Quotidian, a disgaea fanfic

A/N: Wow! So, I was very passionate about writing this fic, but I'm not super confident in how it turned out. Since it took me more than two weeks to finish this up, I'm very excited to be sharing it, but I nervously hope that you guys will enjoy this. Rated M for squick and sexual themes.

Quotidian

adj. – daily, everyday, commonplace.

prologue

He'd always been deathly pale.

From the time they were old enough to recognize each other, the girl thought the boy would not make it through his early years. It wasn't a rarity – hordes of demon children died every day, too weak to survive infancy. Her mother and father constantly told her to be careful with her playmate, and she listened to them for a time. When the boy was old enough to start barking impossible instructions, she realized that treating him like glass was useless.

He was as white as a sheet, but his blood-red eyes burned brightly. The girl knew that there was no reason to feel nervous about his lifespan; he wouldn't die any time soon. Rather, she began to wonder if maybe she was doomed to die first. After all, he spoke of killing her on an almost daily basis.

It wasn't until later that she felt the true weight of his threats.

one

"I don't want to fight today, Mao," Beryl's pink tail was quivering a bit. "You wore me out with all of your bullying yesterday. I don't feel good."

Mao turned his sharp gaze back at her, eyes covered by his oversized glasses. "I don't care," the boy replied, his hands fiddling with a fresh set of sharp tools. "Father said I could do as I pleased with you. Our parents chose you as my rival." He moved at a speed the girl could hardly follow, pressing a pair of pristine scissors against her throat and drawing blood. The pink-haired girl suddenly stopped breathing, tensing up involuntarily. "Or would you rather I dissect you now?"

His rival's eyes felt watery. Still, her need to put up her bravado was strong. Her voice wasn't steady, but she met his eyes and tried to force a smile to her lips. "N-no." Red eyes were dangerously close when she turned her head. "I'm not running away…I just can't be a good rival to you like this." Beryl was amazed with herself. All she wanted to do was cry and run away from him, but her shaky legs were still maintaining her ground.

"Smells like an excuse," He pressed the scissors deeper against her throat, and her breathing became even shallower. When he pulled the blades from her neck, blood coated them, and he spat on the floor. Her pink eyes closed in endless relief. Just when she was about to sink to the ground, he grabbed her left arm tightly. As a form of self-defense, she guarded her already injured neck. When he saw how nervous she was, he kicked her away and sneered at the girl. "Weakling."

It was an egregious insult for a demon to be called such a thing, and she filled with righteous fury. She glared at him, trying to stop her angry tears from falling. Her small fingers grabbed his thin wrist. "Wait! You take that back. Fight me, right here, and see if you can still call me weak!" When he turned around to face her, a crooked smile lit up his deathly features.

His rival suddenly realized that she'd fallen straight into his trap.

"Ahh," The boy breathed sickly, fangs peeking out of his parted lips. "You'll fight me. Of course you will. You wouldn't have come here if that wasn't the case."

Mao's words swirled in her head. In her mind, she desperately convinced herself otherwise. No, I came to ask if I could rest. I should've known what would happen. I shouldn't have come at all. She wanted to ignore his continued ramblings; more than that, she wanted to hate him so badly that acid churned in her stomach. But that's what he wants.

"Hatred is good, Beryl," White hands tangled in magenta locks, pulling at her hair and letting the small webs of ice magic crawl onto her skin. She disliked the way he spoke like he'd heard her thoughts. "Let that hatred burn at your chest, and fill up your mind until that impulsion pulls your magic out." He constantly berated her for inability to conjure spells, despite their nearly identical ages, and she was sick of it. The boy's mouth was filling with saliva, making his words heavier. "You declared a fight on me, but you're not even speaking now. Giving up?"

"No," Her voice was soft, but her fists were curled. The icy webs from over her shoulder were creeping towards the fresh wound on her throat, and she courageously held back a scream. Anger burned at the forefront of her mind, and all of her self-restraint flew out of the window. Flames she didn't recognize did not feel hot as they erupted from her body, but her rival had stepped back to revel at their existence to avoid being burned.

"Fire. Look, Beryl." Mao laughed his horrible laugh, and she finally began to cry. "You were born to fight me."

Her heart hurt terribly, and she fled from his room in a cloud of smoke.

two

Beryl heard the other demons at the school whispering about them.

Most of the time they whispered about him – the boy who everyone knew, but hardly saw. He had never attended class, even before the school had become a sprawling labyrinth. The Dean's son was rumored to be a genius honor student, but there were few of the students and staff that had met the boy in person. When he was spotted on campus, rarely, he typically sported a blood-splattered apron over his black turtleneck and sheer black shorts. The prinnies that attended him thought he was strange, the teachers of the school thought the boy was a role model, and his father endlessly doted on him, despite his large size. Because the white-haired boy was held on such a pedestal, no one seemed willing to get close to him, and it left his rival stuck in the whirlwind of the boy's madness alone.

It was one of those rare days that he left his room, pale hands dripping with sweat and a viscous substance that the creatures near his room did not recognize. They greeted him and then hurried away, scared that he might decide to 'modify' them next. His rival heard rumors of him lurking in the castle's corridors and rushed to find him.

"Mao," The pink-haired girl hissed at him. He was getting whatever the hell he had on his hands all over the cafeteria table, and he'd made a mess of his meal, besides. "What are you doing?"

"Beryl," Mao acknowledged her presence without turning around. "Everyone's aware how dull you are, but use your mind, just this once."

She held up a small fist, a bitter scowl on her face. "You're eating – that wasn't what I was asking about!" Her magenta tail stood up. "Why are you out here today? I thought you were doing some experiment with poison."

Once he swiveled to look at her, his mouth had twisted into a smirk and she instantly regretted having an ounce of concern for him. "Interested?"

The girl turned up her nose. "I said no such thing." Her rival abandoned his food and immediately lifted her from the ground. She screamed, so he pulled a damp rag out of his pocket and pressed it against her lips. When the nearby demons whispered again, he chuckled lowly.

"Young master," The prinny attendant in front of his door seemed nervous, for good reason, when the white-haired youth hauled the pink-hair girl over his shoulder. "Are you sure this is a good idea? Won't she die?"

Red eyes were filled with glee, and his grin was dark enough to make the lesser demon shut up. "Beryl can't die until I give her permission to do so." The boy's door slammed behind him, and the prinny let out a sigh, shuddering.

Her head hurt something awful. More than that, her stomach was killing her. Nausea and pain made her eyes fly open, and she promptly turned and vomited onto the floor. When she took a moment to catch her breath, she found her rival hurrying to the basin she had accidently hurled in. His pale hands were steady while he funneled the disgusting emesis into a graduated cylinder. "Finally," Mao noted her awakening snarkily. "Five ounces. I thought you had decided on eating lunch for your classmates."

Beryl laughed humorlessly, feeling exhausted. "That's the first thing you have to say to me?"

His glasses glinted in the dim light, and he smirked. "My experiments were successful. Rejoice, Beryl."

The girl let her head fall back on the table, sighing. "You're in a good mood." Despite worrying about what he had done to her while she was unconscious, she knew that acting nonchalant was easier for the boy to deal with. I sure am generous, Beryl thought. Nausea hit her in a fresh wave, and she turned to vomit to her opposite side to spite him. Her small victory was short-lived, however; he had placed a large basin on that side as well.

"Hah, five more ounces," Mao measured her vomit again, wearing a proud, crooked smile on his face. "Glutton."

Charming. The girl rolled her eyes, and then took a moment to look around. Her legs were strapped down to the table with thick leather belts. His room was messier than ever, with beakers, test tubes and flasks filled with questionable liquids. Bunsen burners with spills on them had been covered by hundreds of sheets of paper, every sheet filled with scribbles in the boy's handwriting. Apparently, he'd been dedicating a lot of time and effort to poisoning her.

