I stayed hunkered down in my chair, eyes trained on the chalkboard up front while ignoring the stares of my new classmates. This was the third class of my day already and it felt so strange to be back in school after being out for so long…
My thoughts drifted back to my sister and how she was holding up in our dimension. The note I'd left for her explained what I could as I had little to no knowledge of what exactly was going on. Mephisto seemed rather amused by my attempts to be honest with my sibling and even more so by the fact that I had accepted his and his world's existence so easily.
I refrained from scoffing out loud, adjusting my wire-frame glasses as they slipped down my nose.
Honestly, I had the terrible feeling that had I gone against the Demon King of Time, I'd have found myself here anyway. His "offer" had clearly been a command more than an invitation.
And I still had yet to be told why…
"Miss Feldman," the Japanese teacher called my name I had used for this school. Mephisto had been ecstatic to hear most of my family (on my grandmother's side) had immigrated from Germany. After learning that, he'd insisted on using my grandmother's maiden name rather than my surname (which would have been complicated to say in Japanese) or the otaku name he'd concocted…
I raised my head up from my hands where I had subconsciously facepalmed during my flashbacks. The instructor had written something on the blackboard in Japanese and wore a mocking grin as he tapped the sentence with his chalk.
"Can you read this?" he questioned in a false authoritative voice, glasses glinting in the midday light streaming in from the windows. Some of those in the class giggled. They didn't think a foreigner--especially an American--possessed the basic knowledge of the Japanese writing system.
Maybe I should have taken up Mephisto's idea on a Japanese surname, after all?
My eyes scanned over the intricate kanji and kana. Some I recognized, but some I didn't. Rather than risk completely making a fool out of myself, I merely shook my head in response to the teacher. My gaze dropped to my desk in shame as the snickers erupted around me and even the instructor admonished my lack of knowledge on the subject. It wasn't as if I could help it, though. The language I knew fluently--even the kana writing--but I knew very few kanji as I was still in the process of teaching myself.
Unless you had tons of money, you couldn't get into the types of schools that could teach you those sorts of languages in America…
"Geez. What an idiot," someone mumbled from the row next to me. My brown eyes flashed over in that direction, irritation churning in my gut. Red-brown eyes stared at me, unabashed and unimpressed, further accentuated by small and oddly-shaped eyebrows. Beautiful, long violet hair--tied up in twin pigtails--fell all the way to her hips as she turned back to face the front of the classroom. Meanwhile, a cute, brown-haired girl next to her gave me an apologetic smile before doing the same as her friend.
'Izumo and Paku,' I recited in my head, trying to still the rapid beating of my heart.
It hadn't even been a day yet. Mephisto had insisted on enrolling me into the school the night I'd arrived--or been kidnapped, really. Which meant, I'd gotten even more attention for being an unexpected transfer in the middle of the year…
The squirming in my lap brought my attention down to the little green hamster stirring from his nap. Heat flushed my cheeks a bright pink at the feel of his tiny head rubbing against my thigh. It didn't help that I was wearing the standard uniform for True Cross Academy--the fact that Mephisto already had it waiting for me further drove home the implication that "no" was never an option--so the thin fabric of the shirt did little to ease my embarrassment. The reality that the animal was a demon--and a King of Earth, at that--urged me further into wanting to get out of this class already.
'Come on, lunch! Lunch, already! Please?!' I prayed in my head, eyes on the clock. Amaimon's personality frightened me as he could get quite violent when bored. Seeing as how regular school classes were boring enough to put someone to sleep--and how Mephisto had forced his younger brother to "watch me"--I was intent on escaping the clutches known as "school" for the remainder of the day.
Or dumping Amaimon back off on the other Demon King…
Amaimon had been sleeping for the better part of the morning, lucky me, but I doubted that would last.
At long last, the bell signaling lunchtime shrieked through the academy. I gathered my things quickly--the Bleach shoulder bag Mephisto gifted me--and hurried out the door before anyone could even get out of their seat. Amaimon sat on my shoulder, now, while I expertly maneuvered through the crowded halls. My white hair and pale skin received many stares and whispers, but I chose to ignore them. Making friends was not my goal here, that was for sure, so let them gossip. All I wanted to learn was why I was brought here in the first place…
"Where are you going now, human?" the hamster questioned when I made my way outside. His green fur tickled my cheek while I walked to a grove of trees in the distance, the scent of sweets drifting into my nose. "Brother will not be happy if you leave." As he said that, his claws dug deep into my shoulder, easily cutting through the school uniform and into my skin. Flinching at the pain as well as the wet sensation now forming there, I gave him a slight glare from the corner of my eye. Seeing his seemingly-innocent stare emboldened me and gave me a false sense of superiority. In the back of my mind, I knew he was a demon, but my head was clouded from all the emotions warring inside so it mattered little to me at the moment if I pissed him or his brother off.
