Paved with Good Intentions

by surefall and aishuu
Disclaimer: Based on Prince of Tennis, by Konomi.
Part 16 Summary: In which the authors indulge.

Part 16: Forces of Darkness and a Comfy Chair

Classes had been canceled for the day by the university, but Sakaki had made it clear that his class was still meeting "unofficially." Which meant all his students pretty much had their asses in their chairs... with a few notable exceptions.

Kirihara and Sengoku were nowhere to be seen, which caused Tachibana a bit of concern. They were an odd pair, but he firmly believed he'd done the right thing by assigning Sengoku to aid Kirihara. They just fit well, to his well-organized mind.

Also missing was Mizuki... for obvious reasons. With the absence of the fourth person, it was understandable. They'd only held Yuuta's funeral the day before, so even Sakaki was inclined to cut him a little slack and allow an extra absence.

To Saeki, sitting quietly behind Kamio and tapping his pencil idly against his tablet, things felt ominous. Yuuta's death and the absence of the troublesome twosome had sealed irrevocably in Saeki's mind the idea that the workings of the divine had a hand in this ... and if the divine had a hand in the death of Yuuta, then it might mean bad news for him too. He was pretty sure making deals with the devil would put him somewhere on the heavenly shit list.

Completely oblivious to the tension, Kamio diligently scribbled down notes as Sakaki lectured. He hadn't been that fond of Yuuta, and while he wasn't a cruel person, a very small part of him was glad for the absence of four of the main sources of stress in his life. He couldn't admit it, but he'd learned more in the last twenty minutes of uninterrupted class time than the last week. It was oddly peaceful, in a way.

It was doomed to stop being peaceful, though, since fate had it in for Kamio. The door to the classroom banged open and Mizuki marched in, looking wildly around while shrieking for Kirihara and Sengoku. The normally well-kept boy was completely disheveled in a funeral suit that looked like he had slept in it and hair falling limply around his ears, proving that he did indeed style it to get those sleek curls.

Tachibana calmly stepped in front of Mizuki, setting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Mizuki-kun, perhaps it would be best if I took you home," he offered, well-aware of the glare of annoyance Sakaki was leveling on them.

Mizuki drew himself up, "I don't /want/ to go home. I /want/ to find the one responsible for Yuuta's ... for Yuuta's ..." he floundered, unable to actually say it.

Kamio looked up as Tachibana took Mizuki by both shoulders. Sakaki was starting to tap his foot in an impatient manner, and class time was being lost. "Mizuki-kun, it was an accident," Tachibana said softly. "It's too bad he had a weak heart, but-"

"He didn't have a weak heart!" Mizuki cut in, "Kirihara killed him!"

Saeki focused in on Mizuki like he was water in a desert. A demon killed off another demon who happened to be the brother's devil ... that was ... not good. Was it infighting in the hellish ranks?

Tachibana's voice was soothing. "Mizuki-kun, the autopsy said it was a congenital heart failure..." He didn't know why Mizuki was accusing Kirihara of all people, but the bereaved had been known to do stranger things. With the suddenness of Yuuta's loss, he knew Mizuki probably was in shock.

"But he was smiling when he did it ... " Mizuki whispered, unable to open his mouth and say he had watched Kirihara and Sengoku appear and disappear like ghosts, heard Yuuta call himself a mortal as if the other two /weren't/ ... but it was too much to say and he hardly believed it himself. He sagged in Tachibana's grip, all the energy suddenly just sucked out of him.

Tachibana gave Sakaki a look, before turning to Saeki and Kamio. "Help me," he said.

Kamio gave him a somewhat frustrated sigh, but shoved his book and notes into his handy-dandy backpack. He really didn't like Mizuki, but he was so pitiful right now... "What do you need?" he asked.

"We're going to take him home... Saeki, you know where he lives, right?" he asked as Kamio came to stand on the other side of the shell-shocked Mizuki.

Saeki sighed as well, shoving his own books into his bag and moving down the isle to join them, "Yeah, it's just down the way from ... yeah."

