A/N: I do not own or profit from any of what Kazue Kato has created.

He was, he would admit, a bit nervous about Tamer exams; which was the worst exam to be nervous about. At least for the practical part, for which he was to summon a familiar and pit it against another Tamer's familiar.

There are two kinds of summoning: the instinctive, and the contract bound. Instinctive summoning was what they had done their first Tamer class, when each had been asked to say whatever words came to mind. Contract bound summoning was done using a pre-estblished agreement that pledged a demon to serve as familiar in exchange for blood, hair, dreams - something personal that the exorcist gave up as payment. Instinctive summoning required no such tribute. It was a matter of raw mind-power, and performance relied entirely on the summoner's heart and character: as Futotsuki-sensei had put it that very day, a familiar summoned through instinctive summoning mirrored the summoner.

It had come as no surprise, but nonetheless… It was a hard blow when Shiro had discovered that no shahrokh would come if he tried to summon it like before.

"I hope Futotsuki-sensei doesn't think it's strange that my familiar has changed", he thought as he stepped into the circle of wards that had been painted into the grass. This was the only exam held outdoors, on a secluded baseball court that was part of the Academy.

"Esquire Fujimoto Shiro, are you set?" Futotsuki-sensei's rich voice carried with surprising strength, even if he wasn't using a megaphone.

"Set", he confirmed.

"Junior First Class Tamer Yoshitaka Daisuke, are you set?"

"Yes", a small guy answered from the other side of the circle. "And good luck!"

Yoshitaka Daisuke…? Oh, right: the fidgety guy that had been part of the search team that went into Mephisto's labyrinth when Shiro's cram school key had been los- Had been stolen.

"Good luck!" Shiro returned, and steadied the clipboard against his hip. That was another part of the exam. In the field they would be carrying pre-drawn summoning circles, but in case of emergency they were required to be able to draw them.

"You may now begin the examination!"

"Child of Kadru, and daughter of eight kings…" Daisuke began.

"I call you forth to tell the just from the corrupted, to judge and exact judgement; to hunt the guilty down from the domes of the sky to the pits of the underworld", Shiro commanded, taking a firm hold of himself for what was to come.

First time he had summoned it, he had been forced to tear the paper almost immediately. He hadn't expected his control to falter, but then again he hadn't expected that familiar, either. He had been caught off guard, which was unsettling. Still, he had summoned it again… And again… Until he had sunk far enough into his cold detachment that he could hear that unholy bay without being seized by the paralysing fear that came with it.

"Your opponent is that naga." His voice rung hollow and slightly shaky in the arena, where all living sound had fallen silent before the smell of burnt brimstone. "Defeat it, but don't kill it."

Eyes the colour of boiling blood deigned him a glare over the demon's massive shoulder blade, and a snort that brought a gush of sparks from its nostrils. It detested him, he'd known that right from the start. He wasn't worthy to command such a creature.

"But command I will." Shiro met its eyes firmly, unwaveringly… "I've stared down the King of Time, you mutt." …and when it knew he wasn't going to falter, it turned its large head towards the hissing naga and stalked slowly closer, each step leaving behind the singed mark of a huge paw in the grass.

All cultures knew of them, in one form or another; all cultures feared them, for the work they carried out.

"You didn't come to be commanded by me", Shiro thought grimly, watching the red ears streak backwards against the white, bristling fur as the naga reared its head up to strike at his familiar. "You came to exact judgement." The hound skipped aside, light as a feather despite its size, and bit straight through the scale panzer behind the snake's head. "On me."

On the soul of a sinner. They had been called many things, but their purpose and task was the same. They were the finest hunting dogs in this world and all others, heralds of death that never slowed until they had chased their corrupted prey into the ground; so the coon annun had earned the name most people knew them by.

Hellhounds.

The practical Tamer exam was not a matter of whose familiar won and whose lost, but of what kind of familiars the students could summon, and how well they made use of their abilities. Nagas were excellent demons for offensive operations: fast, and venomous. Not very mobile, though. And not very good at endurance.

"Make it move around", he murmured, sure that his familiar would hear him but not Daisuke. "Wear it out."

