"Rin!" I shouted with as much volume as I could muster, straining to get his attention. My white tail flicked in irritation behind me as I waited for the raven-haired demon to pull it together. My golden eyes flashed briefly at Yukio—his demonic features clear to my hawk-like gaze. The wooden sword in my hand reassured me as I clenched it tightly, strong and powerful in my grip. By no means was I an expert, but I was clearly doing better than the wannabe-Paladin.
"Way to go, Mana!" Shima called out from the sidelines, excited by the display.
"Okumura..." Suguro growled in disappointment from his pink-haired friend's side.
Shiemi seemed concerned but cheered for the both of us, nonetheless. Izumo and Konekomaru hung in the back, watching and giving advice where they could—Koneko, nicely; Izumo...not so much.
"Mr. Okumura, I do believe you have had more training than Mana, yet you're the one on the ground," Mephisto chuckled with a hand on his face. Despite his words of disappointment, his expression showed pride. It had been his teachings that brought me to this level. The newfound demonic strength simply helped give me an equal footing.
"This training session's been going on long enough," Yukio sighed, giving me a smile when I threw him a thankful look. "Let's end here today."
"I'm going swimming," I declared, rushing off with Izumo and Shiemi in tow before anyone could say a word. It was a scorching summer day and the beach sounded amazing after a hard workout...especially against Satan's youngest son. Although, I could tell he held back... My male friends just stared at my unusual playful display—still not used to the shell-less nature—while the academy president laughed out loud.
"What about suits, Mana-chan?" Shiemi managed to stammer as she struggled to keep up with my quick strides.
Slowing down, I gave the blonde a fanged grin and a "V" for victory sign. "Paku has us covered!"
"You planned this, didn't you?" Izumo accused, but there was a hint of a smile playing about her lips.
I could only give a hearty laugh at that, my shyness forgotten in the presence of my newfound happiness.
'Daughters of Lilith are rare. They are the link between demons and humans. They have the power to walk the realms and freely pass through them, without a gate. You probably have siblings. We can find them someday, if you'd like.'
I recalled Mephisto's words the day Satan was pushed back into Gehenna. We still hadn't learned why the Vatican had pumped me full of demon blood or if they even knew I was an offspring of the one who'd willingly left the garden of biblical lore. Our best guess had been that they had simply experimented on me because I'd been there and was a convenient subject to test on. Mephisto was going to keep a closer eye on them from now on.
"Oh, there's Jen," Shiemi abruptly pointed in the distance. "Over here!" She waved at the other blonde as the girl ran across the courtyard, dressed in the standard uniform.
Mephisto had stayed true to his word, taking me back to my sister. He even one-upped me by inviting her back to True Cross Academy as long as she did one teeny, tiny favor back in return for the education and chance of a lifetime...
"Geez, you guys are late!" the curly-haired girl huffed as he came to a skidding stop in front of us. Her warm, brown eyes flashed with excitement when she realized what our presence meant. "Can we finally go swim now? I want to get into the water before the pervs get there!" She gave me a meaningful look, having labeled Mephisto as a pervert after hearing about a few of the things he'd done during my time in this world. I blushed darkly at the thoughts filling my head before grabbing her wrist and stomping in the direction of the bus that would take us to the beach. The other two laughed at the sisterly display, even Izumo.
"Eins, zwei, drei!"
A poof of pink smoke and the four of us suddenly found ourselves at the ocean. We blinked, confused and disoriented before someone pulled me into an embrace from behind just as the boys came running up to us, dressed and ready for the ocean.
"You should learn by now that my magic can come in handy, Kitten," Mephisto's voice whispered into my ear, his arms hooked securely around me. He'd pulled us behind the changing rooms, out of view of my younger classmates. "So easily excited," he continued to purr, nipping at my earlobe. I shivered against him, glad that no one seemed to be on this side of the building.
"Samael," I breathed his true name, feeling him shiver, for a change. I took advantage of the momentary slip in his defenses to turn around in his hold. "I love you," I admitted the feelings that had been there from the very start—forgotten for so many, many years. No longer was I unsure of this feeling or of the man before me.
"Your sister was supposed to convince you to marry me," Mephisto admitted in a soft voice, cupping my cheek with a gentle expression on his face. His lips brushed against mine when he leaned in close. "But I will take your heart over a silly little contract any day," he finished before pressing his lips against my mouth.
Finding our way to each other...was only a matter of time...