The sensible, demonic part of her mind appreciated the time he'd put into this torture. The strangely emotional part of her was disappointed. "So I had a few lunches," she sighed wearily. "So what? You're all excited about it, anyways. Do you have some sort of reason for doing this?" She figured he had a few things to be frustrated about; her constant nagging, her new infatuation with being a delinquent, or that she'd cleaned up his room last week.

"None," the boy replied, sounding every bit the honor student he was hailed to be. She told herself that she hated his whimsical methods, but she knew better than anyone else how false that was. Sure, his fascination with killing her was getting more and more depraved with time, but she loved every second of his bizarre attention. Mao left her side and returned with a set of rusty tools that she didn't recognize. "This isn't working fast enough." Without any warning, he jabbed the dirty surgical knife into her side, and she cried out. Her pain made his smile wider.

"You couldn't – ah!" Beryl gasped, tears pricking at the corner of her magenta eyes. "Have…knocked me out?" Her wheezing and weeping brought a swell of saliva to his mouth that he couldn't control.

As a response, he turned on an electric drill. "Why would I do something like that?"

He was operating on her, digging filthy claws into her intestines. She screamed at the top of her lungs and pounded against his shoulders, but none of this dissuaded him from continuing to tear her apart. As soon as the pain and blood loss took her into a feverish unconsciousness, he wiped a line of drool from his lips with the back of his bloodied hands. Mao's fangs tingled, and he hurried to stitch her up. His hands were clumsy and blunt – he did more damage than he did good, but her wound was sealed, somehow. He sank his incisors into the tender, swollen skin of her abdomen, biting her until it bruised.

After he walked away from her, watching the girl take slow, shallow breaths, as well as shuddering in her sleep and sweating, he grinned. He took a look at himself in the mirror, and reveled over his appearance. "Fifty-two minutes," Mao remarked to his reflection, a pale mess that reeked of poison and her ichor. His barking, maniacal laugh filled his room. "Astounding! Absolutely excellent."

How could he let such a fantastic specimen go? He'd tried the same thing on countless lesser demons, and they had died within the first twenty minutes. Beryl, with her dark horns and remarkably small stature, had managed to go beyond the first stage of simply poisoning, and had not only survived his impromptu 'surgery', but had remained awake during it for at least ten minutes.

His claws ran down her feverishly resting face. "Aren't you pleased, Beryl?" Saliva slipped from his pale lips against his will. "There's no one who would consider you weak after this."

When he dragged his sharp-nailed fingers to her clothed chest, he smirked again.

Her life was in his hands.

three

He was digging the hooked needle into her skin, carving a formula on her back. She winced every once in a while to remind him not to leave scars, and burned him when he did not comply, earning a boisterous laugh from him for her efforts. "Stay still," Mao hissed when she turned her head to look at him. "If I get this wrong, I'll choke you for an hour." Beryl sighed and turned back around, knowing that he would make good on his threat. Her skin was covered in the marks from ropes, wires, needles, knives, scissors, and his claws. Bruises littered her arms and legs where he had used blunt force to bruise her. Even her horns had a few notches in them that were unnatural. She knew that this obsession with Mao wasn't healthy, but she kept coming back to his side. He doesn't have anyone else, after all, she rationalized. In the moment she'd glanced at him, she noticed that he was starting to lose some of the spark in his eyes, and she wondered what she had to do to get it back. Would she have to walk into his heart vault to get to the bottom of his distraction?

No! She felt horrified at her very thoughts. I don't even want to know what's in there. Her subconscious was also frightened that he wouldn't let her in. This was a particular fear that she had put in her own heart vault.

"Stop thinking so much," The self-proclaimed evil genius chided her while jabbing the needle into her shoulder. When Beryl yelped and glared at him, he frowned. "And I said not to turn around."

The pink-haired demon seethed, plotting her revenge against him. Sure, she insisted that her whole 'number one delinquent' act was a countermeasure, to prove that she was Mao's rival, but really, it had become just as twisted as everything else about her life. It was the only ruse she could utilize to gain some amount of control over the insane young man. She wanted him to open up to her, in any way possible, and that façade made him a better honor student by the year. Beryl could only be proud of her work.

When pale fingers wrapped around her throat and started to grip tightly, she was surprised that she found his touch so tender. His hands were cold, and her trachea was already bruised, but she was enchanted with the euphoria that came with the lack of air.

"I thought I said to stop thinking," Mao insisted, sharp nose awfully close to her pointed ears. His breath was warm.

"I'm not thinking anymore," Her whispered words were true – she could hardly breathe. At the admission, his grip loosened, and he resumed his scribbling.

"Good," The white-haired youth said, refusing to wipe the slowly dripping blood off of her back while he finished his calculations. "Keep it that way."

"Okay, Mao," Beryl agreed easily – a little too easily. She kept her expression carefully blank and let her mind go blank, enjoying the looping sensations of the needle scratching against her thick skin.

four

She was already expecting retribution when she had come to his room. What she had to say, in his methodology, was considered unacceptable.

Beryl came to Mao's room prepared to die.

"You did what." It wasn't a question, and he looked every bit as surprised and livid as she'd been expecting. She couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips at his reaction. A claw stabbed her eye, and she fell over, wheezing. "You think this is a joke?!"

"No," The pink-haired young woman murmured from the ground, clutching her fresh wound. "I'm sorry."

"You must take me for a fool," Mao glared at her coolly. "Saving demons, making friends – as if your stupid, self-righteous ideas of delinquency weren't bad enough." He used his freakish strength to haul her entire body up off of the ground and slam it against a wall more than ten feet from where they stood. She coughed wetly and worried that her older gashes would open up as she fell numbly back to the marble floor. "Did you think I was just going to let this pass? What kind of honor student do you take me for?!" He was yelling at the top of the lungs right in her face.

When he picked her up again, he threw her onto his operating table – a familiar place of punishment. But somehow, that hurt her mentally. She wanted to be close to him, and he was getting further and further away. For once, she desperately wanted to run away from her rival. Before ice could bind her thin wrists, she summoned fire, and glared at him. "I'm a delinquent," She said with conviction. Even if it was her mask, her part to play, her façade, she needed to wear it with pride. Mao's eyes were getting dull because he was getting bored. He was getting complacent because she wasn't providing him any sort of challenge. Although she had initially come intending to let him kill her, her heart was screaming at her to follow through with this impulse. "And saving people is the delinquent way!"

He tried to stop her from running away, but his feet wouldn't move. She'd stood up to him before, but never so strongly, and she'd always defended him in conversations with other demons. He'd never had to track her down, ever.

Red eyes were renewed with vigor as he tried to figure out how best to capture her and punish her for her aberrant ways. "Who does she think she is?" Mao murmured, the ideas running amok in his mind bringing a smirk to his lips. "When I catch her, I'll kill her. Then I'll raise her from the dead, and I'll kill her again!" His wicked laugh filled the castle corridors.

Further away from him, Beryl breathed nervously, hating herself a little. Instead of bringing Mao closer, making him hers, sealing their connection forever through death, she had let her whim separate them even further. Beyond her mental conflict, her heart knew better.

Beryl wanted to own Mao. She wanted to hold his life in her hands, just like he had hers. Her obsession was no longer docile – she burned to destroy him.

I'd never stoop to his level, she tried to convince herself, limbs trembling.

five

Geoffrey had shown up, inserting himself into Mao's life like he'd been there from the very day of his birth.

