Throughout human history, demons are known to be, by their very nature, the primary agents of chaos and subversion. Every act of sin is often believed to be the direct result of their manipulation, whispering temptations into the ears of Man and occasionally revealing themselves to particular mortals in order to conduct deals. Almost all of them involved the mortal giving up their immortal soul in exchange for earthly materials and pleasures. The most frightening thing about them is their aptitude in blending into any society, worming their way through it's cracks as well as their numbers within the mortal world. Indeed for every angel that happened to be in the mortal world, there were over a dozen demons working tirelessly to corrupt humans, gain control over their societies, and prepare them for Judgement Day as servants of Satan.

In the sea-side city of Putang, it's denizens too were cursed with their presence. Among it's streets, deep inside a low-income apartment building, a demon sat at his desk, working meticulously on his latest project. But as he worked, he began having intrusive thoughts that caused his anger and frustration to rise. They varied from minor annoyances to his disdain for both angels and other demons and before he knew it-

*SNAP*

The demon stared at the ratman miniature which was now broken in two thanks to a quick and hard slam of his paintbrush on it's torso. The demon sighed. He had done it again. Reaching over to the side of his workshop desk, he grabbed a pill bottle, opened it, and swallowed the remaining tablets. He was going to have to head down to Hell today and get some more. As the demon waited for the pills to take effect, he swiveled his chair and looked around his room.

There was no bed, of course. But while his state as a demon of Wrath prevented him from sleeping, it certainly allowed him to be more productive. Along with his computer desk next to the workshop and dresser, there was a rack of dumbbells & various other weights, a couple birdhouses the demon had built hanging on the wall, a shelf of dioramas hemade with some of the miniatures he painted, and a few instruments. A bass, guitar, small drum set, even a harmonica. Anything to keep him busy.

The demon then heard a knock on my door and as it opened, a blue-haired head with two horns the shape of flan popped through.

"Hey, Ruka. You busy?" He asked.

"You're up pretty late, aren't you Vest?" Ruka asked in return.

"It's 9:30 in the morning."

Ruka looked over at his alarm clock and what do you know? It was 9:30.

"Oh well shit. The night went by a lot faster this time. So what do you need?"

"Came to ask if you wanted some breakfast. Unless you already ate before I got up."

He felt a light growl in my stomach as Vest mentioned breakfast.

"Yeah, I could go for some breakfast. What are you making?"

"Fried apples and a grits casserole. I think you'll like it. Also you really should start using some concealer for those bags under your eyes. You look like a zombie."

"Vest, I've said this numerous times." Ruka groaned, "I'm not doing that makeup shit. I'm not a faggot like you."

"And as I've said numerous times, there's nothing gay about trying to look your best. Now get yourself cleaned up and dressed. Breakfast will be ready in about 15 minutes."

'Who the fuck does he think he is?' Ruka thought, 'My mother? Actually, he'd be a far better mother than mine ever was.' He then stood up and stretched before hopping in the shower, lathering his scar-covered body with soap and his orange hair with shampoo, rinsing, then using a conditioner and rinsing again. When that was done, Ruka wrapped a toilet around his waist and blow dried his hair before scooping up some hair gel to straighten it up. It used to be a simple mohawk during his early years, but has grown into a sort of...mullet? Perhaps a strange mix of the two. From a certain angle, some say it looks like a pineapple, as much as Ruka hated to admit it.

He then took note of the bags under his eyes. Vest was right. He looked horrible, another downside of not being able to sleep, but there was no way he was using fucking makeup to cover them up. He'd rather look like a zombie than a cocksucker. After shaving his stubble, save a patch of hair on his chin, and polishing his horns, mainly the one that wasn't broken, Ruka got dressed in his work uniform as he and Vest were technically always on the clock.

Thankfully though, they were allowed a great deal of customization for their uniforms to suit their needs. So Ruka traded the business top and shoes for a fur collared jacket and laced boots as well swapping the crappy beige color for a nice black. Vest, meanwhile, just had his look like his old military uniform during his time in Vietnam. It seemed to bring him some sort of nostalgia.

Entering the living room, Ruka's nostrils were filled with the aroma of sizzling apples and the savory scents of cheese, sausage, and eggs blended together as they baked in the oven. He peeked into the kitchen, watching as Vest opened the oven and took out the casserole, giving it a whiff before setting it to the side.

"Hey Ruka, can you hand me a couple plates while I cut up the casserole?" He asked.

