---------- A/N – I do not own "Devil May Cry" or any of it's characters. Don't sue me. I just ate all of my worldly goods. (3 jelly beans)

Need an activity today? Try this.

-Go to your local supermarket, convenience store, K-Mart, Meijers or what not-- wearing a ski mask.

-Buy a very inexpensive item

-Pay with a very large bill

- As clerk is counting out your change shout, "JUST GIVE ME THE MONEY!!"

-Run from store

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May still won't talk about the day her parents died. Owen found her in the bathtub, drenched in blood, rocking back and fourth. They had seen Prowlers, dog like, flesh eating demons in the area months before. Still, her parents refused to leave the house that had been in their family for generations. It had cost them their lives.

However for the most part May was a terribly upbeat kid. Very terribly, in Aries opinion.

"Pink or heather grey?" May shouted from her make shift room in the back of "Devil Never Cry".

"Umm, whatever is faster?"

"Jeez, you're no freaking help." She pouted jogging to the door in a grey jacket.

Aries shrugged and ushered her out the front. They were already late. That however, didn't stop May from staring into her reflection for another minute flicking invisible fuzz off her black plaid skirt.

"Think this looks alright?" she spun for the full effect. Aries who was still holding open the door in an effort to speed her along, just rolled his eyes. It was no secret young May had a crush on the resident demon hunter. Who wouldn't? Over six feet tall, dark, brooding. Made an absurd amount of money, (when he could find work that is), exotic white hair which was even softer than it looked. He also had that wonderful badass quality going for him. And being about 3/4 demon, he had the bite to back up his rather sarcastic bark.

And with those keen demon senses he could even discern that May wasn't going to move an inch if he didn't comment on her outfit.

"Um, Sweetheart, it's a uniform. You look the same as you always do." May huffed and tossed her long brown hair, (which she spent an extra hour on this morning). Aries just smiled at getting her out of the door.

The cavernous black S.U.V. Which was usually filled with May's incessant chatter on mornings like this went quiet and hollow in her bad mood. Aries of course didn't make any attempt at livening things up. She sat slumped over in annoyance, carefully avoiding eye contact with him.

Our Lady of Perpetual Peace was their destination. The all girls prep school May attended. It was a good 45 minute drive from "Devil Never Cry" which was located in a shadier part of the town. Not that May ever told her classmates that. According to her, she lived two towns over in a much nicer area. No one ever believed her of course, if she lived over there she'd be attending a much more prestigious school. That didn't stop he from telling the story though. She did however have a few good friends at her school. And just as good friends do, they were waiting for her on the corner two blocks from the school entrance. When Owen dropped her off she usually had to beg them to meet her there, so she'd have and excuse to ditch her dorky cousin before she was seen in public with him. And on the rare days when Aries dropped her off she'd usually wave to her quite envious friends and get dropped off at the front gate. But today in her sour mood she announced that she could get off at the corner and be fine.

May jumped out of the car on that corner without so much as look back. Aries, a bit thankful for that small mercy, put his head against the wheel. Teen angst was just to much crap to put up with at 7 am.

Head down, his mind drifted. Had to pick up May at 4:30, had to get a new sharpening stone, needed milk, had to meet the clients for his new account, and he was pretty sure no one paid the phone bill. His head didn't move. Did his dad ever have to do this stuff? Dante, the legendary demon slayer, son of Sparda the demon savior? He couldn't imagine the pale, towering, fearsome man going to 7-11 on a milk run. The last time he had seen his father was 7 years ago. At 12, he had only seen his father twice before, and each time he couldn't recognize him. The last visit was no different.

At that time it was only himself and his mother running "Devil Never Cry". Lucia didn't command the same physical presence as Dante. Nonetheless, the minute the door burst open that night, she was front and center with her sickle blades. Aries only remembered pieces of that night. How happy his mother was to see his father. He was soaked from the downpour that night and he looked scared. Even at that young age, Aries realized how distant Dante was. Almost like he didn't want to touch Aries. Not that he ever made an attempt to impress his father when he was there, but something was different that time. Something was wrong. Later that night he heard shouting from his parents room. His mother was screaming rapidly in french, which she never taught him. And whatever happened, he was gone the next day. The day after that was the first time he realized something was wrong with his mother's health. Aries always figured whatever went on that night took the last of her fighting strength. He had always blamed his father for his mothers death. Maybe, maybe if he would have come back, maybe that would have convinced her to hold on.

He might have dozed off. Or maybe he was just deep in thought, because when Aries looked at the clock it was suddenly 7:59.

"Damn" he whispered, and put the car into drive. The block was oddly arranged in one way streets, so he'd actually have to pass the school on his way back home. The red brick of the school came into full view soon, along with the sculptures of weeping angels. It always struck Aries that the ambiance of the school was rather off-putting. High brick walls, morbid statues and paintings, and best of all, drab uniforms. That however, was not what caught his attention this time. Passing along the outside of the school, waiting for other cars to move along from dropping off their children, he saw something very familiar.

