Before he answered, he took her in his arms and her head was against his chest.

"Better now that my guardian angel has finally come." He answered her in a poetic voice.

The woman blinked, wondering what was going through this young man's head, hoping he had not hit his head too hard. She managed to pull away from him.

"Look I'm going to get you out of here, you have to follow me without making a fuss."

He nodded, and she took his hand, making him understand that he should follow her while staying close. As they walked, all the while hiding from any Onis that might appear, Ataru held back from asking her lots of questions. Eventually, they came to a wall, and the young woman pressed a button that opened a door that led to stairs.

"Let's go." Was the only thing the woman whispered.

As they descended, the door had closed, and they were almost in complete darkness while descending the stairs.

"Be careful where you put your feet, we never clean these places." Interpelled the young woman.

Ataru didn't dare touch the walls, he could already feel that they were greasy from the humidity.

"Why is a human like you working for the Onis?" He finally asked, thinking they were in a good place to talk.

"Oh, it's a job like any other... Even though I've been working for them for a long time..." She said as she looked ahead.

The boy tilted his head at her answer.

"And why did you save me?"

"I heard you screaming when you were in the office of..." She hesitated even to say his name, but continued to speak anyway. "And when I saw the guards taking you away, I followed them. I figured you weren't a bad person, but to have that man on your back, it wasn't a good thing for you..."

He contemplated her back, thinking that he was at least glad that people were aware that this guy like Minos was really not healthy.

It didn't take long before they saw the exit. When they opened a rather heavy door, they had arrived in front of a swamp, which made the boy wince at the sight. The young woman held her arm out to him forward.

"Go, you must return to the old Tomobiki."

He looked at her and once again, he took the young woman in his arms to put his head against her chest.

"Thank you ma'am for saving me. I will repay you with a date, I promise." He told her as his head rubbed against her.

The young woman blinked as she looked at him.

"But... Given your age, people might think you're my son!" She stated with confusion.

But that didn't stop him from continuing to smile like an idiot. And then he looked at the woman's face, and started to tick. He stepped back to look at her better.

"You... You remind me of someone." He said finally while pointing to her head.

She blinked several times as she looked at him, but shook her head.

"There's no way we could know each other, it's been fifteen years since I was a servant to the Onis, and it's been a year since I've been back on earth." She explained to him.

But Ataru held her chin, making a face to think. But she shook her head again and took his shoulders.

"Anyway, don't worry about me, you should go back to old Tomobiki, that way you won't have so many problems. I would suggest you stay under the protection of a person whose code name is Ciliegia. This is the only person who can help you."

"But..."

"Go on!" She almost pushed him, and went back inside, closing the large door behind her.

The boy looked at the door and then turned toward the swamp. He stepped into the mud, and made disgusted noises each time his foot entered the wet earth. After a small mishap, he finally found a path, which further on, seemed to take him to a kind of slum... A ruined city... Tomobiki.