Mikau: Hello! It's exam week! I looooooove exam week! It's soooo relazing. No homework, no studying, just tests. It's great. I know; you all think I'm insane now, right? Well I'm just a freak like that. School is too easy for me. Anyway, exam week means that Christmas Break is coming, and that means a lot of free time. Yea! Anyway, this chapter has a pretty limey part, so it's marked. It's not too bad actually, so it should be probably okay to read…but anyway suit yourself. I had my Religion and Spanish exams today, and both were really, really easy. My friend Serena will probably murder me if (when) she sees this because she doesn't share my views on exams. I especially liked the Spanish one. We were supposed to write a 10 sentence essay about our daily routine and what we do on the weekends, and mine turned out to be more like 20-30 sentences. Señorita is going to smite me when she has to read and grade it. Anyway, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.

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An Unlikely Pair

I woke up with my mom and dad keeping watch over me anxiously. Ivy sat on a chair at my beside and Hao rested his head in her lap. Hana and the

Fausts were still helping fix up Akira from his little fight with Thorn, so I knew I hadn't been out long. Perhaps fifteen minutes at most? Still it had been enough for both my mother and father to fall asleep. Most of the original Shaman King gang had gone out to eat after the big fight, so the house was pretty much empty. It struck me as odd, though, that Pilika, Ren, and their younger daughter had gone with the others. I would have thought for sure that they would have at least checked in on Akira, but then again maybe he didn't have a very good relationship with his family. Hadn't Hana told me something like that once a while ago?

Aunt Anna and Uncle Yoh stood in the doorway supervising. Yoh hesitantly placed an arm around his wife. Anna didn't seem to notice. "So…" My uncle started tentatively.

"Yes?" Anna didn't look at him, her cold eyes fixed straight ahead.

"When were you going to tell me?" Yoh ventured a quick peek at her face.

"Tell you what?" Anna carefully studied whatever it was she was looking at.

"About…the baby." Yoh no longer hid the fact that he was looking right at her.

Anna still didn't make eye contact. I could tell she was nervous. "What baby?"

"Ours. That is—unless the baby's not mine? It's probably Hao's. He's around here more than I am, so it wouldn't surprise me." There was a hint of a teasing tone in Yoh's voice, but Anna didn't seem to hear it.

"So Hao told you?" Anna snuck a look at her husband.

"Uh…yeah…why didn't you tell me we were having another baby?"

She shrugged.

"So do we know if it's a boy or a girl yet or anything? When is it due?" Yoh seemed happy to be a father-to-be again, and his enthusiasm was making Anna smile lightly.

"We don't really know much yet, but the baby is due in October right around Halloween." Anna let him wrap his arms around her and feel her stomach.

"Wanna go somewhere?" Yoh suggested out of the blue.

"What?" My blonde aunt seemed uncertain of whether or not he was serious.

"Come on; just the two of us. It'll be fun. Don't you think we could use some alone time? And it's not like anyone's going to miss us." Yoh was slowly wearing Anna down. "Now-a-days it's always about getting Hao and Ivy back together. What about us? Don't we deserve to be alone once in awhile?" He kissed her quickly on the lips, and that proved to be the deciding factor. She smiled, pulling him off to do something to rekindle their relationship.

I smiled knowingly. 'I wish I had someone to love me like that…' I frowned. As soon as I had formulated the words in the back of my mind they sounded stupid. It was never going to happen. 'People in my kind of work don't fall in love.' I wiped the thoughts from my mind and swore never to think about such childish things ever again.

"You're up." A soft voice murmured next to my ear.

I jumped, just noticing a girl with chest-length brown hair and dark eyes. 'Thorn…' I screamed, remembering what had happened before I had passed out. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" I pushed her away, falling out of bed and on top of my father in the process.

Hao, jerked awake by a combination of my screaming and being landed on, was disorientated to say the least. Ivy, also startled, fell drowsily out of her chair just in time for her to see me running to my bedroom and locking the door from the inside, barricading myself inside where I couldn't hurt anyone.

I only had a few seconds to myself before the three of them were at my door banging on it. My father spoke first, "Hoshi? Hoshi, it Hao; are you all right? What's the matter?"

Ivy spoke next, "Hoshi what's wrong? Are you feeling okay honey?"

I didn't answer either of them. Hao tried again, "Hoshi, come on. We're really worried."

"Hoshi, it's Val. Do you want to talk about it?" She paused, giving me response time. "At least tell us if you're okay." She turned to Hao, no longer talking to me. "Does she do this often?"

