A/N: *psst* this story takes place before Rin's nature is revealed; canonically, it is right after Paku quits cram school. That's all I wanted to say ^^ Hope you guys enjoy the chap!


Chapter 2- Being 'Human'

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The rest of the night was spent in the company of Mephisto and his spacious office. I didn't sleep much; no sentient demons did, anyway, so we literally talked the night away. He filled me in on the current affairs of Japan, though it was more like a laundry list of recently occurring anime. Still, I listened as attentively as I could; to upset the second strongest demon king would be foolish— and a death sentence at my current power.

With a cup of tea in my hands, I savored the heady brew, the barest hint of jasmine bringing a content sigh from my lips. Humans had their uses… Gehenna lacked a varied palette. It was just sand and ruin as far as the land stretched. There was no literature, art, music, cuisine. Just an endless power struggle between the ranks of Baal punctuated by mock politics. While treaties existed and land had been divided disproportionally by domain, the lines between them were often skewered by war. And sometimes I grew bored of all the needless bloodshed. Skeletons were only novel for a short time, after all.

My face must have betrayed my thoughts as Mephisto gave his usual sneer. He attempted to cover it with his gloved hand, but for what reason escaped me.

"Acacius, are you fretting over the state of Gehenna? It's unbecoming of a demon, you know."

I put the fanciful rose-patterned teacup down onto the plate, crossing my legs. "You left Gehenna for similar reasons, if I recall. Regardless, you're really one to talk of behavior unbecoming of a demon. You help fund a school for exorcists."

This brought peals of laughter from the demon's lips. He put a hand to his stomach, loud guffaws slowly decreasing in frequency. It was a good minute before he composed himself, clasping me heartily on the shoulder as he wiped tears of mirth from his viridian eyes. I don't know if it was on purpose, but the strength of his arm on my shoulder made me lurch forward slightly. Perhaps I had spoken too freely; this was Samael, after all, the second strongest demon in Gehenna, not including Satan.

"Now this is why I like you~! So honest. A rarity among humans and demons." Mephisto teased, setting his own cup of tea down on the wooden table between us. He lounged on the opposite pinstriped sofa, mimicking my own relaxed position. A sort of mistiness entered his eyes and I knew that he had forgotten about the conversation at hand, thoughts elsewhere.

We sat there for a while in a silence that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. That was the thing with the demon king; his moods consisted of either incredibly chatty or vindictive and manipulative. I could practically hear the cogs turning in his brain. For the centuries I had known the demon his silence had always signaled the beginning of a theatrical play— orchestrated entirely by himself. And it looked as if I were the main actor.

I sighed. "What are you thinking about?"

He gave a wide grin, fangs exposed. "Oh, nothing… just, I'm glad you decided to drop by for a visit, Acacius. I'm sure the Okumura twins will benefit greatly under your tutelage."

For some reason, his smile made me shudder.


In the morning I left the demon's office in search of the 'abandoned' male dormitory where Satan's sons lived.

It seemed sensible to move my 'belongings' into the dorm when the Okumura twins were in school. I had a rudimentary knowledge of school systems, but considering Mephisto told me to use my key at a specific time in the evening, I assumed regular school lasted to that time. I found the run-down two-story building with little hassle, as the violet-haired demon had been kind enough to give me a map with the male dormitory circled. My memory was fairly good, and coupled with my spacial recognition skills, it made the ten minute walk from the main hall where Samael's office was to the dorm an easy excursion. By the time I entered the building I had already memorized the entirety of the campus with the map alone.

I had been given a brief explanation of the dormitory. It had been slated for demolition, but Mephisto had saved it, giving the large building to the twins. There was apparently no air conditioning, and the communal bathrooms did not have proper pluming. The first floor where the kitchen resided was the only part of the building to have electricity and running water as well. Luckily, there were two functioning bathrooms on the first floor, meaning that I didn't have to share with the twins.

I pulled open the sliding door beside the twins' room, laying out the essentials the demon king had given me. The uniform, which had been wrapped in a clear plastic, plopped soundlessly onto the twin-sized bed. With a sigh, I tugged off my dark tunic, begrudgingly changing into the required attire. I turned to the body-length mirror, frowning at my appearance.