'How the fuck did he-? Oh, right. His ears.' Ruka thought to himself. They were as sharp as they were big, even for a demon. Vest could hear a fly buzzing from half a mile away.

"On it." Ruka replied as he walked over to the cabinet and when he opened it, he was surprised to see that along with the plates and glassware, there were dozens of rats on each shelf. The biggest of them was Serge, his zipper ears and stitches making him look more like a stuffed animal than an actual rat, nestling inside a plastic cup.

"...Did you all wash yourselves before climbing up here?"

The rats nodded. Ruka had trained them well.

"Good. I need two plates for me and Vest."

"Serge?" The large zipper rat squeaked.

"Yes, we'll save you guys some casserole. Now give me the fucking plates."

Working in unison, the rats lifted two plates from the stack and pushed them toward Ruka. He thanked them and brought the plates to Vest, who scooped up two pieces of the casserole with a spatula and placed one on each plate then took the skillet and dumped each half of the fried apples onto a plate.

Ruka grabbed a fork and sat on the couch with his plate while Vest took a picture of his before doing the same. Taking the first bite of casserole, Ruka let out a quiet moan as the well-blended flavors smacked his tastebuds, though Vest certainly heard it.

"I did good, then?" Vest asked with a smile.

"Very fucking good." Ruka answered, taking another bite, "Like always. I don't know how you do it, but you fucking do it."

As they ate, the TV suddenly turned on and all that could be seen was static.

"Uh, are you sitting on the remote?"

Vest shook his head. "No, I thought you had it."

"Hmmm. Serge, are you fucking with the TV again?"

"Serge serge." The rat squeaked. After gazing at the static for what seemed like minutes, the sound switched from a buzzing static to an ear-piercing scream.

"You lazy pieces of shit!"

It caused Ruka to jerk his arm as it was raising the fork to his mouth and instead stab himself in the eye while Vest jumped and spilled the apple slices & casserole all over his clothes. As Ruka held his eye which was now gushing blood, he looked back at the TV to no longer see the static, but the very angry face of their manager, Trenchcoat.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, you fucking bitch?!" Ruka yelled.

"What's wrong with me?!" Trenchcoat yelled back, "What the fuck is wrong with you?! Two ghosts have popped up over the last 3 weeks and you didn't even bother notifying me about them, much less going out to capture them!"

"Hey, we didn't fucking know about them either!"

"You...didn't know about them?"

'Fuck. I shouldn't have said that.' Ruka thought to himself.

"You two did not know about these ghosts? Didn't watch the news about the havoc at The Leak or notice the massive fucking warship that was slowly making it's way toward the city before the angels sunk it?! I hired you two for a very specific and simple purpose: To find and capture any and all ghosts within the city and deliver them to me so I can ship them out to other sectors in Hell where their power can be enhanced and used to their maximum benefit in areas within the mortal world where the barriers between our world and their's are at their weakest. NOT to sit around and indulge in various breakfast dishes while you lament about your sins."

"Easier said than done these days, honestly."

"You're fucking demons! I don't understand how this could-" She stopped herself mid-sentence as she put two fingers on her temples and slowly breathed in and out, trying to calm herself. It was then that Vest finally spoke up.

"M'am, I know me and Ruka have been slacking, which goes against the many, many rules within Hell. At least for our department. But I promise you, me and Ruka-" He then grabbed Ruka by the shoulder and pulled him close, "-will have a nice big strong ghost delivered to you by the end of the month."

"You had fucking better. Because if you don't, YOU'RE FIRED!" The TV then cut back to the static, leaving Ruka and Vest still staring at it in silence.

"...Your degenerate father has some fucking explaining to do." Ruka grumbled.

"Calling him right now." Vest said as he let go of his shoulder then took out his phone and dialed up the number. "...Hey Flat Cap, it's me. Listen, I need to...Yes, I'm doing fine, but we really need to talk about…" He sighed, "Sure, that's fine but...11:30's fine, but please listen for just one-" After a long silence, Vest sighed again and put away his phone.

"Well?" Ruka asked.

"He wants to come eat lunch with him. I'll discuss it with him there. Now I need to go change into something clean. And while I'm out, can you look around town for potential candidates for a ghost?"

"As soon as I get this fucker out and my eye regenerates."

"Thanks, Ruka."

As Vest left the room, Rula took a deep breath and quickly pulled the fork out of his eye socket, causing one last spurt of blood. 'Out of all the fucking times she could've called.' Ruka thought, 'Women, I fucking swear.'