Mizuki blinked at Saeki and Kamio somewhat dumbly, prepared to be led where they would lead him, though he did manage to summon a sniff just for Saeki.

"I'll do some extra tutoring later if they have problems," Tachibana said to Sakaki before helping Mizuki out of the room, a rather annoyed Kamio supporting him on his other side.

Since they were doing all the hard work, Saeki held some doors open for them along the way to Mizuki's dorm room. It too was in a state of minor neglect and Saeki was somewhat surprised to note that Mizuki had actually given a shit about Yuuta. He would have laid odds that he hadn't ...

Tachibana glanced around the untidy room, depressive through lack of light. Kamio, just about to duck out of there, winced inside when he saw the concerned look Tachibana was wearing. He knew that look too well. Tachibana was about to become involved, and drag him in as well.

Sure enough... "Mizuki-kun, when's the last time you ate?"

Mizuki looked up from where he had sagged on the couch, "Yesterday, I guess ... before the funeral."

Kamio sighed, knowing what Tachibana was about to ask him to do. "Pizza sound alright?" he asked his mentor.

Tachibana nodded, pulling out his wallet. "Order three - that should be enough."

"Make one with onions," Saeki said, shamelessly flipping through the things Mizuki had spread out on his desk. The Bible, books on UFOs, spirits and mysticism ... he calmly closed them all and started stacking them, prepared to put them where neither Tachibana or Kamio would notice them.

Kamio grabbed his cell and stepped out into the hallway to make the order. Anything to get away from Mizuki, who reminded him of an abused puppy at the moment.

Mizuki rested his chin in a palm, staring listlessly at the floor while waiting for the whole debacle to be over so he could research (stare at the walls and think vengeful thoughts) in peace away from this sudden influx of well-wishers (heathens of the worst kind who didn't bother to listen to him when he was telling the truth).

Tachibana looked around the room, then looked at Saeki. "Help me pick up," he said softly. "Discretely."

Since this gave him the perfect opportunity to not only find out what other damning evidence Mizuki had lying around, but also to poke through his things, Saeki merely nodded and went about the work of picking up, watching the dull-eyed Mizuki out of the corner of his own sharp blue eyes.

Tachibana, ever the sympathetic listener, used the opportunity to sit down beside the traumatized youth. "Mizuki, is there anything we can do for you?" He placed his hand on Mizuki's knee in a comforting fashion.

"Not unless you intend to help me find Kirihara."

Tachibana wondered about the fixation with Kirihara. As far as he could tell, Kirihara had little to do with Mizuki, except for the occasional teasing. Certainly nothing to warrant Mizuki's belief he was somehow involved in Yuuta's death. Kamio would have been a better candidate, if Mizuki wanted to lash out.

But that was neither here nor there. Right now, Mizuki should be humored as long as it wasn't hurting anyone. "He's probably in his dorm," he said.

"Not anymore. I already looked there," Mizuki replied. Kirihara hadn't been there for quite a while, from what Mizuki could gather. Sengoku had vanished off the face of the college as well ... though research had indicated that he had never actually been signed up for a dorm in the first place.

"Did you leave him a message on his board?" Tachibana asked, referring to the whiteboards which were staples of college life.

"I did, but he hasn't been back."

"Did you check with his friends?"

"He doesn't have friends."

Normally Tachibana would chide Mizuki for his rudeness, but since he was so delicate... "Ask Sengoku? He tutors him."

"I can't find Sengoku either."

Troublesome indeed. "I know I shouldn't offer, but I probably can arrange for you to contact him at home..." As a TA, he had access to that kind of information from Sakaki, since Sakaki trusted him with everything.

Saeki idly wondered if divine beings actually had earthly addresses while Mizuki looked up at Tachibana hopefully, "You can?"

"I shouldn't, but..." Tachibana said hesitantly, then shrugged it off. "I think it'd be better for you to resolve your issues with Kirihara."

Oh, Mizuki intended to resolve his issues alright -- right through Kirihara's bloodless heart.