The coon annun could run from the dawn of creation to judgement day, mythology had it. Whether that was true or not, they could run swift and far without tiring, and they had the strength to deal with any obstacle standing between them and their prey. The bite of a coon annun is venomous, though Shiro had little knowledge if that venom had the same effect on other demons as it had on humans.

The hellhound wasn't doing too well against the snake. Daisuke had made it curl up to minimize the target, and rather than biting it was slamming its tail at the attacker, keeping its bleeding head safe from further injury. The coon annun was too fast to get hit, but it wasn't getting close or making the naga any more tired either. Stalemate.

Shiro chewed the tip of his tongue, thinking. Stalemate didn't look good on protocol. Tamers were awarded for creativity and strategy in using their familiars, and turning the tables on a situation like this was precisely the kind of thing that gave extra points. The coon annun did have a howl that would make any living thing, human or demon, freeze in terror and be for a moment left open for assault; but he hadn't expected to face a familiar that couldn't bloody hear.

He knew one thing that he could do…

"There is an important distinction to be made between could and should." Mephisto was right in that statement, strategist as he was… and strategy was what the situation called for. Not from him, but from his familiar. "No winning without gambling, no gambling without risk." Shiro re-opened the cut in his hand for a second summon. "And coon annun hunt in packs."

Often, you would hear Arias say they had the most dangerous position in a team of exorcists; directly targeted by demons, and having to remain calm and remember hundreds of memorised chants flawlessly under stress fighter pilots didn't even come close to. The Arias that also held Meisters as Tamers huffed at such words. Drawing a correct circle to summon a demon required as much memorising as chanting did, but summoning…

Summoning required you to create your own miniature gate to Gehenna through blood and will, and drag a demon through it. A Tamer used his own mind and body to bridge across two dimensions, and subdue a spirit that would rip his throat out if given half a chance: that was no fucking slacker job. The strain from summoning two strong demons made Shiro's head throb painfully, and painted the edge of his vision with frizzy shadows. He knew he could do it, he'd done it a couple of times while he practiced on his own, but… He had never kept two demons bound to himself for long.

The naga was having a hard time of it, unsuccessfully trying to keep the blurry white-and-red cannonballs at bay. The coon annun moved like two bodies sharing one mind, biting and pestering the poor creature until it ignored Daisuke's commands and mindlessly tossed itself at them in an attempt to fend for itself.

"Exam is over!" Futotsuki-sensei declared from the sidelines. "Tear your summoning circles!" All three summons disappeared in clouds of smoke, and Shiro breathed a sigh of relief. "You did well, both of you. You are free to go, and please see the nurse if you feel ill or fatigued from this exam."

Shiro allowed himself a glance at Futotsuki-sensei, and at the other teachers assembled. If they were surprised by his change of familiar, they made a good job of hiding it.

He probably passed Tamer. There was still the theoretical exam of drawing wards and summoning circles, but Shiro wasn't worried about that. It may have been that large parts of his brain had been empty and unused before, but once he'd started filling it with information he had been surprised to discover how much he could fit in there. Chants, seals, potion recipes, properties of the different demon species… He had known he was smart – fairly smart, at least – but he'd had no idea how smart he was until he'd made an effort to learn things. Until there had been things that were interesting to learn.

…speaking of smart.

Shiro had taken the long way back to the dorm area from the baseball court, to enjoy the weather, and spotted another smart dick marching straight-backed for the dorms. All alone. With all other kids on lunch break.

"Oi, Kita." If he wanted that honorific attached back to his name, he had better explain to Shiro why there had been a baryon in his sword on Knight exam. "I've been looking for you." Shiro drew a last breath on his cigarette before tossing it on the walkway and stomping it out as he went.

"And why is that?" Didn't betray a thing, the little rat. He waited, arms crossed in the shadow of one of the Academy's buildings, and looked both bored and annoyed at having to deal with this nuisance of a classmate.

"I just wanted to say thank you, for being so kind and wishing me luck on Knight exam." Now that he came into the shadow too, he could open his eyes properly. Was that a tiny hint of tension in Kita's thin shoulders…? "And tell you to quit fucking around with my business. Fine if you don't like me – I don't give a rat's ass about you, either – but I'm not childish enough to screw up somebody's exam for that."