"No…she has occasional outbreaks every couple years, but normally it's Thorn who does this kind of thing. I can't for the life of me figure out what's going on…" My parents whispered in hushed tones trying to come up with a game plan.

"Do you think he…?" Ivy suggested.

"That son of a bitch! If he did anything to her I'll—"

"—Shh! Not helping. She can hear us, and it's not doing us any good pretending that she can't. Hoshi please talk to us. We care about you and you're scaring us." Ivy's motherly tone almost broke my heart. I truly wanted to tell her about my deal with Lucifer and all my other schemes, but I couldn't.

I physically couldn't form the words in my mouth. The whole time they had been knocking on the door I had been trying to tell them about how Lucifer was going to have me murder Thorn, but something wouldn't let me. My entire mouth burned when I tried to tell them and a tiny pinprick point on my lip stung like the fires of hell in summer whenever I tried to snitch.

I cast a quick glance in my vanity mirror, and sure enough, there it was. Just looking at me you wouldn't have known that it was there, but if you looked with a microscope, it was plain as day. There was a small scar on my bottom lip where he had bit me. I thought I felt something weird when he kissed me, taking my blood. 'He must have forced some of his demonic aura or whatever into my body through the cut. That must be how he's controlling me…' "Damn. It."

"Hoshi?" My father was back to trying to get me to talk. "Please…" His voice was getting desperate.

"Just a simple 'Yes' I'm okay, or 'No' I'm not." I could just picture my mother burying her face in my father's chest for comfort.

"Hey Hosh, it's Thorn. What's the matter sis?"

My sister's voice seemed to awaken my own. "Stay away! Get her away from me! It's for her own good!" Something inside me stated burning and I doubled over in pain, shrieking.

"HOSHI?" Both Hao and Ivy started freaking out.

I dragged my body over to my bed and managed a weak, "I'm fine; just stay away from me." I let out another muffled yowl.

"Hoshi, we're coming in." In a quick flash of flames Hao teleported Ivy and himself inside my room.

"Stay back." I warned, creating a pathetic firewall in-between us.

My father washed away my flames with a flick of his wrist, and Ivy rushed to my side. In seconds I was in her arms and her warm tears brushed against my skin. Hao took the spot next to her and looked me over carefully before deciding I was okay. He let out the breath he had been holding and hugged me as well.

"Mind explaining?" He smoothed my hair and smiled tiredly.

I shook my head, burying my face in the nook of my mother's neck. She rested her head on top of mine and held me. "Please just keep Thorn away. It's not safe for any of you to be near me. Please go?" I winced in pain as Lucifer's little spell took hold again.

"Hoshi, what did Lucifer do to you?" Hao caressed my face affectionately.

I shook my head and cringed. The spell had punished me for even thinking about answering. "Just leave me alone."

"Hoshi." Ivy looked down at me in her arms with a scared gleam in her eyes.

I shook my head. "Nothing." I waited for the pain from speaking to come, but it never did. Apparently the spell didn't care if you lied. "I'm just feeling ill; that's all. Please leave me alone and keep Thorn away." I pulled the covers over my head and prayed that they would take a hint.

Ivy glanced at Hao. Hao gazed at Ivy. They shared a conspiring look. No one spoke, but each placed a quick kiss on one of my cheeks and without another word they left the same way they had come, looking worried.

I let out the breath I had been holding as they ushered Thorn away from the door where she had been waiting and instructed her not to come near me. When I heard three sets of footsteps retreat down the hallway I let the tears come.

'What were you thinking? A deal with the Devil? You're such an idiot!' I sobbed as I berated myself for trusting him and letting myself get into this mess. 'You should have known that he couldn't be trusted. He is THE DEVIL after all. The title doesn't come with a very trustable connotation. God, I'm such an idiot. I TRUSTED him…I never trust anyone, and then, all of the sudden I decide to trust someone and this is what happens. Well, lesson learned, no more trusting.' I felt a falling sensation in the pit of my stomach. I had trusted him, and he had easily betrayed my trust like it was nothing. 'Oh quit pouting like a love-lost schoolgirl. You were a complete moron to have trusted him, so stop acting so star-struck that he used you.'

"But I trusted him…" A thought hit me like a piano from the sky. "Arrrgh! Just like I trusted his brother. God. Damn. It. They're all the same. All men are the same." I held my pillow tightly to my chest and cried. "And I'll never learn."

I probably cried myself to sleep because it was dark outside when I woke up. I don't know for how long I was asleep, but the digital clock on my bed-stand read 11:30 PM. My door was still shut and locked, but the barricade I had set up had been taken down. My father and possibly mother too had been in to check on me.