When his eye had finally healed, Ruka went down to Hell first to pick up his medication. Oh, how he hated it there. Everywhere you looked, someone was either getting stabbed, robbed, eaten, or fucked in an alley and the heat...fuck, the heat. He never got used to it. One of the many reasons why Ruka took the job in the mortal world. Just so he wouldn't have to live there anymore.

Stepping into the local SinMart and feeling the cool A/C caress his skin, Ruka made his way to the pharmacy and was not at all surprised to find the three massive lines in front of the counters. He wasn't the only Wrathion who despised the constant bouts of anger that made up their very being. Sighing, Ruka got in line and waited….and waited...and waited some more...and waited even more.

As the line was slowly moving, he was slowly losing his patience and so were the other Wrathions. He could see it on some of their faces and feel it in the air around him. These lines were becoming more and more of a powderkeg and all it would take is one little spark to set it off.

When Ruka turned his attention back to his line, he noticed the guy in front of him was definitely not there before. Instead the schmuck with the emo hairdo, it was a large muscular demon with four horns on his head. He wasn't as big as that gorilla, Loincloth, but he had him beat at least 8 inches. He tapped his back.

"Hey, buddy." The large demon turned his head and looked down at Ruka, "No cutting in line. Start at the back like the rest of us."

He just scoffed at me. 'Oh fuck no, I am not dealing with this shit today.' Ruka thought, then tapped his back harder.

"Didn't you hear me, asshole? I said get in the back of line."

"Or what?"

"What the fuck do you think?"

"Ha!" The demon turned fully to face Ruka, "As if a pipsqueak like you could hurt me."

"What the fuck did you just call me?"

"You heard me...shorty."

"I'm...5'...9"."

"Ah, my mistake. You're not short. You're a tiny little mouse." He laughed.

Ruka clenched his fists tightly as he felt the veins in his head throb. One of the guards watching over the lines took notice of this and approached them.

"Is there a problem?" She asked sternly.

"Yeah." Ruka growled, trying his best not to maim the larger demon, "This guy cutted in line."

"Really now?" The guards turned her gaze to the larger demon, "Is this true?"

"Yeah I did." The demon answered, "So what? I need the medication far more than he does."

"I could care less which one of you sub-demons need it more, but I will not tolerate those who make a mockery of orderly conduct. Step out of line. Now."

The demon laughed, "Or what? You gonna take me down? I'm a wrathion. My strength is superior to any low life in this building."

"And I am a trueborn with decades of experience dealing with your kind." The guard took out the spiked baton attached to her belt. "I will not hesitate to fracture your thick skull if you don't comply."

"Can you believe this woman?" The demon nodded to Ruka. He said nothing however. He knew better. The physical differences between demons didn't mean much for their kind. It wasn't something Ruka had fully figured out himself, but he knew the extent of a demon's power had something to do with their age. The older the demon, the more 'in tune' they were with evil energies and could draw more power from it as a result. Thus, a demon was at their most powerful while in Hell, the source of all evil, and by the look of this particular demon woman, she was no doubt quite older than both him and the larger demon.

"It seems your friend here is smart enough to know not to piss off his elders. Unlike you!" The guard exclaimed as she whacked the large demon's abdomen with her baton and as he held his punctured stomach, the employee quickly cuffed him. "Let's go, you piece of filth." She tugged on a chain that was attached to the cuffs, forcing the large demon to follow.

"Must be embarrassing to have been saved by a girl, don't it shorty?" The large demon chuckled as they walked away. Ruka just rolled his eyes and went back to waiting in line though that moment of irritation towards the larger demon made him far more impatient. As he neared the front of the line, he heard someone yell.

"What the fuck you mean you're out?!"

"I-I-I'm sorry, sir," The pharmacy clerk stammered, "but there was a shipping error an-"

"That's bullshit!" The wrathion slammed the counter, cracking it, "I've been coming to this store for 16 years for my medication and never once did you run out! You're hoarding it!"

"S-sir, why would we hoard the very thing that keeps wrathions from going ballistic on a daily basis?"

"I don't know and I don't fucking care! Gimme my medication or I'm gonna tear you a new one!" It was then two guards approached the wrathion to arrest him but were cut off by two other wrathions, equally pissed by the shortage.

"Go on, then." One of the guards said, readying his baton, "Give me an excuse." The wrathions smirked as another two came up behind the guards and attacked. More guards came in an attempt to control the situation, but all that did was get more wrathions involved in the violence which led to more guards getting involved. This, in turn, led to the whole situation devolving into an all-out brawl. The spark had been lit and the keg exploded.