A superior sneer crept up on Kita's lips. He couldn't have been more than a few centimetres taller than Shiro, but hell was he making those centimetres count right now.

"You flatter yourself too much, Fujimoto", he snorted amusedly. "Why would I care about your exam results?"

"I know no one who would care more", Shiro returned with silken sweetness. "It's gotta sting pretty bad to have your fancy name beaten by a nobody without exorcist connections, I'm guessing? Bad enough to put a baryon in my sword for the examination."

People get a certain look when something dawns on them. It's built into the expression, really: the bright light of a rising sun becomes for a moment physically visible in their eyes. And that was the spark that flickered in Kita's.

"What?" It irked Shiro that Kita seemed to have realised something that had completely passed him by. Irked him, and made the seed of suspicion sprout in his mind.

But the lanky Yaonaru merely reverted to his usual dickish attitude, and dismissed him with a chuckle not of the friendly kind.

"Nothing. You know nothing", he said, turning on his heel to leave.

That, was not happening.

In a split second Shiro had him by his shirt collar and shoved his back against the wall, hard enough for Kita to bump his head on the stone and grimace in pain.

"I'll repeat myself: I don't give a rat's ass about you, or about how many teeth you have to sneer at me with", he said with steel barbed softness. "I'm gonna ask nicely first, and then it's up to you whether I have to ask again. If you weren't trying to screw my exam because of competition, why did you do it?"

Kita wasn't a fighter, that he'd known from the beginning. But he wasn't meek. He was better than others; that he'd been taught since he learnt to walk, probably, and that solid conviction forbade him to let a lowlife like Shiro dent his pride.

"Let go of me, you filth", he hissed.

"It's a bad move to think I won't go through with my threats." He slowly contracted the muscles in his arms, adjusting them to Kita's weight, and pushed the wide-eyed teenager up the wall until his feet dangled a good decimetre above ground. "How about we try again? Why did you sabotage my exam if it wasn't to disable competition?"

Shiro sincerely hoped that intimidation would be enough. He didn't give two shits if he actually did have to throw a punch or two in Kita's face, but his body was telling him to stop abusing it. He had summoned two familiars already, and holding Kita up by his shirt was draining what little energy he had left.

"You may be an imbecile, but I'm not", he snorted, defiant despite the trembling in the hands that clung to Shiro's arms for support. "I was shown the list of admissions to cram school before classes began last year. There was no Fujimoto Shiro on it. You were enrolled afterwards, handpicked by Sir Pheles. Why do you think he did that?"

"I know why he did that, better than you do", he thought, but let none of it show on his face.

"Oh, what a good pawn you are; not a brain cell to think with in that thick head", Kita derided, trying to pry Shiro's hands off his shirt. Shiro didn't let him. Kita knew far more than he had expected, and he wasn't going to let him off the hook before he found out just how much. "At least try to think, Shiro. Since Sir Pheles established his presence in Japan, sixty eight percent of the nation's artefacts and demonic relics have been relocated to Deep Keep: a high-security vault that can only be accessed through the use of magical keys, which are controlled by Sir Pheles. Seventy two percent of all exorcists in Japan operate under orders from the Order of the True Cross, whose Japanese branch is under the command of Sir Pheles." Kita made another attempt to pry off Shiro's hand, to no avail. "Japan is being disarmed and dismantled bit by bit, all power to combat demons centred to a demon that can deprive us of our weapon's arsenal with a snap of his fingers."

"The Yaonaru won't store their artefact in Deep Keep, not 'cause it's guarded by the Todos but because Mephisto…" Pieces fell in place, beautifully so. "He's tying all power to himself. Kita thinks that's why I-"

"He gathers both artefacts and exorcists", his captive continued, somehow maintaining his superior sneer despite his less than advantageous position. "And he handpicked you to become an exorcist. I don't know why, and apparently neither do you." Oh, Shiro knew. And while Kita was wrong about why Mephisto had enrolled him in cram school, the nosy little brat had made some good points. "I couldn't care less about you and your grades, but you might want to take a step back and think – if that's possible – of why Sir Pheles is so eager to add you to his collection." The haughty look grew haughtier. "Because trust me, it's not because you are his 'friend'."