I got out of bed and walked into my personal bathroom. I brushed my hair and teeth and checked my reflection. A girl with waist length crimson hair and smoky-bright blue eyes stared back at me. If you ignored the small 3 scar below my eye and the new scar on my lip (both of which were hard to see unless you knew they were there), I was very pretty. I wasn't trying to be vain, but I knew that I was attractive. I washed off all my makeup and got ready for bed. I didn't feel like going in to work that night. I didn't think I would for the rest of the week. I simply wasn't in the mood to entertain stupid drunks or stupid perverts or basically stupid men in general. I put on my pajamas, a lacey red nightgown up to mid-thigh, and got in bed.

I had made up my mind to completely scrap my plans and schemes to get Akira and Thorn together. I was going to kill myself before I could be forced into murdering Thorn, and after I was dead, Hana could do his best to fix them up. He was pretty resourceful, and could probably handle it.

I got in bed and concentrated hard on the matter at hand: how would I do it? I didn't have any pills, and a gun would be too loud. I needed something quick and silent. A smirk imprinted itself on my face as I remembered something Thorn had tried to teach me when we were little. Our mother had had a way of using her furyoku to summon items and make them appear out of thin air. Thorn had inherited the power and one day was trying to teach me. I remembered vaguely what to do, but it would be rather difficult to summon a knife from all the way down in the kitchen.

I closed my eyes and concentrated my furyoku on the knife. A sharp one, so that it wouldn't have trouble going in. I wanted this to be as painless as possible. I envisioned myself picking up the knife. It took me several tries and almost all my furyoku before I successfully was able to grip the weapon, but in the end when I opened my eyes there it was in my hand. I made a small incision in my index finger, testing the object for sharpness. I flinched, shuddering at my own blood. 'This one will work.'

I didn't know whether or not I should hold my breath. I had never attempted something like this before, so I wasn't absolutely sure how to go about it. Just where does one stab oneself if one wishes to terminate one's life? After much deliberation I decided upon the stomach. I didn't have enough nerve to slit my throat or my wrist, and stabbing myself in the heart would be just to brutal to imagine, so I thought maybe the stomach would be best.

I raised the knife and held the cold metal to my skin. I held my breath, closed my eyes, and pushed hard. I immediately felt the sharp pain. I could feel the blood rushing to escape from the wound, but my life force still remained strong, intact. It was more than clear that this wasn't going to kill me. My mind started to race as I pulled out the knife. There was no blood on it, and my flesh immediately regenerated, covering the would-be hole in my stomach.

'No…' I tried again with the same non-fatal effect. 'No. No. No.' And again the knife plunged into me. The sharp pain of being stabbed came back, but I didn't die. It was as if I couldn't… "You bastard!" 'He's done this so I can't get out of our deal.'

I decided to try one last time, just to be sure. I raised the knife to my chest and pressed it to my left breast.

"I wouldn't do that." An annoying voice appeared out of nowhere. "It would be a shame to ruin such perfect breasts as yours." I lowered the knife and glared at the auburn-haired, onyx-eyed demon that had puffed into my room uninvited.

"Lucifer…" I glared at the figure seated upon my desk. "Why do you insist on torturing me? Why can't you just let me kill myself and be done with it?" I stabbed myself in the stomach again, ignoring the pain.

"It's not my fault that you didn't read the fine print in the contract." He pulled out a scroll and started reading. "To put it in simple terms that you can understand: the terms of our deal were that your soul wouldn't go to hell, you wouldn't have to sleep with anyone, and you owe me a favor. It only makes sense that you can't kill yourself to get out of it. Besides, I've already started work on my half of the deal, so you can't back out now. Or didn't you notice how physically fit I look as compared to me earlier?

I looked him over. He did look different…definitely more buff than the scrawny Lucifer before. He had obviously been doing some sort of extreme strenuous exercise judging from his torn, beat up, and dirty clothes. His shirt was covered in what looked like volcanic soot, and dried water stains. There were a couple sweat stains, and holes burned into the clothing. And it did look as if he had been attacked by some kind of clawed creature like a bear or a lion. "What happened to you?" My curiosity got the better of me and I just had to ask.