I wore the uniform properly, with the blazer buttoned, striped tie firmly secured under it. The fabric was soft, and the True Cross emblem rested snugly over the breast pocket. It was absolutely degrading; I looked like a high-school student, not a centuries old demon. If anything, the dark shadows under my gold eyes made me appear studious, like a human who stayed up late working on homework.

"To hell with this," I muttered, pulling at my unruly raven locks. My host hadn't bothered to cut his hair in a while. Lovely. The locks looked like rivulets of seaweed, to my distaste. This wouldn't do at all. I pulled my hair back, tying most of the longer strands into a low ponytail. It trailed just at my shoulder, hiding the emblem of True Cross. Ah, now this was much better…

With nothing else to do, I lounged lazily in my bed. Digging out my headphones, I placed the buds in my pointed ears, deciding that I was in the mood for some soft jazz. With my eyes turned to the popcorn ceiling, I could only sit and wonder as to what exorcist classes would be like. Well, at least the irony of the situation would keep me entertained for a while.


Taking the cram school key from my pocket, I pressed the brass metal into the lock. Turning the doorknob, I was met with an endless hallway, checkered tile leading to a series of closed wooden doors. I stopped at the door marked 1106, pausing for a moment.

My knowledge of human customs was somewhat lacking, but even I knew that first impressions were important. I needed to appear as normal and human as the rest of the cram school students.

Smoothing down my attire, I took a deep breath and opened the door. My eyes widened. The classroom was completely empty.

Well, it doesn't hurt to be early. I shrugged to myself, taking a seat somewhere near the middle of the room. I took the time to scan the classroom, chuckling to myself.

It looked as if Mephisto hadn't spared even a yen on the exorcist classrooms. There were tattered paintings placed haphazardly across the room, the sickly green paint peeled disgustingly where the wall met the dusty wooden floors, and the stack of what I assumed to be demonology textbooks were in shambles. The teacher's desk in the front of the room looked to be broken down the middle, taped back with little thought to appearances. The chalk board was dusty and it looked as if only one eraser-sized piece of chalk remained. Even the students' desks had probably never been dusted or cleaned for years. I ran a finger across the desk before me and grimaced; it was absolutely filthy. The desk was covered in layers of dust.

Before my musings about the state of exorcism classes at True Cross could make me question my reasons for agreeing to Mephisto's plans, I heard the doorknob jingle. A girl with dark purple hair walked in, looking at me with what appeared to be annoyance.

"Oi, you're in my seat." She called out, crossing the rows of desk to glare directly at me. Her crimson eyes narrowed as I merely moved over a seat.

I gave a forced smile. "My apologies. I just transferred into the class today. I'm Acacius Faust." I held out my hand, not bothering to stand up. I wouldn't let some human girl toy with me; if she wanted to act cruelly so be it. I'd continue to act pleasantly in regards to my human persona. Perhaps it would anger her enough that she'd leave me alone.

To my surprise, the girl shook my hand, though it lasted about a second. As soon as her hand touched mine I froze, senses flaring. Such power… I could feel it coursing in her veins. Her ancestry must have been steeped in demon blood. As I sat dazed she huffed, taking the seat next to me. Her sudden action broke me from my haze. I raised my eyebrow; so it wasn't enough to scare her off… a pity.

"…Izumo Kamiki." She spoke suddenly, pulling a textbook from her bag. She wasn't looking in my direction, but I nodded all the same. I needed to act nice to gain the classes' trust, after all.

"It's nice to meet you, Kamiki-san." I said formally, turning my attention to the door. This time three boys walked in, all taking notice of me.

"Who are you?" The first boy questioned, his hair reminding me of a rooster.

I gave another forced smile. "I am Acacius Faust. A new student. I hope we can get along." I held out my hand as I did for Izumo Kamiki.

It seemed that the cram school class would continue to surprise me. The teen clasped my hand, giving it a firm shake. "I'm Ryuuji Suguro. You already seem better than Okumura."

"What I'm curious about is how you got to sit with Izumo-chan~!" A pink-haired youth stumbled forward, looking heartbroken. Ah, so he had a crush on the girl. Interesting…

I chuckled at the youth's antics, keeping my voice light and pleasant. "I didn't realize that sitting somewhere could be a feat."