Beryl, instead of being relieved, was astounded. The white-haired young man had always been multi-faceted, insane but methodical, and had split personalities, but with the arrival of his hyper-competent hired hand, he'd become a stranger to her. The change scared her. His voice was harsher, his eyes were hard, and the worst part of all was that he'd stopped injuring her entirely. No, there was something worse – he'd stopped talking to her at all. Mao swept through the castle arrogantly, to the point that no one could forget whom he was, but he didn't look the pink-haired girl in the eye when they crossed paths. He'd taken to dramatics regarding his obsession with heroes and villains, going so far to create a demonic code for himself, and his rival felt absolutely, horrendously lost.

She was sick of feeling like she'd been replaced. The pink-haired young woman apologized to her friends for leaving so abruptly, but Asuka and Kyoko merely nodded their heads, understanding what their small leader needed to do. Small feet clamored up the steps to his room after navigating through the ever-expanding halls of the castle, and she let herself in. Once she'd finally found him in all of his mess, not only was he putting on his clothes, he ordered her to get out. She refused and demanded to know why he wasn't doing anything to her any more.

Aren't we rivals? You think I'm just going to forget all that torture you put me through for so many centuries?

"Rivals are a complete waste of time," Mao told her reproachfully, pinning his freshly acquired overcoat to the lapels of a new black turtleneck. "Geoffrey made me realize that I don't need you to conduct my experiments. Now, get out of my room."

"Mao!" Beryl was none-too-kindly removed from the boy's room by his butler. As the door closed, she saw a frustrated scowl adorn his face. Beyond the wooden barrier, she could hear her rival's tools whirring, and his obnoxious laughter, but something bothered her.

He'd looked…exhausted. His red eyes were rimmed with shadows, his glasses had been crooked, and his nails had become chipped. Beryl bit her own nails. Had he fought with his father again? That was generally the only thing that made him so surly. She shook her head, trying to focus.

She had to get Mao back on the right track, and her first order of business was to find out whether Geoffrey truly was good news or not. He was ruining all of the hard work she'd done to get Mao to open up to her, and beyond that, her rival's energy had disappeared with that demon's arrival.

The quieter part of her mind shamelessly yearned for him to touch her again, knowing that the boy's touch had only been torturous and painful. Subconsciously, she knew that she had become some kind of pervert by hanging out with him for so long, but she didn't care.

six

It took her nearly a decade to get used to Geoffrey, but once she had, she thought he was a fairly good influence for Mao. The old demon indulged her rival, provided support, and molded him into an even more excellent honor student. Sure, she couldn't see her white-haired companion very often because the man disagreed her principles, but she was starting to get accustomed to the new distance. Beryl was growing up, and she wanted to showcase her capability. Since brute strength was the self-proclaimed mad scientist's forte, she decided to increase her magical prowess. She would become so proficient with it that she'd make him beg to take back his years of ridicule in their childhood. The girl started to let her unhealthy obsession with Mao subside, at least on the surface.

How could they have spent so much of their time together before, like friends?

Even though she knew in her head that avoiding Mao was the right thing to do, her unblemished skin tingled and her chest ached. I miss you, you sick freak. She found herself trapped in such thoughts often, despite the bright smirks and proud gestures she put on for her companions. Kyoko and Asuka helped keep Beryl on the path of true delinquency. Black horns pointed upwards as she crossed her arms, slipping into her persona more easily. If he could change, she could too. Her parents were absolutely furious with her, though. How could she attend class every day, or pay tuition? They thought she would have grown out of her obsession with being Mao's rival in this way.

For the past few years, her rival had not only been improving his reputation through scare tactics, bribery, and fights, but had also left his room more frequently. He lurked in the shadows of their sprawling Netherworld and didn't return for months, and when he did come back, he retreated to his room after speaking to a few castle servants. Beryl, on the other hand, kept doing good deeds, striving to be the number one delinquent. As often as she could, she tried to catch him when he got back home and drag him off with her. Sure, she had accepted that they couldn't hang out in Mao's room every day, but she wanted to make sure he didn't die from boredom when he was cooped up at home. Geoffrey often interrupted her schemes, but she was getting better at eluding the crafty old demon. She had classes to attend most days, but as it turned out, she caught word of the white-haired adolescent's return on a Sunday. Although Beryl had been planning on doing volunteer work in the afternoon with her friends, when she heard that, she created some flimsy excuse to rush to the castle gates.

The two of them didn't like Mao, but that didn't matter right now. She hadn't seen him in over a year. The short girl would make it up to them later. When she first saw him, she was amazed. A year wasn't a terribly long time, but he'd gotten taller since they'd seen each other last. Perhaps it was personal bias, but she thought his gait looked more dignified, too. He saw her and snorted derisively, rolling his eyes. "Beryl," The white-haired adolescent crossed his arms instead of greeting her properly.

"Hello, Mao," She lowered her pitch and smirked back at him, folding her arms in kind. Absently, she wondered if he had a set of needles and knives on his person at all times, like he had when they were children. "Ready to do some good for the community?"

His eyebrows twitched, and his scowl became deeper. "As usual, you're a filthy delinquent."

Beryl didn't give him time for further witticisms – she used a binding spell on him and then quickly cast a sleep incantation, her heart pounding out of her chest. She'd only ever dragged him places against his will, letting him gripe and whine to his heart's content, but she wanted him to have a reaction this time. She wanted his visceral anger to come out in retribution. She hoped against all hope that this would incite a fight between them. When they fought, it would be fire against ice, a form of demonic interaction that would make his and her blood boil.

If she failed, she knew that it would be time to give up. Beryl would drop their rivalry, and never speak of it again. She would try her best to forget all of that playful not-quite courtship from their childhood days. With failure, she would know that Mao didn't have any passion for her. This won't fail, the girl told herself.

The girl used magic to transport the boy, but it was extremely taxing on her small body. She placed the white-haired youth against a steel pole in the city, miles from central campus. Once she'd gotten her breath back, she hurried to use fire to bend the steel and hold the boy's body in place. She wiped her brow when the deed was done, and fell to the ground. Beryl realized anew how horribly strong Mao was. He does this kind of stuff all the time with his scrawny body, but I've never even seen him break a sweat. The magenta-eyed young woman then grew nervous, looking at the unconscious form of her rival. She felt nervous. How does he do this?

She dredged up a familiar memory, recalling hundreds of sheets of paper with plans and formulas scribbled on them, and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah," She whispered to herself with a slight smile. As if responding to her voice, his eyes shot open, and he immediately tried to break his bonds. "Welcome back to the world."

His smirk seemed terribly self-indulgent to her. "Feeling rather like an honor student today, aren't you?" His admonishment made her blush, and she punched him in the face. Dry laughter bubbled from his lips. "You know, when I get out of here, I'm going to kill you for this, right?"

Her heart sang. Outwardly, she turned up her nose. "Delinquent rule number seventeen – force shut-ins to get fresh air as often as possible!"

Mao's humorless chortling felt unfamiliar to her in the best way. When she looked him in the eye, she had trouble focusing because of the sheer intensity of his gaze. "You honestly thought you could keep me here," The twisted look on his pale face made her downright embarrassed. She wasn't anywhere close to being able to compete with his depravity, even if she tried to use her methods to be a delinquent. Moments later, he tensed his fist, and charged a ray of concentrated energy on the tip of his finger. He moved his finger behind him, pointed it at the steel, and let the green plasma quickly eat at the metal. The burst had created a hole large enough to make the pole collapse, and he towered over his rival, the light glinting in his round glasses. "Any last words?"

She wanted to be haughty, but what slipped out of her mouth by accident was the truth. "I trust you." Her rival was visibly startled, but he covered up his slip with a smirk.