He had obviously been waiting to tell someone about his adventure, and I had the honor of being the first to ask. "Well, if you insist, I carved my name into a cucumber and threw it into the river beneath the bridge about five miles from here. This Kappa comes out and is set to eat me, but I tell him that I'm Diablo's little brother and that my brother sent me. I bow and then he bows back to me tells me that I have to dive to the bottom of the river and retrieve this pearl that he's got hidden. I dive in and search for it at the bottom, but all these other Kappas attacked me. I finally got the pearl, and then the first Kappa tells me I have to go scale Sakurajima, one of the most active volcanoes in Japan, and give the pearl to the griffin on top of the volcano. So I poof over to the base and start climbing. All the swimming I had been doing had already tired me out, so a few hours of climbing a volcano is pretty tough. I finally make it to the top some amount of hours later and when I get to the top the griffin starts attacking me. So there I am fighting a griffin on top of a volcano. He almost pushed me off too. I was beat from all the climbing, and I just barely won. I give the Kappa's pearl to the griffin, and then he tells me that I have to pawn it in at this shoppe down in Atlantis and come back with the money. Can you imagine the nerve of the guy? So I socked him one and then went off to Atlantis to pawn in the pearl. And of course the merpeople give me a hell of a lot of trouble trying to attack me and put me in jail for raping their princess a few hundred years back." He paused as I gave him a deadly look. "It was Diablo who raped her. He tried to frame me. After roughing me up some I finally managed to explain and get the money for the pearl. Then I had to climb all the way up the volcano again and finally the griffin told me to go visit a dragon in the woods and he would give me what I was looking for. It took forever to find the damn dragon, seeing as the griffin failed to specify as to which dragon in what woods. I had the most horrendous time with pickpockets, thieves, and all sorts of muggers in the woods on the way there. Thank god the dragon just straight out told me all the stuff I needed to know. He just handed me the book and I was on my way." He pulled a small, morocco-bound book, no larger than a pocket-sized Bible out of his back pocket and showed it to me. The writing was in some hieroglyphic-like symbol language that I couldn't read. "I figured you would be up, just on your way to work or something like that, so I decided to see if I could catch you before you left."

"Well as you can see I wasn't planning on going in for work." I motioned toward the knife.

"Oh. Right. Well, sorry, but you can't get out of this now that you're involved Hosh." He smiled sympathetically.

"Don't call me that!" I shrieked offensively. "Only my sister and dad call me that!"

He nodded. "Sorry. Hoshi." He looked me over and smiled fondly. "That nightgown really suits you."

I didn't think twice about stabbing him. I leaped from the bed and stabbed him through the heart. He gasped, startled at the sudden intrusion of the dagger into his body. Instead of blood, flames trickled out of the wound. I stood gaping at him, not thinking to let go of the knife that was still lodged in his chest. We stared at each other for the longest time; both or our eyes were wide and our mouths hung open. My other hand, the one not holding the dagger, was braced against his chest. His hands were rested on my hips, trying to push me away, but not really exerting any force, so they just stayed stationary there.

Soon the moment of shock wore off and he glared downward at me. "Well. If you wanna play that way…" He pulled the knife out of his chest, and with a snap his dirty clothing disappeared and he had a clean set of clothes on. It also looked like he had showered as well. His hair was shiny and still a bit damp. "I'll just leave." I stared after him as he climbed back up on my desk and tried to open the window. He was wearing a black set of dress pants and a red dress shirt with long, kimono-like sleeves.

"What was the purpose of changing your clothes?" I blinked several times as he struggled to get the window open.

"I'm going home. I couldn't possibly go back to my subjects looking like I did when I got here." He tugged again at the window, but it didn't budge.

"Yet you showed up looking in a complete disarray here?" I couldn't help wonder why he didn't just go straight home in the first place.

"I knew you would ask about what had happened to me if you saw my clothes all dirty and torn like that, and frankly I just wanted to tell the story and no one else will listen. Damn window." He sat back down on top of the desk.

"The window's locked." I carefully climbed up on top of the desk, not caring whether he saw up my nightgown or not. I flipped a switch on the window, and it swung open.

"I know. I didn't really want to leave in the first place." He shrugged. "I'm in no hurry to go home. I had intended to stay here awhile. I looked god-awful when I arrived and I think these clothes make me look much sexier, so I changed. Problem?"

"No, not really." I shrugged, not caring. I didn't realize that he meant he had changed clothes for me. "So why are you really here? Come to torment me?"

"No. I need to know the names of the people you want me to manipulate the free will of."

I sat back down on my bed and began to think. "Mr. Ross Brockville, Ms. Jenni Stormfield, and Mrs. Maggie Topplemen. Those are the directors."

He nodded and awkward silence followed. "I was going through the names on the cast list, and was wondering: at one point Rizzo sleeps with the leader of one of the other gangs, right?" I nodded as he continued. "The guy that you want to play that guy, is he an essential part of your plan to set up Akira and Thorn?"

I blinked. 'How does he know about the plan?' "No. Feel free to substitute someone else for him if you think you know someone who can do a better job. The only really important parts are Danny, Sandy, Rizzo, Kenickie, the Pink Ladies, and the T-Birds."