The brown-eyed teen removed himself from the ground where he had previously been rolling around in self-pity, crocodile-tears still running down his face.

"I-I'm Renzou Shima. I'd say it's nice to meet you… but I'm already jealous of you!" He wailed, holding out his hand. I reached to shake it, only to have a shock traverse my arm upon contact. There was something almost inhuman about the boy. He had a great power inside him as well, something even more powerful than the violet-haired girl. Just what was he hiding under all his theatrics?

Regardless, I turned my attention to the third teen who had entered the classroom. He stayed back, perhaps put off by my unusual appearance… or he sensed what I really was.

"Excuse me, but I don't believe I caught your name." I spoke to the bespectacled boy, giving the softest grin I could muster.

"S-sorry. I'm Miwa Konekomaru." He responded shyly, giving a curt bow. I nodded back, pleased to see that he was only shy. He was one less student I had to worry about.

Soon enough, the rest of the class arrived, minus the twins. There was someone in a hoodie, whose face I could not see. He sat directly behind me, his presence unnerving. I hadn't even needed to touch him to know the amount of power resting inside him. For a class of first-year exorcists, there seemed to be many with latent power.

A light-haired teen with a puppet followed shortly after, whose power also radiated in waves. He spoke harshly to the rest of the exorcists in the room before sitting at an empty desk away from most of the class. A blonde girl with emerald eyes followed right after, introducing herself to me with a series of quick bows. I chuckled, following back with a single bow. Her familiar, an infantile greenman, after seeing my face, buried itself quickly in her golden locks, squeaking in fear. However, the woman did not notice her familiar's distress and took her seat, giving me a final warm smile before setting her attention to the front of the class.

The clock ticked away as all the students took their respective seats. I drummed my fingers in the rhythm of Fur Elise on the desk, waiting for the twins.

They both arrived not a moment later with Yukio dragging Rin by the collar of his shirt.

"Sorry for being late, class. Nii-san didn't feel like coming to class today, so I had to drag him here." He smiled sweetly, though I could tell it was a façade to hide his annoyance. Rin took his seat beside the blonde girl, totally unaware of my presence. He was too busy glaring at his brother to notice the demon in the classroom.

Yukio noticed me as soon as he dropped his satchel on the teacher's desk, his cerulean eyes widening. I could tell immediately that he knew what I was.

"I didn't realize we were getting a new student. What is your name?" There was a noticeable tinge of coldness to his voice. His right hand was already poised by his holster.

The class hushed immediately. I stood up, moving to the front of the class in a lackadaisical manner. I bowed, looking directly into the teacher's eyes. "I'm Acacius Faust. I am a distant relative of Johann Faust. I look forward to becoming friends with all of you."

"Everyone, exit the classroom immediately. I need to speak to Acacius privately. Even if you are related to Faust, I was not alerted of a transfer. You are not on the roster." He barked out, not giving any room for the class to argue, given his tone of voice.

The students obeyed, exiting through the door. Rin, however, stayed behind.

In seconds, Yukio had a gun pressed to my forehead, finger on the trigger. His movements were so quick and precise that I couldn't hide my shocked expression. "How did a high-level demon such as yourself infiltrate the academy?"

Rin gawked, pointing at me in surprise. "Y-you're a demon?! But you look younger than me!"

Even with my host's life in danger, I had to suppress rolling my eyes. "For exorcists, I can't believe only your brother noticed; I'd say my pointed ears, claws, and slanted pupils were enough of a hint."

"S-shut up!" The dark-haired teen growled back, unsheathing his sword. He was overtaken by cobalt flames.

"What are you doing? Sheath your sword! Do you want to be caught?!" Yukio reprimanded, not taking his eyes off me.

I couldn't hide my glee. This was exactly what I was waiting for.

With a laugh I took a step back, letting the blue flames overtake my body. The same horn-like flames mimicked Rin's as I gave a bow, placing a clawed hand over my heart. I narrowed my golden eyes, studying the twins. "I am Acacius, a Time and Space demon. I can copy any demon's ability. And I'm here to train both of you."


A/N: lol, you're not making the best first impression on the twins, Acacius (even if the rest of the class likes you). Anyway, I was so excited for this story that I had to make a quick update!

Review? I'd love to hear what you guys think of Acacius so far ^^

-Isis