Some tried the batter down the door into the pharmacy and counter barriers to get into the storage rooms. Others just focused on beating the shit out of everyone else. Ruka was a bit of both, letting his anger out on anyone who got in his way while trying to reach the pharmacy. By the time he did, the door had been breached and Wrathions were flooding in. Ruka managed to squeeze through and find the storage room, which was currently being torn apart in a desperate search for the medication. He had to move fast. After some searching and a few scuffles with the other demons, he found the last container of the medication and managed to grab three bottles before being pulled away from it.

Hiding the bottles in his jacket, Ruka slipped out of the pharmacy and saw that the entire SinMart had descended into absolute chaos with fights in every aisle along with store items and cash registers being stolen. Meanwhile the local authorities, which looked like spiky medieval knights with batons and guns, had arrived and were beating up anyone trying to leave.

Deciding that the front entrance was a no go, Ruka made his way to the shipping and receiving section of the store, hoping the exits there weren't guarded. Lady Luck was favoring him today, cause there wasn't a soul here. Or so he thought. When he reached a door, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Hey, pipsqueak!"

Ruka turned and was met with a fist to his face, knocking him down onto his back. Dazed from the blow, he felt someone lift him up by his tank top.

"Thought you could just walk outta here that easily, huh? Well, too bad. Now where'd cha put 'em?"

As the assailant searched his jacket, Ruka's vision straightened and got a clearer look at his attacker, which was indeed the 4 horned demon from earlier.

"Aha! There you are!" He took out his hand and held the medication bottles up in the air.

"They're...mine!" Ruka yelled as the leather gauntlet in his right hand transformed into one of his signature chained blades and stabbed the demon in his left arm which was holding him up. He shouted in pain and dropped him as well as the medication. Ruka quickly picked them up and ran to a safe distance.

"You little shit! I'm gonna make you regret that." The demon said as he took off his leather belt, transforming it into a spiked warhammer.

Ruka really didn't have time for a fight right now, but if this meathead was gonna keep getting in his way, he was gonna have to be quick. The demon then dashed towards Ruka, seeking to turn his skull to plup with one massive swing. Unfortunately for him, it was incredibly easy for Ruka to dodge and deliver a quick cut to his leg. He attempted another swing, which Ruka of course dodged again with ease and he ended up hitting one of the wooden shelves instead, causing it to collapse as well as getting a deeper cut to the side of his torso.

"Stand still, you bastard!" The demon lifted his hammer high in the air, now trying to squish Ruka like a bug. 'This guy's a lot younger than he looks.' Ruka thought, 'He's making it too easy.' Transforming his left hand gauntlet into another blade, Ruka brought his arms towards his chest and quickly swung them outward, releasing the blades mid-swung and grabbing the chains after the blades had sliced off half of the demon's forearms.

He howled in pain as luminescent demonic blood spurted from his arms, falling to his knees. Ruka walked towards him, pulling the blades back into his hands and held them at the demon's neck.

"...Go on, then. I ain't gonna beg."

Ruka wanted to. He really fucking did. This fucker had wasted his time and tried to fucking steal from him! He could hear the voices in his head practically scream the words. 'Do it! Kill him! Just a quick jerk of the arms and off comes his stupid, fucking ugly head! Fucking kill him! Do it!'

"DO IT, MOTHERFUCKER!"

There was a slight jerk in Ruka's arms, the blades just barely piercing the skin on the larger demon's neck. Despite the desire to kill this loudmouth burning inside him, he relented. His blades then transformed back into his leather gauntlets before opening one of the pill bottles and ingested 10 of the capsules. As he turned to leave, the larger demon chuckled.

"So, not only are you are a fucking midget, but a coward. What, does killing a man bother you that much?"

"No," Ruka answered, "I'm just sick of it."

With that, Ruka left the building and managed to escape the area just before the authorities had completely surrounded the building and arrested everyone, whether they were looters or just regular shopgoers. Now that he had my medication for the next week, it was time to head back to the surface and find something or someone he could squeeze a good ghost out of.

Upon returning, Ruka flew around the city, scanning every building and alley for potential ghosts. There were primarily 2 ways a ghost can form: Either via molding one from a high concentration of evil energy from humans or through the death of a particularly sad and unlucky human. However, the first requires one to actually find that much fucking energy in one place where it gathered naturally and in a degenerate city like Putang, it was like trying to charge hundreds of battery packs at once from the same current of electricity. A high ranking demon could direct the evil energy to a single place, but something of that caliber walking around the mortal world could end up causing Judgement Day to occur and neither Heaven or Hell wants that, at least not yet.