Kirihara was feeling rather good about himself after killing Yuuta. Wouldn't that just piss Fuji off? And the fact that Yuuta deserved it and he'd done it in front of Sengoku... simply too wonderful. He would have been humming, but a part of him was still miserable and unsatisfied.

Which meant it was time to share the misery.

For Kirihara, summoning Inui was simple. He merely closed his eyes and concentrated on the band of power he'd hung around Inui like a noose, and pulled. It was strange to suddenly have access to these vast wells of power which he hadn't realized existed, but it was right. It felt like waking up after a long dream and realizing his body was his own to control.

Inui had been merrily attempting to make it blatantly obvious that Satan was alive and well by leaving books open to various pages that indicated just such a thing. He had just begun to feel a sense of accomplishment when the jerk on his noose brought him up short and snapped him through the metaphysical to Kirihara's side. He blinked and then nearly cowered, because it wasn't a good sign to be jerked into the presence of the Dark Lord.

It was probably a good thing he didn't move, because Kirihara has chosen the top of a Ferris wheel for this encounter. Of course, the Ferris wheel had mysteriously become rather stuck, and their rickety old cart swung back and forth 300 feet above the ground. The thing really should have been condemned, but had somehow passed its safety inspections, probably due to rather large amounts of money changing hands.

Inui used the fact that his glasses were reflective to look around without making it obvious that he was looking around. Of all the places to hold a meeting ...

Kirihara leaned back, causing the cart to sway precariously. "So, Inui-kun, anything interesting going on with your books?" he purred.

Inui latched firmly onto the rail. "Unfortunately no."

"Didn't think so," Kirihara said, waving them off. "Of course you're not going to find what you're looking for."

Inui's curiosity got the better of his wariness, "Why won't I?"

"You're really dumb, aren't you?"

Inui frowned but didn't retort, mainly because it would probably be a suicidal maneuver.

Kirihara rolled his eyes. "Sengoku probably has them. He's a secretive bastard."

Inui choked for a moment -- his brain still couldn't wrap itself around the concept of Sengoku presented by Kirihara -- before he smirked, "We thought he might have something to do with it."

"I bet you asked him if he knew what had happened to them instead of if he had them."

Inui could only nod to that, since he suspected that was exactly what Yanagi had done ... and Sengoku could very neatly have sidestepped that kind of question.

"So, aside from wasting your time digging through books, what have you been doing?"

"I had been plotting to overthrow Fuji, of course."

Kirihara shook his head in mock disappointment. "As if I'd trust anything you came up with?"

"He is in heaven now, which does limit my ability to influence any attack on him."

"You seriously lack creative thought," Kirihara returned. Slightly bored, he created a water balloon and dropped it over the side, nailing the operator who had been trying to fix the ride. Leaning over slightly, he watched in satisfaction as the man collapsed, probably concussed.

"You are supposed to be the one directing /me, Lord, not the other way around," Inui sniped back before he thought about it and instantly regretted it.

The chain on Inui snapped as Kirihara's eyes flared up. "Do you want to rephrase that?"

Inui leaned back in a near-cringe, "I await your direction, Lord?"

"Good. Tell me about Yanagi... who is he closest to?"

"Yukimura, I believe. Or at least, that is who he works under."

"Does Yukimura trust him?" Beneath them, an emergency squad had arrived and started to yell promises that they would get the passengers down. Kirihara watched as the operator was carried away.

"Of course," Inui answered, with the air of duhness that indicated that one didn't need to ask that question when one was dealing with angels.

"Hmmm... well, I want you to tell Yanagi about my return, then." Kirihara smiled brilliantly. "I'm sure he'll relay it through proper channels."

Inui blinked, but nodded, "As you wish." Since that dovetailed nicely with what he had already been trying to do, he had absolutely no problems with it ... though he did wonder what Kirihara was up to.

Kirihara's smile widened a bit. "After you do that, you're to offer Yanagi any help he needs in preparing a plan to deal with me."

"So I can report the plan back to you?"

"Oh, I doubt he'll let anything important slip." The cart swayed as a child, not too far from the bottom, decided to just jump the ten feet... breaking both legs in the process.