"Ever the infuriating delinquent." The blow of his fist crashing into her abdomen winded her, but the force of his other balled hand knocked her out. As she faded into unconsciousness, she could have sworn she heard him spit, "Moron."

Her black eye and fresh, neat stitches peering out of her sleeveless top made her friends endlessly nervous. "My lady," Kyoko murmured, fussing over her, kneeling at the shorter young woman's side. "You mustn't taunt that honor student."

"We know that he's your rival," Asuka looked like she was going to cry, joining the other tall girl in kneeling around their leader. "But if this goes on, he'll be the death of you."

I know, she thought with a placating smile. I know that better than either of you. Aloud, she reassured them. "Mao's a demon, through and through. There's a reason he's the number one honor student in the school. But," Both of their eyes snapped to her confident face. "I'm a demon, too. I may be a delinquent, but I'm tough enough to stand my ground against him." Almost as if she had talked him into being, the young man walked past the corridor they currently occupied, where Beryl had stopped to catch her breath between classes. Unbeknownst to the tall demon girls, he bore several large burns on his arms and upper body – they were his scars, where his rival had fought against him.

He smirked as he passed by, and Beryl smirked back. Her friends found him terribly disgusting all over again. "Please be careful," Asuka said, clamping on the small, magenta-haired demon's hands. Kyoko nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry," Beryl smiled, her head turning as the bell rang. "I will."

seven

A knock came on his door in the evening, and he scowled. There were few demons in the Netherworld that would dare to knock on his door, so he immediately considered whether he should answer or not. Geoffrey appeared, taking the choice out of his hands. "I'll get it, young master."

"Efficient, as always," Mao murmured, glancing sideways at the butler. "Tell them to go away. I'm busy." Geoffrey delivered the message, but the two girls there refused to be displaced. When his pointed ears picked up the high tones of her flunkies, he snorted. Strong strides carried him to the door, and he pushed the old man out of the frame carelessly. "What do you want?"

The girl with her mouth covered turned her eyes to the gentle-looking one before looking back at him. "Have you seen our lady? We haven't seen her all day."

Red eyes narrowed. "That's what you came to ask me?" He contemplated slamming the door in their faces, but then he wouldn't have had more reason to taunt Beryl. Mao deeply enjoyed their physical brawls, however infrequently they occurred. "You two are always with her. Doesn't she go to class or do something else equally detestable?"

"It's a holiday," The one with pleated shrine-maiden's trousers said. He snickered breathlessly, finding both of the delinquents hopelessly desperate. Aren't you pleased, Beryl? I have two more things to use against you. His expression grew slack and his fingers itched. Imagine…I could stitch your little pets together. Isn't that economical? My incredible EQ never fails. Sensing his wicked thoughts, the two girls clammed up, suddenly in a hurry to get as far away from the boy as possible. "We should've known better than to ask you. Good day."

After they left, Geoffrey reappeared – the boy hadn't noticed his disappearance. "Young master," The old demon said carefully. "Did you lie to them?"

Mao laughed boisterously. "Of course I lied." He spread his arms, deep red eyes foggy and saliva slipping out his mouth uncontrollably. "Haa…haa…" While he breathed heavily, delusions whirred in his mind. Once he was collected, he wiped his mouth. "I've sent her to her doom this time, Geoffrey. Praise me for my genius!"

Geoffrey laughed his tinny, enchanted laugh. "Excellent, young master. You're an exemplary honor student again today."

The adolescent murmured to himself, knowing the old man could hear. "If she lives, it will prove that my calculations were off. I injected more than forty CCs of pure datura stramonium extract and benzodiazepine into her, you know." Mao bit his thumbnail, thoughts racing. "Before she left, I scarred her with rusted, serrated knife! I have to find her body…it'll be riddled with all kinds of disease." Drool slipped out of the young man's mouth again, and his butler smiled cryptically.

"Brilliant," Geoffrey assured the boy, pulling a handkerchief out of his back pocket and cleaning the boy's pale face.

I'm going to murder Mao. Pink hair was matted to the girl's face with sweat, and she turned to a bush, dry heaving. Her vision was hazy, her chest hurt, and fever was making her steps heavy. "…What the hell did you put in me, you jerk?" Beryl looked at her skin from a kneeling position. It was turning a plethora of colors, and she recognized that they weren't natural. Then, when she thought she saw thin icy strands started crawling from the small needle's entry wound, she snarled. "You have something to say to me?!"

The empty alleyway did not answer her.

When she looked down again, she saw her trembling fingers as small creatures, each nail with its' own face. "What's wrong, Beryl?" They chanted in unison. The girl wiped her brow and scowled before retching.

Shit, Beryl thought hopelessly. I don't know what's real. As her knees finally gave out, she stared at the sky, absently hoping that she didn't choke on her vomit. What a stupid way to die. I shouldn't have tried to sneak in and clean his room today. The knife wound Mao had given her as retribution for that hurt terribly, too. Her eyes fluttered closed, and her feverish short breaths filled the night air. She thought too much, and delirium made her rest discomfiting.

I always knew this would happen. Despite her own reassurance, tears were coursing down the girl's face. I only wish I had…

A dark serpent coiled around her little arm, starting from the puncture and curling to encompass her neck as well. "Wish you had what, little Beryl? Killed him first? Told him you hated him? Broken your delinquent code, just this once?"

Her words came out as a bitter confession. "Told Mao that he's special to me." She knew that her hatred wasn't as demonic as it should've been. Beryl suddenly felt weak and useless, admitting her raw, undefined emotions. "How could this have happened?" The pubescent girl whispered to the non-existent creature.

Beryl couldn't put a name to what she felt for her rival. She did want to possess Mao, and hurting him felt good – she could admit that much to herself – but she hated the idea of seeing him unhappy, or offering her neck to him. But why? Hatred drove most demons – things like anger and revenge only festered that feeling. The girl had convinced herself that killing Mao, or dying at his hands, was the best way to show her rival that she was serious about him. Now that she was dying, she wasn't so sure.

The serpent hissed and then chuckled as her eyes closed.

A team of prinnies had found her under orders, and carried her body to his room in the morning. Her breath was quiet, but her chest was rising and falling ever so slightly. Alive. His lips formed a twisted smile.

"How resilient are you?" Mao murmured to no one, low chortles shaking his thin, pale frame. He ran sickly, bony fingers down the sharp angles of her shoulders and her chin. He had never dedicated so much time and energy to killing any creature as he had to his pink-haired rival. All of her fussing positively made him salivate, and her every aggravation set something off in him that he had no control over. Looking at her, lying there on his operating table, his fingers itched to pull a pair of shears from his pocket and make the final blow.

I'd never find another demon so durable, he reasoned to himself, stopping his hands from trembling with nerves and excitement. When he glanced at the clock, he cursed, knowing that Geoffrey would come to check on him soon, and the old demon would look at his young charge with endless disgust if he knew what the youth had been up to. Besides, he was up before noon, which would set off alarms in the butler's head before Geoffrey even saw Beryl. I'd never allow such a nuisance.

He scooped her into his arms gingerly, knowing that any sloppy movements could end her fragile life. When he left her at the infirmary, he gave the woman express instructions to heal the small demon without telling Beryl who had paid for her service. Besides that, she was also to give the magenta-haired demon a falsified version of yesterday's events, or else lose her job in the form of execution. She nodded in agreement, and got to work quickly on his word that she would die soon if she did not hurry.