"Great. You're still auditioning then?" He cocked his head to the side and gazed at me with interest.

I shifted uneasily under his gaze. "No. I'm locking myself in this room and not coming out until the day I die. I'm not eating, not sleeping, and certainly not trying out for a musical."

"Is that so? Well if you're not sleeping, could I use the bed? I'm exhausted from my little quest, and I really don't feel like going home right now." It took me a moment to realize he was serious.

"Get your own bed." I glared. "I'm not about to let the Devil sleep in mine."

"Oh come on Hoshi; you're not gonna use it, and I don't have to sleep in it, I could just nap. What do you say?" He looked at me with puppy dog eyes and I found it extremely hard to refuse.

"NO. Leave me alone!" I fought the urge to have pity on him.

"But you let me sit on your lap earlier." He whined.

I blushed. "Wh-when did this happen!"

"When I was a cat. You had no problem with me then, and now all I want is a place to spend the night. I'm really not like the other guys you know; all I want is the bed. I personally don't care whether you're in it or not." He transformed into a cat and curled up on top of my pillow.

I picked him up by the scruff of his neck and tossed him to the floor (gently. Not too hard, but not too soft either). He landed on his feet and let out a wounded hiss. I glared at him as he made eyes at me from where he sat on the floor. "No Lucifer." I pulled the cover over my head and shut my eyes.

The bed shook only slightly as Lucifer jumped from the floor onto the bed and curled up on top of my stomach. I sat up and tossed him to the floor again. "Stop it. Leave me alone; will you?"

He sat on the floor looking like I had injured him. I ignored him and lay back down in bed. Lucifer jumped up again and lay back down on my stomach. I threw him to the floor once more. "Cut it out!"

He looked up at me with a dying expression on his cat face. I lay down and waited for him to jump back up. Sure enough, he got back on the bed, but this time when he lay down on my stomach he transformed back into his humanoid form, pinning me under him.

I screamed and tried to force him off of me. "Lucifer you bastard! Get off of me this instant! I won't sleep with you! I won't, I won't, I woooooooon't!"

He restrained my arms with his hands and held the rest of my body down with his own. He laid his head on my chest, using it as an overstuffed pillow. "Shut up Hoshi; I'm trying to sleep."

His rude, straightforward reply stunned me into silence. I ceased flailing my arms and kicking my legs. I completely froze my thrashing body and blinked twice. "You…really don't want to sleep with me, do you?"

"No." He jadedly responded. "I just want to rest for awhile. I've got a lot of work to do for you tomorrow, and I need to be rested. I don't have the energy right now to do anything other than sleep."

"You're gay, aren't you?"

He sat up and looked down at me like I had another head. "WHAT?"

I repeated it. "You. You're gay. As in you like guys."

"NO! I know what gay means. I meant: what ever gave you that idea?" He was wide awake now.

"You're thousands of years old and yet you've never slept with a woman. Also, you don't seem to have any interest in me at all. Any normal man lying on top of me while I'm wearing this would have wandering hands, but you don't even seem turned on in the least bit." I looked up at him as he gaped down at me. "Plus that one day you visited the Asakura Mansion, I saw you kissing my father dressed as Ivy. You're a cross dresser too, aren't you?"

"I wasn't—I mean—That is to say—I really—I'm not gay, and I'm not a cross dresser!" He looked kind of cute, like a dog, when he was offended. It was amusing.

"Prove it." I smiled wickedly. I was just teasing him; I really didn't expect him to do anything but pout, so what he did next shocked me into a moment of stunned speechlessness. Not that I could have spoken if I wanted to, mind you; it's kind of hard to speak when someone is pressing their lips to yours.

For the first time in years a kiss made me feel alive. He lit me on fire and awoke a sort of passion within me. I had only had one kiss like this before: my first kiss. When I was young and met Damien. He had stolen my first kiss. It was the only other real kiss I had ever had. All the rest were paid for by customers or given away as a tease. I wasn't being paid for this kiss, and it made me feel human. Unlike what I felt when I was working, this felt real and I could feel sparks under the surface. This kiss wasn't like the one he had stolen earlier that day either. That kiss had been forced and aggressive, this one was entirely different.

START LIMISH PART!

He took my lips slowly and parted them gently with his tongue. Lucifer gradually fed his tongue into my mouth and took his sweet time tasting me. Not that I minded. The longer he drew it out, the more intense and passionate it got. He leisurely slid his hand behind my head and pushed us closer together, deepening the kiss. My arms instinctively wrapped around his neck. Our tongues played out a fierce battle for what seemed like ages, and I felt a pain like his tongue was made of acid, slowly melting my mouth away. It was a pleasurable pain though and I wanted more. I hadn't been so drunk on a kiss since my first, and I was overjoyed that I could still have an intimate attraction to someone.

