Puppeteer
Chapter 2: Reflection

Exhausted, Mephisto let himself fall on his pink brocade upholstered sofa and placed his legs on one of the huge, silken pillows. The renewal of each seal and spell protecting his students from any demon encounters, cost him more energy than he'd ever admit. Tonight he would probably need more than one hour of sleep to regain his strength.

With a snap of his fingers, he changed from his official principal's dress into his much more comfortable Honey-Honey-Sisters yukata and snuggled himself contentedly into the big, soft sofa cushions. His eyes almost fell shut instantly, when he suddenly noticed a small, green hamster, sliding downwards from the backrest of the sofa and into his lap. It then started nibbling at a cashew nut. With a smile on his lips the demon principal petted over its tiny head.

The hamster gulped down the remains of the nut and neatly brushed the crumbs off of his mouth before he accompanied by a 'poof'ing-sound switched into his human form. Immediately he wrapped his slender arms around Mephisto's slim body and huddled against his chest. Apparently, the Earth King enjoyed the attention he got from his big brother, even if his dull eyes and a monotone voice didn't betray any sort of emotion.

"You're back again, Aniue." he stated, while leaning into the light touch as Mephisto started caressing the boy's green hair with his right hand. "Our little brother found your diary and took it away. Just like you expected..."

Mephisto's grin widened. "Really? Very nice... then everything goes according to plan."

Amaimon's sharp, claw-like fingernails gently drove the elder demon's neck up and down making Mephisto's skin goosebump softly. He felt the excitement of the other and noticed that the smell of testosterone increased. Being an earth elemented creature Amaimon's scent was much better than that of other demon races – in return he didn't have the best eyesight. He loved Mephisto's unique aroma: A blend of bergamot, sandalwood and cinnamon - just as sensual and seductive as his big brother was handsome, he sighed happily as he inhaled the beloved scent.

However, he had one more question to ask before his mind blanked out completely because of his brother's mesmerizing appeal and his own lust. "Why?"

"Huh? Complete your sentences when talking to me, Otouto."

Amaimon chewed on his thumbnail nervously. He hardly dared to ask his big brother questions regarding their past, even though this one constantly nudged the back of his mind. The subject was actually a taboo and he still feared the wrath of his older brother... or even worse his icy glares and the bitter silence.

The Earth King sighed. He already made the first step, so there was no turning back anymore. Mephisto would question further now that he knew something bothered Amaimon until named one eventually spat it out. "Why do you allow Rin Okumura that he digs in our past? Don't you... mind?" He blushed crimson and avoided eye contact... He didn't want to see the fury in those forest green eyes.

Mephisto stopped petting Amaimon's head. Latter already feared that he conjured up a storm. But the principal remained calm, he was just taken aback by that question. Amaimon usually avoided speaking about their past. Him mentioning the unspeakable showed Mephisto that his younger brother seemed to care more about him than he was aware of.

"You want to know why I'm doing this? Well, I never reveal my intentions before the final curtain closes. But you'll see the harvest of my hard work, when my plans unfold. Let me assure you that it is worth the effort. Our past is past and there it remains. Even though it doesn't change the fact that I'm aiming to destroy Satan. What about you... do you mind?"

Amaimon was surprised. Since when did his big brother ask him if he was displeased about something? Normally his opinion and feelings were irrelevant in Mephisto's plans. The elder used to order him to do something, and he did it without ever complaining, mostly he got scolded afterwards for something he had done wrong, though. It had always been like this, he liked serving his brother, despite the scolding. It made him feel that he was needed by him in one way or another.

Slowly the Earth King raised his upper body to take a suspicious look into the other one's eyes. But apart from the usual mischievousness there was nothing else to discover - the perfect poker face.

Mephisto was the only son of Satan's, who didn't have blue eyes, but those tempting, vivid green irises. His beauty was beyond reach. Amaimon licked over his lips and unconsciously began caressing the other one's cheek. His skin was so soft, his face so delicate and fragile like that of a precious porcelain doll. Many underestimated the strength of the demon because of his frail appearance, but that almost always cost them their lives. Mephisto wasn't only an ingenious strategic mastermind who calculated without mercy or second thoughts, he was also the powerful King of Time. Samael, his true name, the name he didn't like being called.

But not even Mephisto could not hold a candle to Satan. And perhaps this was one of the reasons why the son of Lilith so stoically resisted to kowtow to the almighty demon lord. He despised being second best.

A coquettish smile flashed across the face of the principal. He acknowledged the greedy gaze Amaimon threw at him. But as handsome as Mephisto may have looked like to others, he himself hated his seductive appearance - that cursed heritage of his ancestry. Whenever he came across his reflection he was shocked on his frail facial features, his full pink lips and his slender, far too feminine stature.

On the other hand, he also had to admit that his body proved to be rather useful in Assiah. He certainly wouldn't hold the position of a Honorable Knight if he didn't use his sex-appeal to charm the higher-ups of True Cross Order and Vatican. Those naughty priests and cardinals had an odd liking for tempting demons.