Biting his thumbnail, he lurked in the main hall a while longer. I should have killed her. Why didn't I? It wasn't worth thinking about, so he stopped by the heart bank. He'd already forgotten what was in his vault already, making some of his memories of the recent past fuzzy, but he was certain that most of the feelings trapped in there had to do with either her or his father. While he dropped off more things, he scowled. That's what the heart bank is for; so exemplary honor students like myself aren't inhibited by emotions. With the process finished, he sauntered back to his room, smirking. He felt noticeably lighter. Now, how should I try to kill her next?

In his heart, a kinder Mao scowled and clicked his tongue. "Pitiful," He shook his head, glancing to the dark aura around the vault. "It'd be easier on him if he would just accept his feelings."

Nearby, an evil Mao chuckled. "Says you. You're always trying to ruin him. If he'd let me loose, I'd kill that girl and the old man in a heartbeat."

The one with a green overcoat glanced sideways at his companion. "You know as well as I do that that isn't possible."

Dark Mao's pale face lit up. "Tell him that." The kind Mao grew silent, so his dark partner laughed again. "That's what I thought."

Her eyes flew open, and she found herself absolutely bewildered. "The infirmary?" Her skin was flawless – it had to have been magic. "How did I get here?" Her memory was blurred – she wasn't sure if there she had gone to see Mao after all, or whether talking to a snake had been a sick dream.

"You were seen 'giving back to the community' by a teacher yesterday," The blonde woman relayed the cover story that had been given to her by the boy. "You were supposed to be brainwashed by the PTA, but they decided that it was too much work. You got a little beat up with their handling, and I fixed you up to pay back one of them."

Beryl didn't buy all of that, but her marred recollection was unhelpful, so she took the explanation with a grain of salt. "Alright," the girl accepted the nurse's words with a scowl. Mao has to have something to do with this, she thought to herself. When she got up, feeling refreshed, the bell rang, and she suddenly recalled that it was no longer the school holiday.

She would have to interrogate her rival later.

eight

The next day, Mao was gone.

Just when Beryl was about to storm into his room and demand answers, Geoffrey appeared from the shadows with a scolding expression. The old demon told her that the young master had left on a journey before he came to check on him that afternoon. Mao's butler didn't have any idea when the white-haired youth would be back.

Beryl sighed in exhaustion. "I see," she murmured, putting her fingers up to her chin. When she went to talk to Kyoko and Asuka before the school day began, they seemed unsurprised.

"He's an honor student, m'lady," Kyoko pushed a strand of hair out of her dark eyes. Her worried expression made her leader's stomach churn. "It's practically his job to disappear from campus."

"That's true," Asuka chipped in, trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit. "He's probably out conducting experiments on helpless innocents."

"Yeah," The magenta-haired girl sighed. When all three of their expressions became gloomy, she chuckled nervously, and put her hands on her hips. "Well, whatever! That just means I can build my reputation without having to compete with him for a while!" Her companions brightened immediately, happy that the small young woman was channeling her energy in such a manner. Just before Beryl stormed off to their classroom, she turned to them and spoke quietly, eyes set in a determined gaze. "Girls, could you hear me out on something for just a moment?"

Asuka and Kyoko nodded in affirmation immediately, and responded in unison. "Anything, my lady."

Small hands fell from little hips to her sides. Her lips were pressed into a thin line before she spoke again, trying her best to look them right in the eye so that they knew how important this was. "I know you don't like Mao." They tensed up, getting ready to spill excuses, but she held up a hand. "It's alright. I know that his way of life and ours are contrary. I'm not upset about the fact that you don't like him. He's my rival, anyways." Beryl smiled a little, and the tall girls shared a glance before turning back to their tiny boss. "You two owe me your lives," she said very seriously. She hated bringing this fact up, but she needed to use this leverage now more than ever. "And this is one favor I need to call in from the both of you."

Asuka was suddenly nervous. Her mouth ran dry. Next to her, Kyoko was as stiff as a board. We can't fail her.

"If – and this is just an if!" Beryl huffed. "Something were ever to happen to me at school, I need you two to find Mao." All three of them knew how dangerous it was to be a delinquent at Evil Academy, and they constantly expected attacks and reparation from peers and staff. Still, her sidekicks were completely floored that this was their leader's heavy request.

"That honor student?" Asuka sputtered, throwing out her hands helplessly. "He'd never to listen to anything we had to say, my lady. Besides, wouldn't he be in support of anything terrible happening to you?"

"That's right," Kyoko chipped in, eyes looking stern and mouth covered as usual. "What if he's the cause of your troubles, my lady? I can't accept such a thing."

"Girls," Beryl stood planted to the ground, arms crossed and brow furrowed. "Are you going to accept my request or not?"

They gulped, both of them breaking into a cold sweat before hanging their heads. "Yes, my lady," Kyoko and Asuka bowed to her, and the small girl nodded before turning her back to them and speaking again.

"You don't have to understand our rivalry," Beryl assured them. "Just do this one thing for me."

After all, she thought to herself as she walked to class. He'd want to punish whoever attacked his precious experimental subject without his consent.

nine

It had been ten years since they'd seen each other.

They met again at the entrance of the school's main castle, under strange circumstances. She had been spending the decade spreading her notoriety about campus, and he, apparently, had been furthering his research on heroes. Although they had parted on abnormal terms, Beryl had long forgotten what she was supposed to be upset about, and focused on making her theatrics excellent. Her introduction and confident strides made him click his tongue, as expected, and he was geared up for a fight with her, as per usual.

Mao had that same furrowed brow and frustrated scowl, and she wanted to giggle. He hasn't changed.

She was surprised when he'd beaten her easily. Beryl excelled in all the magical pursuits now, but she hadn't expected her rival to get exponentially powerful in the last decade. He defeated her calmly, and then shifted his heated gaze to his new test subject.

The hero.

Asuka and Kyoko covered for her, carrying on the bravado and making some sort of bluff as to why Beryl hadn't won the fight. Still, the small girl was equal parts curious and concerned about the human male falling into Mao's hands. The curiosity, she knew, was the quiet, demonic part of her that was interested to see how the hero would be affected by the white-haired youth's 'modifications'. The concern, Beryl recognized, was partly out of a burning jealousy that she was no longer the main recipient of his attention, however warped it was.

She would have to put more effort into standing out as a delinquent, then. Magenta eyes narrowed, biting her thumbnail while speed walking to class, her friends tailing her energetically. I'll save that hero, the girl told herself. A human won't last long on his operating table, after all.

It was a noble excuse.

ten

Tools whirred, and Almaz wheezed through a haze a pain. Breathlessly, he managed to move his lips and speak. "Mao," The fake hero was exhausted, but desperately wanted to understand the insane young demon, for the sake of retrieving his title from the boy's heart. "Why is your friend – Beryl, right? – Always so eager to try and stop you from experimenting on me?"

"Hold still," The youth's steamy sigh fogged his glasses over, and he used a metal clamp to open the steadily transforming human's left eye. "You ask stupid questions, fake. First of all, we're not something disgusting like friends – she's my rival. That idiot is a delinquent. How am I supposed to know why she does useless things?" He dexterously jabbed a needle into the half-demon's ear, and smiled at the taller male's yelp.

"Was that necessary?" Almaz winced; shifting uncomfortably against the restraints Mao had placed him in. "I mean – ouch!" The white-haired youth had unceremoniously yanked one of the burgeoning fangs out of half-human's mouth before assuring the fake hero that it would grow back in an hour or two. Even though his gums throbbed, the navy-haired young man kept speaking. "Doesn't she…seem awfully…I dunno, weird about it?"

Mao glared at him and kicked the operating table, causing the white-clad warrior to cough and sputter in pain all over again. "I don't understand her any better than you do," His red eyes were cold and dismissive, and Almaz gulped, blood from his gums sickly going down his throat, building his nausea. When the sort-of human vomited involuntarily, the boy clicked his tongue. "She was an excellent test subject, unlike you."