There were a billion questions, milling around on Shiro's tongue like ants. A billion questions Kita wouldn't answer – many of which he couldn't answer, simply because all of them concerned the most secretive player on the game board.

And when you don't know what to ask… make people talk instead.

"That's the worst crap I've heard." Playing dumb with someone who already despised you for being dumb wasn't the most flattering thing one could do, but sometimes the results were well worth the humiliation. "And you expect me to believe that?"

Kita's face displayed an infuriating blend of annoyance, arrogance, resignation, and pity for the hopelessly stupid.

"The Yaonarus have been exorcists for as long as anyone can remember, with more knowledge of exorcism than any other family. We served the Tokugawa shoguns during the Edo period; we served Tokugawa Iesada when Sir Pheles came to Japan. He came as an emissary from the Order, offering to tie bonds with native exorcism traditions by building a school where the best from both practices would be taught." Kita made an effort to find footing on the wall behind, to alleviate his faltering grip on Shiro's hands. "And he wanted to build it where Assiah and Gehenna tangent", he spat. "That's where we are: at the thinnest nexus of the dimensional barrier. Do you think he chose this location on a whim? Do you think he came to Japan on a whim? That he enrolled you in cram school on a whim?" A cynical snicker breathed air against Shiro's whitened knuckles. "If so, you truly are an imbecile."

…and here he'd thought Kita was just a snotty shithead. The guy knew stuff. Stuff that justified every animosity he held against Mephisto – and against Shiro, who certainly must've looked like an ignorant pawn in the demon's game.

"…how can this place be the thinnest nexus? Why?"

"Why don't you ask your 'friend'?" Kita retorted.

Shiro wasn't pissed anymore. It was hard to say what he was; he had been given too much to ponder to bother being angry with Kita. He let the flustered teenager down with a jerky motion, immediately crossing his arms over his chest in an attempt to hide the fatigue tremors.

"You could have told me this before." Pff, indeed: too much to ponder to think before he spoke. Kita wouldn't have told someone who was in alliance with Mephisto; someone who was duped by Mephisto, now that was a different matter. "And my greatest talent seems to be looking stupid…"

"You should consider your priorities, Fujimoto", he said curtly, straightening his collar and paying absolutely no mind to Shiro's statement. "Perhaps it would be for the best if you resigned from exorcist education?"

Without another word, without another glance, the Yaounaru turned on his heel and walked off, leaving Shiro with renewed doubts.

Mephisto liked humans, and he wanted Assiah safe – but what the hell was he planning to do, with all those artefacts buried under the thinnest part of the dimensional barrier…?

A/N:

Coon annun – meh, my computer doesn't do Welsh. ^_^' The proper name is Cŵn Annwn, but that circumflex wouldn't sit atop a w, so I'll be transcribing it "as it sounds" for my own convenience. The coon annun are the Welsh version of the often heard-of hellhounds, and their specific variation of the legend is a big white hound with red ears. It's supernaturally strong and fast, to hunt down wretched souls for punishment, and an omen of death with bite that kills. There's plenty of similar myths in other places, so I took the liberty of mixing in a few of their traits for a more solid picture: the red eyes, the smell of burning brimstone, the burn marks from its paws, etc.

Kadru – is in Hinduism the mother of snakes. There's mention of a couple of snake kings there that also feature in the Japanese legends of eight great snake kings.

Dimensional barrier? - it's only been used in the anime; the weakest point in the barrier, where Gehenna and Assiah almost touch. There was no way Mephisto didn't build his Academy there on purpose. =/ He bends time and space dimensions constantly; I'm sure he could smell that spot like a bloodhound smells game.

Timeline recap – I've pretended that Mephisto arrived in Japan 1854 (see ch 29). That was the year Japan agreed to open up ports for foreign ships. This marked the start of international interaction with Japan after its many years of self-isolation, and also led to the downfall of the shogunate in 1868.