Inui watched the proceedings with a degree of personal demonic glee, while at the same time marveling at how things just went /wrong/ in Kirihara's presence. (Inui was naturally envious of that kind of power.) He tipped his head to the side. "I'm to sabotage it then, if possible?"

"Of course not."

"Then why -- "

"That's for me to know." Kirihara rose to his feet, prompting outcries from the people below. "I suggest you get out of here, because this cart is about to fall off and kill three spectators..."

Inui didn't need to be told twice, vanishing from the cart with barely a puff of smoke. The faster he got his orders done, the faster he could watch and possibly take advantage of the fallout.

Kirihara smirked, knowing exactly what Inui was planning - and depending on it.

Any move of significance requires research into location, amenities, level of wear and tear, and the amount of loan that could be squeezed from the bank for the smallest interest possible. Naturally, Niou and Yagyuu were adept at the last of these researches and were seeking to brush up on the first three. Heaven had managed to impress Niou with the mini-bar function that worked on faith rather than direct payment (a sad loss of funds, in Yagyuu's opinion) but had been disinclined to inspect The Library until Yagyuu had insisted.

Personally, outside of the offices of finance, this was the place that Yagyuu could say that he missed the most while in hell. There was just something titillating about having all that knowledge at one's divine fingertips, ready for the penny-squeezing.

Perhaps Niou would have been happier if he'd known beforehand that Shishido was in. He'd always been rather fond of the vain creature, and he'd heard his personality had improved immensely after cutting his hair to show his remorse for all the evil he'd done. Yagyuu, who'd known both Ohtori and Shishido before his Fall, just didn't consider the possibility. Last he'd heard, Shishido was delivering messages for Atobe.

Last he heard was an entirely different matter from last what was actually happening and even Yagyuu had to smirk at the vision of Ohtori and Shishido surrounded by piles and piles of books while Shishido looked about ready to blow a fuse and Fall.

Niou looked at Yagyuu and nodded. With perfect symmetry, they moved to flank Shishido, carefully staying out of reach of Ohtori's Beam of Sickening Goodness. "Heya, Shishido-kun, whatcha reading?" Niou asked, leaning annoyingly over Shishido's shoulder.

Shishido slammed his hand over the book in self-defense. "Niou!"

"In the metaflesh," Niou said, resting his hand on Shishido's shoulder as he stared at the book.

Ohtori startled, his Beam of Divine Destruction powering up in a flickering start, "Niou! Yagyuu-san! What are you doing here?"

Yagyuu upped the shine on his glasses in an effort to reflect the Beam, "Considering the benefits of Rising, of course."

Shishido made a gurgling sound. "You? Rise?" His own Rising had been a thing of much inner turmoil, and it seemed... tawdry... how clinically Yagyuu had spoken.

"Might be a nice change of pace," Niou said pleasantly.

"In this era of turmoil and spiritual deprivation," Yagyuu added, prepared to provide Niou with all the resources necessary to make a mockery of righteous drama.

Ohtori beamed at them, since frowning might have made them too pleased with themselves, "Isn't that wonderful, Shishido-san? They're remembering the warmth of gods love!" He poured on the good will like no one had poured it on before, ready to open his arms to his fellow divine beings and BURN the evil from their souls.

Niou flinched, hiding behind Shishido. "We're not sure yet. Could you tone it down a few watts?"

"How could you be unsure? Isn't His love plain for all to see?" The smile Ohtori directed at Niou nearly scorched a line in the floor.

Yagyuu edged behind a stack of books for the sake of personal protection. He was pretty sure THOSE couldn't burn.

"We rather like defying him... in a rebellious child kind of way," Niou said.

Shishido buried his face in his hands, knowing Ohtori was about to become an Evangelist. It'd been what made him finally cave in the end, since hardly anyone could deny Ohtori's sincerity. It just wasn't pleasant to watch.

"I also prefer the rampant sex," Yagyuu added, just to pour salt in their wounds in the case that either angel was feeling a little frustrated.

"But sex isn't worth anything without love!" Ohtori protested, reaching out to pat Shishido's knee.

"So Shishido is actually Getting Some?" Niou asked curiously. "I thought..."