Demons are so scary! Almaz found himself thinking again, fever causing him to sweat. Mao scoffed at the other male again before sweeping out of the room, bored with him. The wannabe hero fell into a fitful rest shortly after the demon's dramatic exit.

eleven

Beryl felt restless, alone in her room, curled in the sheets. Mao had only been back for a few days, but her whole world had been turned upside down. It was unfair that she was unable to sleep because she knew her rival was experimenting on someone else. This was hardly fresh information to her – he'd had thousands of creatures under the blade at one point in time, to the point that prinnies smartly avoided his room. The fact of the matter was that it had been far too long since he'd last kidnapped her and tried to modify some part of her body. Sure, there had been that strange incident a little over a decade ago, but the events of what had transpired were fuzzy to her. Dark, demonic illusions plagued her dreams, but her imagination often turned Mao into a more sentimental, sensual creature, and she scoffed.

He's only interested in my body for his stupid experiments, Beryl reminded herself, closing her eyes more tightly. Why would I want something else from that pervert, anyways? Her fingers grazed her side, where she knew his clumsy stitches had been centuries ago. Sure, the wound was seamlessly healed now, but she could never forget the experience he'd put her through. So what if he's got a new subject? I should be happy about that.

It didn't matter what she thought; she was jealous. She was envious of Almaz – a human, a stranger, and a hero – who had only been by Mao's side for a few days, worming his way into the young demon's heart. The tall male spoke of friendship, lectured her rival for things that most demons would praise him for, and was twice the delinquent that she was, without even trying.

"Shit," Beryl whispered to no one, magenta eyes wavering in the darkness. How was she supposed to inspire Mao to be a splendid honor student with such a genuinely good person at his side?

twelve

The small girl wasn't sure what to think any more.

Mao had saved her.

Sure, it had been under false pretenses, and he hadn't made the choice by himself, but he had openly defied Geoffrey's wishes. Her rival recognized her ability aloud, possibly for the first time in their lives. When Asuka and Kyoko cried over her, relaying the events that had occurred during her brief kidnapping and near brainwashing, she smiled against her will.

So what if he hadn't felt anything in ruthlessly slaying her doubles? Mao had known whom she was by instinct alone, and she smiled, feeling giddy.

Beryl tried to calm herself back down, rationalizing. The demonic side of her was upset that her rival didn't belong to her alone. She was happy that he was at the top of the school – it was something she'd been working at for years, but there was no way to make Mao actively engage in things he didn't want to do. Still, when she watched Mao sputter and fluster in ways she had only glimpsed in the past, a part of her longed for the relationship they'd shared in their early days. It was then that she wondered if the humans were getting to her brain, too. Strange words like 'cute' and 'crush' floated to her mind, despite the quietly buried anger she held in her chest that always burned for her rival. She was starting to feel like maybe the human way of thinking wasn't so bad.

No, Beryl shook her head morosely. What's the matter with me? I must be going insane.

Her thoughts still revolved around how best to be a good rival to the white-haired boy. That was good. She could still be a proud delinquent and inspire him to stay on his toes. So, maybe they weren't fighting right now. So, maybe the humans were making both of them question their values. So, maybe Beryl felt lonelier when she looked at Mao and the people who stuck around with him.

In her heart, she knew she was just making excuses. Why haven't I gone to the heart bank with all this junk? It was the middle of the night, and nobody would be around – it was a perfect time to drop some of these unnecessary feelings off. Still, even though she'd gotten up to make her way to the main corridor where the heart bank was, she stopped herself.

Can I still consider myself a delinquent if I do the same things as an honor student? She had the fewest things in hers, hence why she was the number one delinquent, in stark contrast to her rival's, which was so full it was ready to burst.

Beryl dug her claws into her palms, and laughed bitterly. How do humans deal with this?

thirteen

Sapphire was a breath of fresh air, and someone who was surprisingly easy to talk to about all of these issues. Beryl knew exactly how Almaz felt, getting sucked into Mao's schemes, day after day, but she was still jealous that the hero was the one with her rival. The busty, sturdy princess scooped the small, flustered demon into her arms before she offered the girl her opinion.

"Aren't you in love with Sir Mao?" Sapphire murmured.

Beryl grew shock still. A part of her was happy that Kyoko and Asuka were nowhere to be found. She couldn't have dealt with the humiliation of having this particular emotion attributed to her, with regards to her rival. "Demons don't – they can't!" Her cheeks felt hot, and the small girl momentarily turned her eyes to the floor.

Starry green eyes met magenta ones once they came back up, and the princess smiled warmly. "It sounds a lot like love to me," Sapphire insisted. Beryl yelped when the taller girl rubbed her cheeks against hers. "I mean, you want him to belong to you. You like it when you two are close, but the physical and mental challenge of a fight makes you excited. Besides, I've heard there are certain types of people that get turned on by the whole violence thing." Beryl was concerned with how blasé the human girl was being, and turned appropriately scarlet. "You're always thinking about him, right?"

The demon managed to wiggle out of her hold and answer. "Yeah…" After a beat, she looked up at the other girl and scowled. "But it just couldn't be love, alright! We're just…really, really good rivals! Besides…" Her voice got small and she looked off in the distance. "He wouldn't…"

"Sir Mao wouldn't know how to recognize love even if you engraved the definition on his arm, huh?" Sapphire cracked her tan knuckles. "I'm always willing to drill the idea into his skull."

Beryl snickered. "Don't bother. His head's way too thick for that." She suddenly sighed. "I'm more of a delinquent than I thought I was." Thoughts of Mao – pig-headed, blunt, obsessive, brutal, meticulous, and speculative – filled her head. Spending all of her time with him, lavished in his obscure, demented attention was everything she wanted, and simultaneously what she was so terribly afraid of. "Don't let this conversation leave this room. You'll ruin both of our reputations."

Sapphire giggled, pressing a finger to her lips. "Well, only because you're so cute. Can I hug you again?"

She didn't wait for an answer, and Beryl yelped as she was scooped into another tight embrace.

fourteen

When Mao started to shut everyone out, he was certainly at the top of his game. Beryl watched him snarl and dismiss everyone he had gotten close to in the last few weeks with mixed feelings. Almaz didn't look well, Sapphire was getting frustrated, Mr. Champloo seemed conflicted, and her sidekicks were starting to lose their burgeoning hope in her rival. The pink-haired girl should have felt relieved – he'd never been a better demon and honor student.

Instead, she hated the boy's current attitude.

Not in the way her parents would have been proud of. When he acted like this, she didn't want anything to do with him. She didn't want to hurt him, or have him hurt her. She didn't feel anything when she looked at him. It was strange, and stupid. He wasn't acting according to his whims and following his nature – he was smothering those things because of his raised suspicions. If Mao wasn't careful, he was going to self-destruct, and seeing him so delicate and cowardly disgusted the girl.

If he were happy, he would've been bossing them all around, or if he were angry, he would use science to try and tear them apart. Mao had reached his full potential, supposedly, but he wasn't capable of wielding his true power with such a fragile psyche.

Somehow, some way, this all came back to Geoffrey – no. It came back to Aurum.

As things were revealed one-by-one, Beryl understood his cowardice. He was scared. Mao was terrified of losing them, and because he was inexperienced with interacting with people, the only thing he knew to do was run away. Despite his wicked nature, plots of destruction, and habit of treating others like specimens, he was possessive of people who got close. With that being the case, of course he wouldn't want to see them taken away by others, or worse still, dead at the hands of someone other than himself.

