Chapter 30, Bitter Tongues.
Warning: Language
The bath was as warm as her heart as she soaked, a happiness blooming inside her once again. Maybe, she thought, she could get past how he had mislead her, and the two of them could come together and move on, being completely open and honest with one another. She would have to confront him about everything, she realized, trying to plan out how to bring it up, and ask him who he actually was. There could be so many ways it could go wrong, she thought. She decided that she would bring it up over breakfast.
The water drained slowly as she brushed her hair, echoing off of the walls, causing her to notice how quiet the mansion had become. Wrapping a towel around herself, she walked out into the empty bedroom, and then down the stairs, where she found it was also empty. The breakfast that the director had prepared for her sat out on the dining table, a note was folded in half and propped up with her name scribbled quickly on the front.
Grabbing the plate, she flipped open the note only to find that something urgent had come up, and he had to leave to meet with officials of the Order.
Of course. After all, he was a busy man. She wasn't always going to get to eat with him, much less get to talk to him about important topics. There would be plenty of times that he would need to leave suddenly, leaving her alone, just as she was. He was always running off to handle business, whatever it entailed. She would always have to wait for when he had the time for anything, but it especially bothered her because the talk she wanted to have was now postponed, and she wanted it done and over with.
After finishing her meal, she went to the closet in the guest room, which still had some of her personal clothing as well as clothing Faust—or Pheles—had purchased for her over the months they had become close. She grabbed a clean uniform and headed back into the guest bedroom, tossing her things onto the bed.
Just as she was ready to drop her towel, something pushed her onto the bed.
The initial thought was that Mephisto had been playing with her and only pretending that he had left, and so she laughed with her face in the comforter, telling him to get off. When there was no reply, and the mass above her didn't budge, her heart surged. Frantically she thrashed; her arms and legs striking out as she twisted beneath whatever or whoever it was until she was nearly on her back. When she tried to cry out, a hand with sharp nails pressed over her mouth, silencing her as she wined. Reluctantly, she cracked open her lids, fearing the worst, only to see Amaimon above her, holding her down. He held a long finger up to his lips as a way to tell her to be quiet, and he slowly released his hand from her mouth when she relaxed.
"What are you doing here?" she spat like a snake, scowling.
He appeared almost as if he had been crying. "I needed to see you," he blubbered, wrapping himself around her and clinging on tightly.
"Let go of me!" she yelled, trying to pry the demon from her body, the towel that was wrapped around it slipping from becoming loose.
"No!" Amaimon cried. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" Mephisto had chastised him for causing the girl so much undue stress after the incident in the forest, and Amaimon, usually one of the most unfeeling of the demon kings, felt horrible for doing such to this human. Her heart was beating as fast as it could into his ear as he was pressed to her barely-covered chest. She was warm, and he squeezed her firmly, nuzzling into her more every time she pushed.
After failing to get him to even budge, she sighed, frustrated. "What do you want, demon?" she hissed. In truth, he didn't particularly scare her, but he nearly killed all of her friends and then some, all because he wanted to play with his 'brother' Rin. She had completely misjudged him, and regretted ever making any sort of deal with him.
His watery blue eyes looked up to her. "You! I want you! And he's mocking me, throwing it in my face, every time he touches you!" He was frantic, and her stomach churned inside of her.
What the hell—"What are you talking about?!" she shrieked. "I'm going to start screaming, someone will hear me. Get off of me!"
"No, please don't, brother can't know!" he sniveled. Something about her made him feel alive; something he had only previously felt during the heat of combat. However, the feeling would die off with his foes, only lingering for a short while afterwards—but she was a constant.
"Brother, brother, brother – is that all you talk about?" she snarled, glowering at him.
He sniffled, looking at her with deep blue wells. "It's just not fair!" he cried before grabbing her on both sides of the face and pushing his lips to hers, holding himself on her for a moment before retreating. The warm feeling came once again, but this time stronger, flowing throughout his whole body; a sensation he had never felt before. He looked her over, taking in the look of surprise in her large, beautiful eyes.
She spat in his face. Clearly she had given this demon the wrong idea, and the curiosity she had in the beginning had only fallen through to revulsion. "Amaimon," she snapped, the fire of hatred deep in her pupils as she stared him down. "Get off of me."
Amaimon snapped his mouth shut tight and then slowly backed off of her, listening intently. She stood, re-wrapping the towel around herself to secure it before she looked him in the eye again, scowling. "Leave, and don't ever come to me again."
The demon's lip shook as tears welled up in his eyes once more, and then he vanished.
She sat in class, her head slumped in her palm as she doodled in her notebook. Classes had been slow since Rin had taken over private lessons with Shura and Yukio – it had something to do with the Vatican's orders, and some sort of timeline. She wasn't all too certain, since she had only heard it through the grapevine. No one was really talking to Rin, the Son of Satan, yet, and she had very little interest in dealing with these Demon Kings. However, it was conflicting; Rin was one of her friends, and even though they had been through a phase where they barely talked, she still cared for him. And yet, she now had seen the wrath and ferocity of these beings. Rin started the forest fire. Those blue flames that engulfed the shrubs and trees, the flames that could have killed her that night, were Rin's flames. She wasn't ready to talk to him. Plus, she wondered, pushing her pen deeply into the paper, why were two demons the ones who tried to make some sort of advance on her? She bit her bottom lip as she scowled, thinking about Amaimon earlier that morning.
Fucking demons.