"Shut up!" Shishido snapped.

Yagyuu smirked. He had thought not, "Heaven turned out to be a little frustrating, Shishido? It must be quite difficult having come from hell ... " he couched this in conciliatory terms, lavishing his statement with false concern.

Shishido stared at them, wishing he could just strike them down. Ohtori, of course, was gazing at him with adoring concern. "Go away, we're busy!" he said harshly.

"Doing what?" Yagyuu asked, not to be driven off so easily.

Ohtori rubbed his fingers along Shishido's knee again, as if to soothe his counterpart, "We're doing research for Yanagi-san."

"What kind of research?" Niou asked with interest.

"Stuff he's interested in," Shishido said, nudging Ohtori to keep him quiet.

Ohtori had opened his mouth to blab all the secrets of the universe until Shishido nudged him, at which point he gave Shishido a puzzled and somewhat mournful face (this was a face he had picked up from Sengoku and he found it especially useful in getting things he wanted from Shishido).

"You are making your boy toy unhappy," Yagyuu pointed out helpfully, picking up one of the books and flipping through it. It's not like Shishido actually had to /tell/ them what he was researching if the books were /right there/.

"He's not my boy toy!" Shishido clamped his hands over Ohtori's ears, anticipating a ribald conversation and intending to spare his innocence.

"You're his? Well, he is taller but I thought the height rule wouldn't apply since he wouldn't know the first thing to do with-" Niou's commentary was interrupted by Shishido summoning a anvil and dropping it on him a la Wiley E. Coyote.

Ohtori stuck his bottom lip out just enough to make it look shiny, "That wasn't very nice Shishido-san. You can hurt Niou-san."

Yagyuu smirked at Niou, pleased that he was being a proper distraction so he could read about the seventeenth flower that had appeared after the flood ... wait, flood? "Are you researching Satan?"

"Maybe." Shishido couldn't lie anymore, darnit, but he would stretch the truth! Satan had been involved in the missing books, after all...

"Hmmm, maybe heaven isn't being completely useless," Yagyuu murmured and continued to read.

Ohtori whipped his head around to focus on Yagyuu, causing the demon to dive behind the books in a very undignified fashion, "Heaven is useful for your happiness and salvation, Yagyuu-san! Don't you remember how wonderful it was?"

"It sucked," was the waspish reply of one forced to look foolish for running from the Burning Light of Grace.

"Then why all this fuss?" Shishido asked.

It was someone unexpected who spoke next. "I can answer that," Yanagi said.

Shishido jumped a bit, and Niou raised an eyebrow as Yanagi materialized on the top of a nearby bookshelf, a rather perturbed looking Inui sitting next to him. Niou exchanged looks with Yagyuu. "Care to enlighten them?" he asked dryly, knowing that Yanagi was about to spill the beans.

Ohtori looked up, curious now that both Yanagi and Inui had appeared on the shelves (Yanagi was a normal fixture there, Inui on the other hand, liked to slink between them). He idly wondered if they hadn't been spending a little time ... alone.

Inui focused his attention on Ohtori, who was probably the most dangerous one to his wellbeing in the room, and prepared to dive off the shelf if need be. "Satan is proving that he is as much of a moron as he ever was," was Inui's sharp little comment on the matter. It wasn't exactly true, but this far away from his lord and master he could release some of his bitterness without fear of reprisal.

"Satan is? Um... why are you using the present tense?" Shishido asked with a sinking feeling. That would explain why Niou and Yagyuu were suddenly so interested in heaven...

"Probably because his reincarnation had a moment of self-actualization and is now creating mayhem," Niou said smoothly.

Ohtori sighed, "Oh shit," causing those around him to choke at the words that slipped easily from his lips. Ohtori blushed. "What? It's true!"

Shishido merely stared at his beloved. Ohtori swearing? Surely the Apocalypse had to be starting.