Mao didn't want them to end up like his father, so he opted to push them away at his own convenience instead. It didn't matter how much it ended up warping his personality even further, or how much pain he shoved into his heart vault. He wasn't ashamed of this desire to run. It was demonic, and natural, and he welcomed it.

Beryl wanted to shout and cry in frustration. When did you become so weak?

fifteen

Stopping Mao from going on a killing spree was one of the hardest things she had ever done. She clutched to him tightly, ignoring the world around her. His aura was intense and magically charged, to the point that it physically burned her. Mao's red eyes seemed clouded and dark. The shadow of his small form extended, and was solidifying quickly into a terrifying entity that looked much like his father in his prime. It was dreadful and insane, that she was trying to talk him down like this, but her eyes were wet and she didn't know what else to do.

"Mao," she yelled, fearing for her life in the moment more than she ever had under his careless supervision and frightful experiments. "Mao, stop!" The white of his eyes disappeared in one blink, and returned in another. His claws had not retracted, however, so she knew the time for panic was not over. Her grip around his waist tightened, and her heart beat faster. "I know you won't give in to this…" Beryl's voice was growing faint with weariness. Even though she couldn't hear the humans, she knew that they were trying to stop her from continuing this seemingly futile quest. They didn't know that she just couldn't give up. She and Mao were tied together through an unquestionable bond, and the end of his life would spell the end of hers. If she wasn't allowed to die without his permission and active involvement, he wasn't allowed to die without her consent, either. "I just know." He couldn't just devolve into a ball of hatred and nothing more, because she said so. It was selfish, she knew, but if her cries could pull him from the brink, she would rejoice.

When it was successful, she nearly fell over. Beryl barely managed to put on a lopsided grin for her rival, who looked just as weary as she did. It made sense, considering how much energy he'd exuded. Neither of them had time to relax, though, because the overwhelming force of Mao's negative emotions in the form of Dark Mao refused to be silenced. Beyond that, there was the matter of dealing with their sickly companion. After the whirlwind of Mao's emotions settled, and Almaz was saved, the group had to hurry and defeat their young leader's nemesis – the super hero.

There would be time to talk about them later.

sixteen

As the dust settled, there were a thousand things to take care of at their messed up school. Mao became the rightful Dean, and he led the school properly. Watching him grow up made Beryl feel good. It was like Mao finally felt comfortable in his own skin again, and she loved his newfound confidence, even if he continued to be in denial about concepts like fellowship and love. His human companions had stuck around as his friends, but his adversary wasn't sure she could continue to call herself that. The two of them certainly were closer than they had been before the month of chaos that came with the boy's return, but even though Beryl called him a friend and a rival to his face, she wasn't entirely sure what they were.

Sure, she wanted more, but for the most part, she was stumped. For the time being, becoming a delinquent teacher would be her method to make Mao focus, but it didn't change much in the way of their relationship. They fought and bickered, but if she had to name the only thing that had adjusted, it was that he actively sought her out to stop her plans, now, instead of her always trying to track him down. This rivalry, or friendship, or whatever it was between them, was reciprocated.

But they were awfully docile, now, and the girl knew it was partly because Mao had a new plaything – Aurum would be subjected to all sorts of experiments she didn't even want to know about. Beryl could figure out how to worm her way to the center of Mao's brain and heart gradually.

seventeen

She knew it was a dream, but that couldn't stop it from happening. Her arms were tied together, and her body was being lapped with his tongue so thoroughly that she'd felt hazy, even in her own imagination. Fang punctures littered her skin, and tools were sticking out of each of her limbs. Beryl's body was a battlefield, and it shouldn't have made sense for Mao to be kissing her while conducting his research, but he was, and she gasped desperate things inside of his mouth, half-choking on his saliva. When she woke, literally shocked awake, her cheeks burned, and she glared up at her rival, hoping against all hope that he couldn't read her thoughts.

"What are you doing?" Beryl spat at him; hurriedly smacking him with the heavy tome she kept next to her bed.

"I was trying to see how long I could run electrical currents over your heart before your delirious sleep was disturbed," Mao murmured, wearing his usual grin. "Congratulations. The answer was seven-point-three minutes. Exult, Beryl."

Her arms rose to throttle him, but she curled her fists by her side and sighed. She figured now was as good a time as any to have this conversation. "Listen, Mao," It had been years since the humans had gotten married, and spoke of having a child soon. Maybe seeing Sapphire and Almaz croon over each other all the time was rotting her brain, but she wanted something with Mao – maybe not so disgusting, and a little more demonic, but her desire was real, and, according to her dreams, prominent. "Couldn't you have just kissed me instead?" His initial shock made her nervous, but his sputtered excuses made her smile. "Okay, maybe that was too much to ask, for you. Let's just start with a good old fashioned challenge, then."

"You're an absurd delinquent!" Mao was noticeably ruffled, and his usually pale face was furiously red. "Who wants to kiss you? I didn't come here to fight you, I conducted this experiment for science!"

Instead of correcting him, she grabbed him tightly by the collar, and didn't give him time to refuse the press of her lips against his. Sure, he punched her squarely in the chin for that, yelling all sorts of profanities on his way out of her room, but she knew him better than to trust her bruising, offset jaw. She sighed, feeling unsure if that had been the right thing to do, but smiled anyways.

It proved to be the action that started their obscene romance. For years, things had grown stagnant between them, but the death threats and torture from childhood would come full circle, albeit in a very different manner.

eighteen

The first step was more and more physical fights. When one of them declared a challenge, they always started off with mystical chants, and regressed to fist fights before much time had passed. Once the spells were off the table, it was a lawless tumble. Fists met every body part, claws dug into tender skin, and whatever destruction they had caused created the chaos they rolled around in. Blood, mucus, and hair joined dying flames and ashes alongside frozen inanimate objects.

The following step closely followed the first – Beryl started to use her fangs after the first few fights. They'd bitten each other as children, too, but now that they were older, it was sensual and strangely enticing.

In one particular fight, Mao had been advantageous, catching her without her sidekicks yet again, and taunting her by bringing up things he knew would cause a bout. She growled and leapt right into his trap, a hatred-powered plasma cage. Once she was inside, he drove a pike through her ankle, let the cage fall apart, and licked his lips. Beryl used the weapon he'd given her by dexterously twisting her small body and drove the head of the pike into his left ankle, opposite her wounded right. When they were in close quarters because of this painful connection, the fistfight ensued, as per the norm. Right after Mao kneed her in the stomach with his free leg, she moved to bite his extended neck as hard as she could. Doing so made his head fall to her shoulder, and the sudden loss of heated hatred in the room made her nervous. His breath was hot against her as she pulled away from him, watching the bruise form. When he finally regained his composure, he pulled the pike out of both of their ankles without as much as a wince, and glared at her, trying to process what had happened. She left that particularly night feeling strange.

When they fought again, steps two and three clashed head on. Mao bit her twice as hard as she had bit him, but his bites had been at her collarbone (which he had fractured) and her lips (which he had torn). Sure, the 'kiss' had drawn blood and been more fangs than feelings, but their lips had met, and the fight spiraled out of control from then on. Beryl punched him and left thin trails of blood from his pointed ears. The boy wrestled her until he was on top and sucked at the back of her neck before she cast a poisonous spell, causing him to cough wetly and pry himself off of her. They breathlessly entangled themselves in this way before giving up, falling quietly beside each other in the midst of their mess.