The second, while a much quicker process and far more common, didn't produce many ghosts of decent quality anymore unless they're fed evil energy on a constant basis or produced large amounts of evil energy by themselves due to being exceptionally sinful. A good smack from demonic weaponry can give them a decent power boost, but only temporarily. They can also be quite unpredictable if not commanded by a trueborn demon or a Prithion. Something Ruka and Vest were not.

After about two hours of searching and jotting down notes of those who showed promise, Ruka caught a glimpse of a strong source of evil in one of the alleyways. As he got closer to it, it's form looked more and more like that of a human. This wasn't just a source of evil, but a very sinful soul. He landed on the nearby rooftop and saw three humans wearing indigo headbands, pretty much just a bunch of thugs, beating the shit out of a guy in a green parka. The ones with the headbands had sinful souls, that's for fucking sure, but the one with the parka...his was a roaring flame compared to those three.

"Gonna make ya regret desertin', ya pussy-ass mothafucka!" One said, punching the man in the gut and tossing him to the ground.

"To think this piece of shit was one of the Old Man's top guys. Hurts a nigga just thinkin' about it." Another said before kicking him to the ground.

"Come on, man! Let's kill this fool already and hoof it before any cops coming drivin' by."

"Alright, alright. Calm yo fuckin' tits."

As one of them pulled out a gun and prepared to execute the man, Ruka jumped from the rooftop and landed on the would-be executioner.

"Gah! Son of a bitch!" He shouted. Not because he hurt myself in the fall, but because he had stabbed him in the head with one of his blades. Ruka just wanted to knock him out with a few blows to the head, but for a split second his urges took over and he installed a window in the human's skull instead. Goes to show that the medication was never enough.

Ruka pulled the blade out of the thug's head and he stood up to face the remaining two thugs, who had pulled out their pistols and were aiming directly at him. Fear was written all over their faces.

"...You pubeheads gonna fuck off or what?"

And fuck off they did, dropping their guns and running with their tails between their legs. With that taken care of, Ruka turned my attention to the damsel in distress, who was sitting on his ass, wide-eyed and just as frightened.

"T-The Devil sent ya, didn't he?" He stammered, "To drag me to Hell and punish me for my sins? Take me then. Lord knows I deserve nothing less."

Ruka approached the human and gazed into his eyes, his many sins flooding Ruka's vision and they were indeed many. Thievery, murder, lying, substance abuse, even infidelity. So many accounts of these terrible sins, yet none of them heinous enough to warrant demonhood. With the right conditions and the right death, he could become a very powerful ghost. Might even make Trenchcoat smile in delight. Ruka then noticed the cross necklace he was wearing, which would explain the sudden itch in his arm. Seems this guy had a guilty conscience.

"Oh, if fucking only." Ruka answered, "Luckily for you, that's not my job."

"Then why the hell did you rescue me?"

'That was a good question.' Ruka thought, 'Why did I?' Judging by the human's sins, if he had just let him get shot, he likely would've become a ghost right there and then. Maybe he just wanted to be sure. Now Ruka had to figure out an appropriate death for him. Just killing him here wouldn't do. But until he could, Ruka needed to keep the human alive, which meant keeping in close contact with him. Now, Ruka considered himself a very blunt and honest person, but if deceiving this one human into friendship means keeping his job, then he'll make an exception.

"Bleeding heart and all that shit. Your name?" Ruka asked, reaching out a hand.

"Bandana." The human answered, grabbing his hand, "You?"

"Rukavitsa Cykablyatsky. But everyone just calls me Ruka."

"You Russian or something?"

"Got a problem with that, watermelon lips?"

"N-No, not at all. Just adds on top of the surprise and all."

"Well, you can stop being fucking surprised and start being thankful. Come on, I'll buy you a beer."

"I'm actually tryna to quit drinkin'. Turnin' a new leaf and all that."

Despite Bandana being much taller than him, Ruka wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Listen here, my melanin-rich acquaintance." He began, "You have just touched tips with the Grim fucking Reaper and have now been made aware of the existence of demons, if the ghosts and birdbrains flying around weren't enough to convince you. Your heart's pounding, your mind's still trying to process everything that just happened, and the muscles in your body are tense as shit. A couple beers will help cure all of that."

