A/N: Shoutout to SkyHeartsfor the lovely fanart, although I still have a few paranoid suspicions you've been hacking into my computer and reading ahead in the fic... ;9
I do not own or profit from any of what Kazue Kato has created.
Next day brought a fairy tale ending into the postcard landscape, and by noon they had decided on continued cooperation between the rebel faction of the Futotsuki clan and the Order of the True Cross. The few arguments that arose were muted with grave understanding of necessity, and pointed disagreements were smoothed down by the refreshed knowledge that without each other's aid, some of them would not be sitting at the table today.
No fire forges bonds stronger than hardship.
No cause unites people like a common enemy.
No one knows human nature better than a demon.
Shiro tried, all the way back to the academy, to worm a confession out of Mephisto: in vain, not surprisingly. His silver tongue deflected questions and accusations as easily as his sword parried strikes in sparring, to the point that Shiro brought out his trump card:
"As I recall, I promised to keep your secrets", he said, staring hard at the profile reading manga, as if he could force it to show some betraying tick. "And in return, you promised you would trust me."
Green eyes glanced sideways at him with a sly, amused look.
"Are you saying I didn't~?"
One sentence. With a silver tongue like his, one sentence is all you need.