There was another brawl, not much later, when Beryl starting ripping his clothes off violently, shredding precious articles of his smelly clothing. He remarked that she smelled too clean, and her clothes were as childish and simplistic as she was, but for his smart remark, she decided to render him immobile and lavish attention at his narrow ribcage, where she knew he hated to be touched. Mao snarled and spit, managing to get one arm free to grab her hair, and panting right in her face. His hands were grimy and sweaty, as per usual, and his teeth were only pristine because she'd force-brushed them a week ago, but they fell into a kiss that was a fight for dominance like they'd been doing it for centuries.

It was all of the steps combined, and it was exactly what they both so strongly desired.

Beryl flicked the glasses off of his face while he was still trapped her mystic bonds and curled her arms around the boy's neck. She raked her claws across his skin, leaving thin lacerations in her path, breathing into his open mouth. Their bodies were nearly bare, with only the fabric of thin underwear separating them, so when she pressed into her rival, he groaned inadvertently back into her mouth. Something burned her back, and she realized that his strong emotions were exuding themselves, since he currently lacked the energy and will to break her bonds. Beryl smiled against Mao's mouth. "You're such a handful, naughty boy."

Mao snorted, using his free hand to pull at her tail. She shuddered happily, and managed to throw him a half-assed glare. "Stop complimenting me and finish what you started, delinquent."

The girl giggled, reaching down to palm his burgeoning erection. "Want me to make you beg for it?"

A deep laugh rumbled from his chest directly into hers, as they were in extremely close capacity. "Keep dreaming."

nineteen

When the young couple found Mao, the Dean of Evil Academy, thumbing through some illustrated manual in the library, they were reasonably concerned. Almaz, the father-to-be, sighed in resignation and hurried to pluck the book from the pale youth's hands. "Sadomasochism?" He was equal parts appalled and impressed. "You're actually studying something you're into?"

"You're an idiot," Mao snatched the book back, turning up his nose. "Although it's none of your business, I am a researcher by nature."

Sapphire, who was in the earliest terms of pregnancy, giggled. "I bet you're looking up different ways to please Ms. Beryl. Puberty sure is difficult, Sir Mao."

Almaz turned beet red and sputtered, turning wild eyes to the white-haired demon that was smirking calmly. "Really?!"

"You two and your sickeningly sweet romance are freaks, and whatever fluffy notion you've got about Beryl and I is horribly skewed." Mao slammed the book shut and suddenly began yelling. "Do you know how many utensils of mine she's ruined?!"

"I really don't want to hear this," The hero whispered, arms trembling. His wife, beside him, was as excited as he was fearful.

"You're looking for sturdier ways to bind her up, because that turns her on?" Green eyes were locked on the page that had been open, complete with photographs of how to tie specific rope knots. The pregnant woman was impressed. "Wow. For you, that's…pretty sweet, actually."

Mao snapped at her wordlessly, but the humans both rolled their eyes. Almaz, despite his embarrassment, was pleased for his friend. "Well…I'm happy you guys are happy, Mao. You seem really balanced these days. Maybe Ms. Beryl was just what you needed."

Red eyes narrowed. "Are you two trying to get on my nerves, or are you just like this naturally?"

"You're just easy to annoy," Sapphire replied joyfully, drawing out a small sword. "Would you rather fight me instead?"

"No!" Almaz fretted over his wife, convincing her to put away that weapon. "You already know he wouldn't take it easy on you, and you shouldn't fight in your condition."

"I know, I know," The princess sighed and then giggled. Mao had already disappeared from their sight when they turned to look for him, and the couple figured that was fine. "At least we know he's a good boyfriend. Ms. Beryl has seemed sorta scared to hang out with me since I got pregnant, so I didn't know if their relationship was working out or not."

The hero wearily chuckled. "Is someone who ties up their girlfriend considered a good partner?"

His wife stubbornly folded her arms across her ample chest. "If both of them like it, and as long as they don't go too far, I think it's fine. Besides, demons are sturdier than we are." Sapphire intended to punch her husband playfully, but she caused him to keel over in pain. "Well, sturdier than you, anyways."

"Sorry for being so weak," Almaz sobbed pitifully, and immediately brightened when she leaned against him.

"It's alright. I think it's cute." When she winked at him, he fell in love with her all over again.

He tied her up and broke her limbs so she couldn't run away, and then he touched her intimately. In retaliation, she would knock him out, chain his neck to a magically infused structure, and tease him to the brink, occasionally allowing the male release. They had a very sexual relationship for a very long time, but they skirted around intercourse for a decade or two. By the time Sapphire and Almaz's child was old enough to start having children, the two of them had just started to experiment with oral and penetration.

They struggled for many reasons. Fear that crossing that line would ruin everything between them was prominent, as was the loss of passion from their debates and physical altercations. But when Mao finally grew impatient, his carnal desires screaming above his inhibitions, she was just as ready as he was. As expected, sex with Mao was a beleaguering experience, just like everything else about her rival.

He was a ruthless, selfish brute, demanding too much too fast, but she couldn't be humiliated by her inability to keep up with his pace. Instead, she became just as brutal, forcing him to work harder to pleasure her, even if she'd done something to make his skin catch on fire until he made her come. Mao bit and bled and froze; Beryl moaned and scratched and burned. Their sex was animalistic and destructive, but when they melded together, they were both at the brink of life and death. Everything about the other demon was engraved in their minds, and they were certain that no one could fill their rival's place in the universe.

They had a conversation as close to heartfelt that they could have in the afterglow of a particularly inhumane session. Mao's skin would require magic to repair correctly, Beryl's horns were cracked, and they were covered in viscous liquids both natural and unnatural, but when the male spoke, the female paid rapt attention to his serious tone. "You're a rotten delinquent," her partner murmured with his back to her. "And a terrible liar."

"Those are contradictory statements, Mao," Beryl responded sleepily, petting the white-haired boy's back rhythmically. "Whatever you're trying to say, just spit it out. I won't think less of you. Hell, it won't even leave this room."

He muttered profanities under his breath before making his words understandable again. "Don't think you can just change and get away with it. I've already got seven thousand, three hundred and eighty-two reasons to kill you, and even more methods to do so, after all."

She chose to read between the lines for his confession, and giggled. "I love you too, Mao."

He shuddered. "Now I can't sleep. Say you hate me before I send you flying out of the window."

"Alright, whatever. I hate you, okay?" Beryl rolled herself over his body so she could get a look at his petulant expression and stare into his blood-red eyes. "Is that better, Mao? I'll always be your hateful, delinquent, loathing rival." She linked their warm hands, and pressed their naked bodies together. "And you?"

"It goes without saying that I hate you, stupid girl." Mao replied, but he did not shy away from her touch. He was as proud and haughty lying there in the nude as he was in broad daylight, and she found it strangely endearing, as always. "Never forget that your life is in my hands."

Beryl could never forget. She knew that Mao was serious now more than she had ever realized as a child. Their fates were tied, and they were always in this twisted spiral, constantly thinking of ways that would push the other either to the top of their game, or to the pit of existence. What they had was disastrously fragile, and both of them enjoyed every minute of it. Some how, some way, Beryl would be felled.

It was acceptable only because Mao and Beryl both knew that she would land a blow to kill him simultaneously.

The bonds of fate tied them together, after all, but that was so common to the pair that neither of them lingered on such an obvious concept in their strange relationship.

Endnotes –

1) This isn't well conveyed in the English version of D3, but Mao and Beryl were chosen to be rivals from birth by their parents.
2) Kyoko and Asuka had their lives saved by Beryl (in canon), which is why they follow her so religiously.
3) CC – cubic centimeter. Medical term for a milliliter.
4) Datura stramonium – a poisonous, hallucinogenic plant.
5) Benzodiazepine is a medical amnesia-inducing drug.
6) Mao leaving – so I missed this the first time, but when I checked the beginning of the game's dialogue, he does say he hasn't been home in 10 years.