"No, it doesn't bother me." Amaimon stated cutting off Mephisto's train of thoughts."But I never had a problem with father using me for sexual release, either... It distracted me from boredom, at least for a while. Gehenna is unfortunately not very exciting. "

Mephisto chuckled bemused by the nonchalance in his younger brother voice when referring to the subject of physical abuse. Humankind would have been horrified, but for demons sex used to be a means to dominate weaker demons and make them docile, aside the aspect of satisfaction of course. Amaimon had no problem with the simple fact that demons existed who were stronger than him ... he even developed a certain fascination for such. For example, his obsession about Satan's blue flames.

"I like being the one who pulls the strings instead of merely playing the role of a pawn in someone else's chess game." The principal pulled Amaimon down at his tie. The younger demons face was now so close that their lips almost touched. "You can be very proud of your wild passion and sexual talents, Otouto. It gives you the privilege of dominating me from time to time. Claim me, and make me shudder from lust, Earth king, I'm all yours. "He breathed hoarsly.

Amaimon didn't need to be asked twice. Craving from his own desire he leaned down to capture those seductive pink lips into a forceful yet passionate kiss, rubbing his already throbbing member against the others crotch greedily and earning an excited moan from the other. This was going to be hard and dirty... just the way they liked it.

As promised, Rin stood in front of Mephisto's office door at the Faustian mansion, holding the pink diary in his hand and bracing himself for the upcoming moment. He came here as soon as possible - in his special case during lunch break, because he overslept in the morning, like he did almost every day.

What was to be an expected reaction from Mephisto? He couldn't tell. Neither did he know if Mephisto would be angry nor what sort of punishment he would receive for his silly deed. Maybe the principal even might consider kicking him out of school?

Torn between the desire to simply walk away and the urge to man up, Rin paced the corridor up and down, thinking about which option was more appealing. Occasionally he raised his hand, but he didn't dare knocking on the door, so he continued pacing again.

Sighing, he stopped in his track after what seemed to be an eternity and took a look at the diary in his hands.

Why did he take it again?

Why did his stupid blue flames have to break the magical seal?

And why, the hell, wasn't returning the diary to its owner much easier?

The thought of subtexts crossed his mind. First thing during lunch break he asked the three Kyoto boys, namely Suguro, Shima and Konekomaru, if they knew the meaning and if they could explain it to him with easy words. It had been rather hard for them. Especially Suguro almost lost his temper, but Rin got the meaning of the word finally.

Subtext refers to content which is not announced explicitly by the person but is implicit or becomes something understood by the observer as the story unfolds. Subtext can also refer to the thoughts and motives of the person which are only covered in an aside.

For example, in a written text, it would be described as "reading between the lines". In case of Mephisto's memorization sequence, it refers to a hidden or simply implied fact that does not reveal anything right away, but had to be presumed and interpreted by the witnessing audience.

Yet understanding the meaning of the word didn't explain, what Yukio had hinted at the day before. Rin had spent quite some time thinking it over, but his results didn't satisfy him. Apparently he was too stupid to filter out the "oh so obvious!" hidden facts. This annoyed him even more than he would admit. He also wanted to know more about his mysterious half-brother.

But he didn't came to the Faustian mansion to ponder. He needed to return the diary.

Thus the teenager finally straightened his shoulders and finally knocked on the massive oak door. No sound could be heard from the inside of the office, so Rin tried again, this time knocking more confident. Still no reaction.

Rin scratched the back of his head and felt a bit unsure of what to do next. Then he carefully turned the golden knob. To his surprise the office door was unlocked. Very inattentive for someone like the principal. Did Mephisto never worry about students sneaking in here and stealing important documents? Or even other personal possessions...?

A twinge of guilt shook his body. Nevertheless, the half-demon cautiously walked into the office, tiptoed over to the opulent desk and shoved the pink diary somewhere in between the piles of papers and files. Then he drew back quickly and hurried out of the office, never knowing that a pair of purple eyes had witnessed his act of cowardice.

Rin stumbled out of the mansion in a hurry, remaining at the front court for a short moment to catch his breath, unspeakably relieved. He just saved himself a lot of trouble and, even better, avoided to apologize to his elder half-brother.

After he caught his breath again, he trotted straight back to the school building. Lunch break was almost over and his growling stomach reminded him that he should eat something before cram school was about to to begin.

About five minutes later he sat down at his favorite spot underneath the huge sakura tree in the schoolyard. He fumbled in his bag for his prepared bento box, when suddenly the well-known, sickening feeling and a sharp pain in his stomach overcame him.

"Wahhh ... damn ... That can't be ... I returned that blasted ...!" the teenager cursed and toppled over to the side as he was drawn once again into another one of Mephisto's memories.

***TBC***

A/n: Waiiii! Thanks for all the motivating reviews, everybody! I'm so happy you like the story so far and I apologize for the long wait! I try to translate quicker next time! ^^°°°°