He pulled away and smirked, but still kept his arms around me. "Maybe I was just waiting for the right woman. That enough to convince you I'm not gay?"

"Any guy can kiss regardless of sexual orientation. I won't believe you until you actually sleep with someone." I muttered softly against the skin of his neck.

"God Hosh, you're hard to please." He murmured.

"What do you say, instead of having me kill Thorn, why don't you sleep with me?" I ran a hand seductively up and down his thigh.

He sharply inhaled as my fingers caressed places they shouldn't have. "I-it doesn't w-work like that."

"But can't you make it work like that for me?" I undid the buttons of his shirt and quickly rid him of the unnecessary garment. This was my only chance to save my little sister, and suddenly sleeping with the devil didn't seem so bad. "Say yes?"

"Hoshi, no—" I forced his mouth back to mine and he offered little resistance. For a while he seemed lost under my spell, but eventually his senses returned and he realized what he was doing. "Hoshi. I can't. I'm bound by contract. YOUR contract. I have to set up the cast of the musical for you, and in return you have to do me a favor. NOT a sexual favor as plainly stated by yourself. I can't—OH MY GOD."

I had grabbed hold of the inside of his thigh hard—a technique that could bring any man to his hands and knees, at my mercy. He didn't bother resisting any longer. His hands freely roamed my body, sneaking expertly under my thin silky garments and working their magic on me. Somewhere around that point I completely lost myself in what was going on. I could no longer tell if I was doing it for my sister or for myself or maybe…for him? It didn't matter; I didn't care anymore.

END LIMISH PART!

And that's how they found us. Hao and Ivy had come in to check on me around midnight, and they found Lucifer on top of me with his hands up my shirt and his tongue halfway down my throat. Where my hands were was no better: one combing through his hair, somehow still sort of in its ponytail, and the other down his unzipped pants.

Ivy let out a startled gasp and Hao just stood gaping. None of us really registered what was happening. We must have sat there for hours just staring at each other, trying to convince ourselves that this was not really happening. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Lucifer disappeared in a quick puff of smoke, leaving behind his shirt on the bedroom floor and ponytail holder that had gotten caught on my hand.

My parents stared at me as I straightened my hair and clothing. "Don't ask." I mumbled, laying back down in bed and pulling the covers over me.

Ivy was at my side in a heartbeat. "I'm kind of afraid I have to. What's going on? I want the whole story."

"I can't tell you." It was the truth. I couldn't tell them anything because of the spell Lucifer had on me.

My father sat down on the bed beside Ivy. "I'd like to have it first hand from you before I go hunt down Lucifer and mutilate him."

I got out from under the covers and looked him straight in the eye. "I mean it. I really can't tell you."

"She's telling the truth." All eyes looked to my desk where Lucifer had reappeared. He smiled sheepishly. "Forgot my shirt."

"YOU!" Hao shot straight up and looked ready to murder the poor demon.

"Hear me out!" Lucifer raised his hands defensively. "Hoshi and I have a deal."

"So that's why she can't tell us…" My mother muttered under her breath while she rubbed my back gently, comforting me.

Hao turned to me. "Is this true?"

I nodded, just once. It was enough. I lowered my head and gazed at my entwining fingers in my lap.

My father didn't sound angry, but the tone of his voice was decidedly disappointed. Disappointed was far worse than angry. "What were you thinking, making a deal with the Devil?"

"I wasn't thinking." I muttered tonelessly.

"You had to have been thinking something. You're not stupid like you pretend to be Hoshi. I want to know why you did what you did." I couldn't argue with him when he used that tone.

I tried my best to explain my motives. "Well…I thought that maybe…Well I saw how Anna and Valerie bossed him around. I thought that he was sort of a pushover when it came to women. I thought that maybe…I could…could control him like they did? I underestimated him…and pretty badly too." I wiped the tear from my eye before it had a chance to fall.

Hao glanced at Ivy. "You and Anna have had some dealings with him?"

Ivy nodded. "He's been trying to make a deal with me for ages. Trying to get me to marry him if he gives me a new body. I don't know how Anna is involved with him though. Anna bosses everyone around, so it wouldn't surprise me if she had some sort of something to do with him."

"Could we stop talking about me like I'm not in the room?" Lucifer refocused the attention on himself.