"I mean, of course you'd say that. You a demon. You're compelled to convince me to sin and damn my soul even further."

"Ha! The only way your soul can be anymore fucked is if you raped a pig or ate someone's kid. Now quitting your fucking worrying and let's get that drink. While we do that, you can tell me all about those lowlifes and what they meant by you being some geezer's top guy."

Ruka then spent the rest of the evening getting Bandana drunk and squeezing out as much info about him as he could. While he was able to see what Bandana's sins were, the where and why remained unknown to him. Knowing those can help determine the right death for him. As he listened, Bandana's life story turned out to be that of a typical urban gangbanger. Grew up without a father in a poor neighborhood, joined up with a street gang in his teens, got arrested twice, and other things that Ruka could care less about.

The gang itself was called the Lead Crossers and was one of the more powerful underground organizations within the city where he was second-in-command until he decided to leave for reasons involving a woman he knocked up, a change in leadership, and his own gnawing guilt.

"-and as you saw with those three stooges, some saw my decision to go straight as a sign of weakness, givin' fools the idea that they could get some street cred by killin' me. If you hadn't shown up, they would've."

Ruka took a sip from his mug. "And this woman you impregnated, I imagine she's scorned you for your infidelity."

"My what?"

"You fucking other women besides her."

"Oh, right. All that was actually before I found out she was havin' my kid."

"And that's supposed to make it fucking okay?"

"Oh don't you start preachin' to me like you any better! I don't know what kind of fucked up shit your crayola ass done, but I'm guessin' it's just as bad as the shit I did, if not worse."

"...Well, you're not wrong about that." Ruka then took another sip.

Bandana sighed, slouching in his chair, "It don't matter now, though. Haven't seen her in a year and she wants nothing to do with me. Probably for the best. With all these thugs wantin' me dead, I won't live to see the kid's first steps and Lord knows no child should see their daddy gettin' killed right in front of them."

Ruka placed the mug down on the table. "That's not going to happen."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Last time I checked, you ain't God."

"No, but I am a demon. That alone puts me leagues above any number of wannabe gangsters."

"So what? You sayin' you wanna be my guardian angel or some shit?"

"More like a guardian devil."

"Ain't you got other nasty demon shit you gotta do? Some kind of quota for evil souls?"

"These days, I have a lot of down time. Now then," With a flick of wrist, Ruka summoned up a written contract along with a pen and placed them in front of Bandana. "If you'll just sign here."

Bandana just stared at the contract before looking back at him. "I ain't that drunk or nor am I that stupid."

"This contract isn't the 'I'll own your soul' kind. They're the only legal way we can directly influence and control humans and if I'm gonna be your guardian devil, I need to have your consent or else I get shitcanned."

"What kind of fuckin' guardian influences and controls the person they're protectin'?"

"The kind that doesn't want them to die from their retarded choices. Now just sign the fucking contract already before I shove it down your throat!" Noting his rising irritation, Ruka took out his medication and downed half of the bottle. As he was about to apologize for the outburst, Ruka noticed Bandana was actually reading the contract.

"Holy shit, you can actually read?"

"The fuck made you think I couldn't? Was it because I'm-"

"Poor? Yes. Now if your worries over your soul have subsided…"

Bandana looked through the contract one more time before picking up the pen.

"I just have one question." He said.

"Which is?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you offering me so much help?"

"I already told you. Bleeding heart."

"Nah nah nah, a man with just a bleedin' heart don't go this far out of his way. You want somethin' outta this. This contract might not tell me what, but I know there is. So what is it?"

'Well, fuck me sideways.' Ruka thought, 'This human is smarter than he looks.' If he wanted to keep up the deceit, he was going to have to sprinkle some truth. Ruka then straightened himself up and leaned forward.

"Because my childhood was quite like your's. Only I had both parents, but they were both shit and I ended up killing one of them. The first of my own many sins. So you could say I empathize with your situation and I want to make sure you have a chance to make things right and not end up like me. Because believe me when I tell you that demonhood is a form of suffering in it's own right."

Bandana's eyes widened, "You...were a human?"

"Me and billions of other demons in Hell. Now are you gonna sign or what?"

After a moment of silence, Bandana sighed and finally signed the contract, which then burst into flames and vanished, along the pen.

"Right, a toast then. To your health and now very long life." Ruka raised his mug in the air, waiting for Bandana to do the same. He was hesitant, but eventually lifted his mug and they downed the rest of their beer. Shame Bandana really only had less of a month left as a human. Oh, how Ruka loved invisible ink.