Only a handful of students were going in now, as the first bell had already rung. Only one caught Aries eye though. She was tall and deathly pale, moving quickly along the cobblestone path to the double doors of the school. Her shoulder length blonde hair was whipping back and forth in the morning wind.

In his mind's eye he flashed back to the arena the night before. Aries was positive it was the same whiplash blonde hair that had been causing him so much trouble.

His mind drifted to blank in an instant. He had gone from thinking about milk, to reminiscing, to that beautiful white space his mind went to when he was about to kill. Aries was that angry. He was sure it was the same bitch that cost him a lease payment in contracts, and he was sure she was a devil of some sort. And that he knew how to deal with.

He hunted devils.

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Walking into the large hall that followed the entrance of the school, Aries was hit by an almost defining silence. A painful sort of white noise only broken by his footsteps, which had died almost three feet into the building. He was the only dark spot in the otherwise lightly colored off white entryway. The only visible people were two rather large women at the reception desk. Both of their fish like mouths had gaped open upon seeing him. One was holding a phone and seemed like she was in the motion to call someone, but she slowly lowered the receiver.

"Can I help you sir?"

Missing only a beat Aries flashed a brilliant smile that seemed to disarm the two obese women. Moving quickly to conceal the handgun he had been going for a second earlier, he approached the desk and tried to get his thoughts in order.

" Hi there, " his eyes barely dashed down to take a quick look at the name printed proudly on the phone at her desk, amid something that looked like an extensive treasure troll collection, "Florence. I'm here picking up my niece, she didn't feel well this morning and just called, I guess she decided she didn't want to try and make it through the day."

The big woman perked up. "Ohhh well, you know kids these days."

Keeping up the fake smile was starting to hurt his face something awful. "Oh my yes, so I was just wondering if you could point me in the direction of the attendance office."

Florence practically scrambled out of her swivel chair. " Why of course! It's just down the hall here— well, why don't I walk you down, I have all this paper work to drop off anyway." The other woman behind the desk made no effort to conceal rolling her eyes.

Walking behind her just a step, Aries was reminded slightly of a wiggly "jell-o" mold. And at that point he made a mental note that he could never eat jell-o again. The poor woman was blathering on endlessly about what could have been something like copper piping for all he knew. To his delight they quickly reached a circular office that protruded a bit from the rest of the hallway. She turned, possibly to explain the amenities of the office, or more about copper piping. He really didn't care. Only because like most humans, when she turned her focus, she blinked. He thanked the powers that be for small mercies, because he really didn't like to do things that were to demon-y with anyone watching. It was all about timing really. A split second to see no one looking out the office door, a tiny door stop keeping it partially open, Florence turning her head, and then, blink. He was gone. Poor Florence. Inside the office he didn't smile, although playing tricks regular people didn't get usually brightened up his day, he didn't have time for it. Few people seemed interested in someone new in the room, even though he quite clearly didn't belong to the school. That slightly disturbed him. But not as much as what he heard next.

"Oh my god May, isn't that your cousin's hot friend?"

Aries winced and turned around. May and a group of her giggling friends were directly behind him. The smell of overdone teenaged girl perfume was wafting off the building like toxic fumes, no wonder hadn't picked up May was in there. Her face was frozen in abject horror, but only for a second. She dashed toward him and grabbed his sleeve, hissing something to the effect of "what in the hell are you doing here?" He just smiled and winked at her group of friends. He could have sworn he heard them all sigh in unison. That was terribly amusing.

"Aries!" May hissed again. He was still smiling though.

"Here on business, and why aren't you in class?"

Her face twisted into confusion, but went back to pissed. "What the fuck? Your 'business' isn't in my school!"

The sides of his mouth were beginning to hurt, and he dropped the smile. " I beg to differ Princess, that blonde girl, the one from last night, I saw her come in after dropping you off."

May's mouth gaped. "What kind of moron are you?!? This is an all girls preppy school, every other fucking girl is a peroxide blonde! You never even saw her face!"

Well if you put it that way, yes he did feel like an asshole. Sort of. But he was so sure it was the same girl...

"So... so what? " May kept going, " you were going to come in here to ...? to track her? What were you going to behead her in the cafeteria? What?!?!" Her face was beginning to get a little red. All he could do was sigh.

"Look I don't know, I just, I though I should look into it ok? What if she's dangerous?" Yeah, that excuse was totally lame. He was just feeling so off. He usually wasn't wrong about this stuff... and he defiantly wouldn't behead someone in the cafeteria. That would be unsanitary. Maybe in the gym... hardwood floors, easy cleanup.....

"Aries! Have you gone mental? I know you're in a bad mood since we're losing so much money, but this is freaking ridiculous!" She snapped.

"Uh, what?" The girl looked like she was going to explode. "GO HOME." She hissed.

"Fine." He muttered, " but I'm telling your brother you're skipping class."