Hao glared at the demon and Lucifer looked sorry that he had said anything. "So Lucy, what kind of deal do you have with my daughter?"

Lucifer smiled smugly. "Sorry. That matter is between me and my client."

My father glared again.

Lucifer rethought his former statement. "But of course, she's a minor, and you are her parents, so I guess it would be okay if I told you. I do a favor for her, and then she does a favor for me. No sex, no selling her soul. Just one favor both ways. What you just walked in on was her trying to renegotiate the deal because she didn't like what I had asked her to do. She tried to seduce me into sleeping with her instead."

"Somehow I don't believe you." The fire shaman glared menacingly at the Devil.

Lucifer opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "It's true. I was trying to make him go back on what we had agreed upon. I was trying to seduce him." I didn't bother raising my head to see the shock and disappointment on both Hao and Ivy's faces.

"Just what was this favor you were having her do Lucifer?" My mother investigated.

"I…well you see..." Lucifer looked down at me sympathetically with a hint of fondness in his eyes. "It doesn't matter what I was going to have her do because…well, in light of recent events…I…I'm reconsidering what I'm asking of her. So you can stop blatantly throwing yourself at me Hoshi." Lucifer slipped his shirt back on and started buttoning it.

"What are you going to have her do now?" Ivy was still very distrusting of the king of Hell.

Lucifer looked up, stopping in mid-button. "I haven't decided yet. I'll probably have her do my laundry or something stupid like that. She's no fun really with all the restrictions she put on what I could ask her to do." Lucifer adopted a sarcastic tone. "Oh, I know! I'll have her do my Christmas shopping! I do hate those crowded malls, and those stupid fat men in red suits. Oh, here's another idea! I'll have her cook for me sometimes. I never could make a good lunchtime meal. Or maybe I should have her take messages for me? I am a bit short on good secretaries. Seriously, I have little use for a slut like her other than what she said was off limits. I'll get around to assigning her something trivial later."

I tried hard to fight back tears. Did he really think so little of me?

My father's voice broke into my train of thoughts. "All right then. Now that that's settled, get out of here Lucifer before I have to kill you. And remember, if I ever see you even looking at one of my daughters again—"

"—Yeah, yeah. Make sure your daughters keep their hands to themselves. I have no interest in the slut, but the other one…so naïve and innocent…" I buried my face in my mother's chest so I wouldn't have to watch him insult me and salivate over my younger twin.

"OUT." Hao rose to escort Lucifer off the premises.

The devil backed up. "I'm going. I'm going." And he disappeared. Not in a cloud of smoke or flames as usual though. He simply was there one second and not the next.

My parents let out a collective sigh and shared a look. I sobbed into my pillow, ignoring the both of them.

"Hoshi?" Ivy rubbed my back soothingly.

"Is there anything we can do?" Hao took his place on the bed next to me to Ivy's right.

"Please just leave me alone." My voice was muffled by the pillow, but I knew they could hear.

They shared another look, silently discussing what to do. Ivy chewed lightly on the inside of her cheek and Hao bit his lip uncertainly. Neither had had much experience with upset teenagers despite the fact that they had once both been in similar positions.

"Night honey." Ivy nuzzled me lightly and stood to leave.

"We love you." Hao kissed the top of my head and followed Ivy out. I could tell that they had both accepted the fact that Hao knew that 'Valerie' was really Ivy even if Hao still referred to her as 'Valerie' and neither of them had discussed her true identity out loud.

The door clicked lightly shut and I was left alone to cry myself to sleep again. Or so I thought.

"Finally. I didn't think they would ever leave." Lucifer slowly fazed into view. He hadn't really left at all; he had just turned invisible and waited for my parents to leave. He finished buttoning his shirt and zipping his pants. He slipped back on his shoes and smoothed the wrinkles and creases in his outfit. "What's the matter?" He raised an eyebrow inquisitively at me.

I stifled a sob. "It's nothing. I don't feel well, that's all. What you said about reconsidering having me murder Thorn, were you telling the truth or were you just lying to me again?"

The look on his face told me that he didn't believe for a second my line about not feeling well, but he didn't say anything to counter it. "I was telling the truth. You're off the hook. I'll think of something else for you to do. Now, what's really bothering you? Don't try and lie; I'll just keep asking."

I lay down and pulled the covers close around me once again. "I don't feel well."

"What did I say about lying?" He sat down where my mother had just been minutes ago.

"Leave me alone Lucifer. I said I don't feel well, and it's the truth." My tone turned icy and sharp.

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me Hosh, it's your business." He smirked and got up to unlock the window.

I sat up in bed and scowled. "Don't call me that! I've told you over a thousand times!"