Bon, Shima, and Konekomaru were chatting fiercely about something while Bon was repeatedly calling someone and unable to get them to pick up. She watched in silence, hoping everything was okay. The door clicked open, and everyone sat up attentively, only to see the director stroll into the classroom, his hands behind his back, announcing his congratulations to the exwire's for earning their right to participate in combat missions. "I would like you to join the expedition to Kyoto!" he announced happily.
Everyone was shocked. What kind of expedition did he mean? The girl thought back to the note he had left her that morning. Something urgent came up. Did Kyoto have anything to do with that?
Pheles went on to explain that there was a dire situation in Kyoto which required the attention of capable exorcists, and he was proud to say that the class of first year exwire's were perfectly capable to join. He leered over to Suguro's direction, knowing more than he was letting on.
"Please – return to your dorms immediately, and begin packing! You will all meet at the train station early tomorrow morning!" he announced before leaving.
Suguro jumped from his seat and bounded out of the door, Shima and Miwa pursuing closely behind. Izumo collected her things, and left without a word. Shiemi waited by the doorway for the girl to walk out with her. "What do you think the mission is?" she asked as their footfalls echoed through the halls.
"Sounds like its expected there will be some fighting," the girl said, thinking deeply on what it could be, if it was so urgent. "I'm going to head back and pack, I'll see you in the morning."
She was lost in thought as she tossed clothing into dufflebags for the trip. They weren't told how many days they would be gone, so she packed extra just in case. Her mind was bouncing everywhere – where things were headed with Johann, she still needed to have a chat with him, Amaimon pissing her off, and the potential demon that they were getting prepared to fight. Was she ready to fight a demon? She was useless at the camp. But a large part of her was relatively excited – the outcome might be different if they weren't fighting a demon king.
There was a familiar knock.
She set her toothbrush into the bag as she moved to the door, and when she opened it, the man she had known for months as Johann stood with a flower in his hand, which he held out for her. There was a little spin in her stomach as she took it and let him in. "I'm glad you're here," she said, setting the flower in a glass of water. "I wanted to ask you about the mission." She'll open with something more casual before getting down to business about his deception, she thought quickly.
He stood near the door, quiet.
"What's going on exactly? Was that why you had to leave this morning?" she asked, turning back to him. He only nodded. "I figured," she said, returning to her bag in the bathroom to resume her packing. "I'm actually a bit excited to go."
He cleared his throat as he stepped closer to the bathroom doorway. "I regret to inform you, that you will not be attending this mission."
There was a clank as she dropped something to the floor. It was quiet.
"And why is that?" her voice came, cold and hard.
"Your skills are not good enough for a mission such as this," he replied with a knot in his throat, sensing her mood shift.
Anger swelled inside of her and she rushed to the bathroom door, looking him dead in the eye. She couldn't believe him; what nerve he had! And so, she snapped. "Apparently not good enough because your orders have kept me from advancing!" she spat. His eyes grew were wide with a subdued shock, as if he was trying to keep it hidden. "Yeah, I know that it was you who gave the order to keep me from receiving my temptaint!" she roared, moving towards him.
"How?" he asked rather calmly, his eyebrow twitching upwards as faces flew through his mind. Of course, not many people had known about that, and he was quickly narrowing down who it could have been.
"Yukio told me a lot about you, Mephisto – or whatever the hell your actual name is." Brow furrowed, her face began to coil contemptuously as she poked him on the chest.
The man's expression grew dark as he tried to hold his composure, his face beginning to twist despite his efforts. How dare Yukio go against his orders, and release such information to her. First, Rin had threatened his plans, and now Yukio was getting in the way? He wasn't going to let that happen. He would have to send him off somewhere to keep him away until his anger cooled down; otherwise, he might lose all control when addressing the young teacher's behavior. "I don't like you hanging around those Okumura boys," he growled lowly, exposing sharp canines. The girl merely scoffed at his words, and he took her by the wrist, pulling her in close. "In fact," he started, changing his tone and demeanor to something more sly, "I think it's about time I claimed what was mine."
She gasped as he pulled her in, and her thighs pulsated at the thought. Her body began to grow warm as his fingers slid behind her ear and grasped the back of her neck firmly. His breath was deep and warm as he drew near, and for a moment her mind got lost in the anticipation of what was to come. Her heartbeat increased steadily, pumping harder as his nose grazed her own, and she found herself unable to breathe. A cunning smirk tugged at his lips, just before he pushed them to hers, pulling her body as close as possible to his own. She could feel her heart pound against the wall of her chest for what seemed like an eternity. Once he pulled away just enough that his lips lingered, teasing her for more, a devious look in his eyes, she drew a deep breath.
And then, she slapped him across the face as hard as she could muster.
It felt like she had hit a brick wall, but he released her from his grasp and snarled with a hand on his cheek.
"Yours?" she repeated, stressing the word with scorn. "I am not a fucking possession," she hissed, heart still racing. His eyes widened for a moment at her pronounced defiance. "No; I'm done being a part of your sick games, I am not a toy!" she yelled, whirling through the dorm, grabbing some of her things. "Get the hell out of my sight, and don't talk to me until you've approved my temptaint ritual!" She smacked him repeatedly as the words she screamed fell from her mouth, until the two of them were out into the hall, where she finally let up, slamming the door to her dorm and tossing her bag over her shoulder.
"And just where do you think you're going?" he grumbled loudly as she stormed down the hall.
She spun around and continued to walk backwards. "Who knows? Maybe to go hangout with those Okumura boys!" she mocked, and then trampled down the stairs, steam blowing from her ears.
(Author: Beware, the next chapter is definitely M and probably shouldn't be viewed by those under 17!)