"Playing hooky," I bit out, just refraining from slapping him off my now-burning shoulder. Normally, I wasn't a violent person, but--as I said--the last twenty-four hours had been more than a normal person could handle. Maybe I had finally snapped? This could all be a dream my mind had created while my body was holed up in a padded cell somewhere…
Oddly, thinking about it like that seemed to ease the pressure enough so that I didn't just break down into a mess of pathetic sobs…
"Hooky? What's that?" Amaimon's voice pulled me from my thoughts. I chose not to answer him, curious as to what he'd do. Mephisto had told him not to harm me; and, if this really was in my head, then it wouldn't matter if I "died", anyway. To start with, I had very little self-preservation instincts. Recent events and the conclusion that this was all a very vivid dream just about banished all traces of preventing harm. This was my chance to test out some theories. Relinquishing control to my shyness and quiet nature did not appeal to me when I had such a tantalizing situation at my fingertips. Why play it safe when I could enjoy a little adventure?
A great force suddenly pushed me into a tree, my back slamming into the rough bark of its trunk. The surprise from the sudden action had my brown eyes widening and a thrill shooting up my spine. The Earth King--now in human form--loomed over me, his teal eyes wide with a dangerous glint in them. His hands squeezed my arms painfully, but I swallowed the whimper and held my pride. His body kept me pinned, legs entangled with mine and face much too close for me to not turn bright-red from embarrassment. An unspoken threat clogged the air surrounding the demon, but all I could do was cock my head in interest. A shiver of trepidation from some base instinct my human self still clung desperately to was all the indication I had to show my fear, but it was easily pushed aside.
I was too curious to be worried about dying.
"Are you ignoring me?" Amaimon spoke in a low growl, pupils small with growing anger.
I hummed in response, unsure of what exactly I should say. Dying now would end my fun too soon in this world, but lying to him didn't feel right, either. Before I could so much as open my mouth to say anything to quell his agitation, the green-haired male abruptly changed the subject.
His hand pulled at the fabric covering the wounds his claws had left in my shoulder. I watched as his eyes grew hazy and his nose sniffed the scent of my blood in. My curiosity made way for discomfort when the demon lowered his face to my shoulder and peeled away the cloth to reveal the sticky red mess marring my white skin. The feel of his tongue lapping at the punctures made me squeak and squirm against him.
Suddenly, I was no longer curious about his reactions to things.
"A-Amaimon?" I stammered aloud, face burning red. His iron grip on my arms kept me from tugging myself free to escape the strange-acting male. I had been expecting a threat, an injury of some sort, or even him trying to strangle me. I had certainly not been on the lookout for this sort of character. "Wh-what-ngh!" his lips had moved to my neck, fangs prodding at the quivering skin of my jugular. My heart raced at the sensation as all words became lost in the heat of the moment. I could feel my blood boiling inside of me, but I hadn't a clue why. A desire I was unfamiliar with churned deep in my belly, making me lose focus. I was so out of it by his ministrations that I barely caught his quiet voice.
"So that's why… Now, I understand."
What? I struggled to pull myself from this pool of dark desires Amaimon had shoved me into. I felt helpless in his hold, like a ragdoll. He could do whatever he wanted with me and I wouldn't fight it. A small part of me screamed at myself to get away, but my body just would not cooperate.
Therefore, I was relieved at what happened next.
The green-haired Earth Demon was abruptly yanked off me in a blur of white. With his presence now gone, my limbs were freed. Whatever spell that had previously been keeping me frozen seemed to break. Shakily, I propped myself up from the tree, brown eyes finding the flamboyant form of True Cross Academy's principal.
"Mephisto?" I breathed in a voice thick with emotion, nearly panting from the strange ordeal. His green eyes flashed briefly at me--who stood behind him--a dark expression on his face. He then turned back to face his brother, keeping himself between Amaimon and myself.
"I do believe I told you not to harm her, Brother?" the purple-haired man spoke in a light voice, but I couldn't help but shiver at the promised threat beneath. My gaze flicked to the younger of the two in concern, already having grown an attachment to the Earth King.
"She was playing hooky. It's her fault," Amaimon spoke in a monotone, his tired eyes watching me carefully. My own gaze caught on his lips when his tongue came out to lick away the smear of my blood that still remained there. A heated blush suffused within my face at the action.
Why did that seem so erotic?!
"Hooky?" Mephisto questioned, turning just enough to give me a look.
Suddenly forgetting the whole...episode with Amaimon just now, I began shuffling my feet and staring down at the dirt like a kid that got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Which, essentially, was the case. But I wasn't a "kid"...
"School is boring...and I already know all that stuff…" I half-lied, neglecting to mention that I had trouble reading kanji and the stirrings of living a bullied life…
"Ah? Is that all?" Mephisto's voice spoke up in the silence that had fallen. The feel of his finger lifting my chin to meet his amused gaze made my nerves flutter about. He smirked, as if pleased about something. "I suppose I could pull a few strings."
I cocked my head at his words, wondering what he had up his sleeve. With someone like him, it could be anything.