He smiled sweetly. "I know. I only do it because you hate it so much. Good night Hoshi!" He kissed me quickly on the cheek.

"How can you be two different people like that?" My jaw had dropped when he kissed me, and the words easily slid out of my open mouth.

He blinked and stared at me. "What do you mean?"

Before I could shut my mouth and pretend that it was nothing, more words and sentences spilled out in succession. "I mean that you're completely different when we're alone and when my parents, especially my dad, are here. Whenever other people are watching you insult me and berate me like I'm a dirty piece of laundry or something, but when it's just me you're...I don't know. I don't know what I'm talking about. Goodnight demon." Again I pulled the cover over my head.

We had both said our goodnights, but he didn't leave. He sat on top of my desk and stared at me. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep, but of course I was wide awake even at that late time of night. I couldn't sleep while his eyes watched me like a hungry wolf on the prowl. I could feel the heat of his eyes on me even if I couldn't see in the dark. It was unnerving.

I let out a groan. "Will you either say something or go away?"

"What do you want me to say?" He looked solemn-faced at me.

"I don't know! If you don't have anything to say, then go away." I kept my eyes shut, feeling uncomfortable with his intense gaze.

"But I don't want to go home yet. My dad left us, my mom is dead and gone to Heaven, and my older brother abuses me. I'd much rather stay here with you. What do you say to a sleep over?" He smiled, gently teasing.

"Don't try and make me feel sorry for you." I tried to tune him out.

"All right. I won't. I'll be going then." He unlocked the window and prepared to exit. "If I didn't insult and berate you in public, then someone might figure out that I like you like you, and that's an easily exploited weakness. Sweet dreams, Hosh." He winked and disappeared in his patented puff of red smoke. He left my window open flapping in the wind.

I stared after him for the longest time, unblinking. 'Did he just say…No. No, he didn't mean it. Not like that. Don't be trick so easily; he's like his brother. Exactly like his brother. The one who ruined your life and took everything away from you. Don't let yourself be tricked again.' I got up, closed the window, and got back in bed without another thought of that lying bastard Lucifer.

But actions speak louder than words or thoughts, and I kept the ponytail holder that he had left behind clenched tightly in my hand the whole night. I even wore it to school the next day for luck with the Grease auditions. Not that I needed luck with the devil himself rigging the whole thing in my favor.

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Mikau: -Smirks- So. My chapters seem to get longer and longer. You know, I think I almost have as many words as I,SR. Though this might be 50,000 or so words shorter. I,SR had so many more chapters, but the chapters were so much smaller. Well, I can safely say that TBT will probably be just as long (word wise) as I,SR. Maybe longer. Who knows? I could be completely wrong. I always am, so I should just stop making predictions. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews!

Thanks To: GothicShamaness13, Untitled Sorrow, Touch of the Wind, MiStraLL, Andrea Nefisto, demon thing, MaiValentinefan, kari tao (ren's little sister), DarkPisces33, KaZuYa MiNeKuRa, yo wuz up, souloverdrive, HAO-Addictive, and Winged-Wolf01.

To GothicShamaness13: Actually, apprising means explaining. An explaining look. Though 'appraising' does make sense too. Also, miniscule is the Old English, nonstandard spelling of minuscule. Both are acceptable. Now stop it. Once was funny, but twice is blatantly insulting.

To Andrea Nefisto: -Smirks- Yes, Botan from YuYu Hakusho. I looooove that show, and Botan is too fun not to use. Can you blame me?

To demon thing: Thanks for the predictions as always. No comment on whether or not they're right or wrong.

To Winged-Wolf01: Really? I didn't know you had a story with a Thorn in it. I must check it out when I have a free moment sometime. Originally I was going to call Thorn 'Fern', but then 'Fern' turned into a completely different character (when/if I ever get my Façade fic up, Fern will make an appearance there). About two years ago when I was in 8th grade I was working on this short story with the main character named Thorn, but that died shortly after I thought it up. So I hadn't used the name Thorn yet, and whenever I came up with this story back before I even started work on I,SR in March, I had the girl named Thorn. I really like nature names (ex: Ivy, Fern, Thorn), and my brother got me this big book of nature names a few years back (in 8th grade). I got the name while I was flipping through there. It's pretty cool that we both have a character with that name though. Great minds think alike I guess. Now what were you talking about, about the email? You mean Thorn's email? TornByThorns at SK dot com? Or the other one, ThornsOfABrairRose? I was trying to make a play on Thorn's name, but I'm still not happy with it. I really should check your story out because if I read it and they're similar I might have to be concerned…

PLEASE REVIEW!