The throne of hell had been officially vacant for a very long time. It had also been thrown into a closet in the back of nowhere and forgotten, but with the anticipation of Satan's return running high, Dan had sent out a search party, retrieved the missing artifact in an expedition that rivaled the opening of the Pharaoh's tombs, and withdrew the leather recliner from darkness while seven minor devils choked on ancient dust and nearly expired on the spot. They also found twenty-seven Ping-Pong balls, three mummified frogs, a dinnerware set that seated seven hundred, and a pair of fuzzy handcuffs. Dan sighed. Lucifer had been mercurial at best.

Needless to say, with the finding of the throne, Dan had ordered the grand hall to be dusted out, the throne to be reupholstered in the shiniest of new leathers and decked with a little gold gilt. Recliner it may be, but by the devil it would be the best recliner that ever leaned back and flipped out a foot rest.

With all these preparations complete and the grand hall finally looking like it had in the days when Hell had been more like a kingdom and less like a bureaucracy, Dan threw his weight around like he hadn't since Lucifer had sat on the throne and summoned the hellish minions from every corner of the globe to fill his newly cleaned great hall. Then he made them wait, because he was evil like that and anticipation made them antsy.

This was how Ryouma had ended up not seventeen feet from the throne, actually. He /had/ been near the back due to his age, but after the long wait, he had naturally begun wriggling his way to the fore for a better seat to see what all the commotion was about. Fuji no longer Lord of Hell? Perfect, really. It meant the way was finally open for /him/ to work on moving up.

A hand snagged his collar. "Where do you think you're going?" asked a rather annoyed devil. Kaidou Kaoru, a mid-level devil with more seniority than Ryouma cared to fathom, stared down at him.

"I wanted to look at the throne," he replied with definitive insolence in his voice. Not that a recliner actually deserved that name ...

"Know your place," Kaidou hissed, lifting Ryouma slightly so his feet were barely an inch off the floor. He'd heard Ryouma was a fast-rising star, but there was no way he'd tolerate any disrespect.

"I know it," he just chose to ignore it since he knew he was better at what he did than most of the demons that were currently populating the room, "I just wanted to see ... " and maybe get to sit on it ...

Kaidou snorted. "Just behave..." He wasn't sure exactly what was going on since his boss was mysteriously absence, but he was sure something momentous was about to happen.

"I'm a devil, I'm not supposed to behave," Ryouma retorted, staring up at the throne and the near-bouncing Dan with a hunger he managed to keep mostly to himself.

Kaidou would have told him that attitude would probably get him killed, but the sudden hush that fell over the crowd prevented him from speaking. Fire was starting to crackle near the throne, a sure sign that something was about to happen.

With a "boom!" that shook the walls, sending the artwork which Dan had so carefully supervised being hung crashing down, Satan appeared.

Confusion rose through the mass as they recognized who was standing on the podium. Kirihara Akaya, dressed in jeans and a pull-over sweatshirt, hands in his pockets, ran his eyes over the crowd. It seemed different than it had a few weeks ago - he could See how much power his soon-to-be-minions possessed, and he could feel the throb of sheer Evil thrumming through his body.

Dan clapped his hands and this time did bounce with glee, "Satan-san! You're back!"

The words of disbelief were out of Ryouma's mouth before he could recall them, "/You're/ the new Lord of Hell!" It wasn't that Kirihara didn't radiate sheer power, it was the fact that it was /Kirihara/ and he hadn't been radiating that power the /last/ time Ryouma had seen him.

Kirihara looked at Ryouma, and then his eyes flared. In less than a blink of the eye, Echizen Ryouma ceased to exist. "Any other questions?" he asked the stunned audience.

Kaidou stared at the spot Ryouma had been in. He'd felt the other vanish from his grasp... like he was no more important than a bug.

Naturally, silence reigned. Dan pulled himself out of the sudden stillness that Ryouma's vanishing had pushed him into and snapped at the crowd, "Then get on your knees and bow!" following his own orders without compunction.

All things considered, the audience felt that it would best to follow Dan's lead ... since he had survived the first reign of Satan intact and probably knew what the hell he was doing.

Dan knew what he was doing all right, he was being a good little minion of a demon just long enough to keep Satan happy before he ran screaming to Sengoku-san.