Screening process
It was the first time he had ever been in the human realm. The air hit him as soon as he stepped through to the other side. It wasn't as bad as hell but there was still a taste of pollution. Glancing around, his eyes followed strange machines following little lines, stopping at lights. There were a lot of humans walking around talking to themselves.
Taking a step forward his hand hit some sort of force field. "Hey you, get over here." He could see his new surroundings but he couldn't move from outside the tunnel he was in.
"Honestly, how slow can you be?" Staring at the demon, Shizuo hurried over to the other side, his gaze frequently sliding outside. Every thing looked so busy. "Look, if you want to go out there you need to pass your screening."
Screening? That couldn't be good. No one was supposed to find out what he was. Following the demon through the tunnel, Shizuo found himself standing in a waiting area. The room was a large one filled with chairs. At the front was a long desk. The entire place was full of demons.
Making his way to the long desk, a long haired demon scowled at him. "Take a number from the ticket machine and wait your turn." Glancing where she was pointing, Shizuo tugged the piece of paper groaning as the entire roll came out. "Oi. What are you doing? I can send you straight back to hell. Take one number and sit your ass down."
A growl left his lips trudging to find an empty seat. Glancing down at his number it said 104. Looking up at the little display the next number blinked up. 65. With a groan he threw his head back, fingers stoking along the ring that was his halo.
Shitsuo took a deep breath, moving back from his seat. If he stayed too long he would be in trouble. Things could have been a lot worse, the decision could have been immediate execution. At least now they had some time to work with.
Leaving the chamber, the blond followed after the other arch angels. Tsugaru had been removed from his duties. That meant that they would no longer be together. Shitsuo shuddered at the thought, the two of them had always been together since birth. They had gone through the same classes sitting next to each other and had even entered the sleep together, evolving into archangels.
Everything they did together and now it would be just him. "Shitsuo. Can I have a word?" Nodding his head, the blond followed after the oldest archangel.
"I hope that this decision won't affect your performance in any way." Shitsuo bowed his head slowly.
"No, it won't. I will perform my duties to the best of my ability." A hand rested on his shoulder.
"Glad to hear it. Then I need you to come with me. The demons won't keep quiet about this."
As usual he couldn't disobey, lowering his head and following behind. That was the flaw with his ability. He could manipulate anyone but if anyone gave him an order he would have to follow it without hesitation. "Through here." Shitsuo stared at the portal before him. As far as he was aware there were only two portals, one to hell and the other to the human realm. So what was this one?
"Shitsuo, step through." His body obeyed slowly walking towards the unknown portal, his gaze flickering over the arch, half of the words he could understand, the other half he couldn't. His hand moved fingers touching the liquid like feeling before he was stepping through his eyes open.
It was a weird room, as if two rooms had been sliced in half and joined together. At the far end was the same portal. A large table was in the centre, half of the room in light, the other half looking shrouded. On the wall for the light side was a carving of an angel, the purest one that had ever existed. As always the angel was facing away. On the other side was a carving of a demon.
The portal on the other side rippled putting him on his guard. A raven haired woman stepped through, brushing down her pink kimono. His eyes narrowed seeing the fox ears and tail. Innocent looking eyes fixed on him. "Oh, are we the first ones here? Hello angel, I'm asking you? Tell me."
"I think so." Hopefully the demon didn't realise his weakness. The raven seemed to glide to one of the ugly looking chairs, taking a seat.
"Well, sit down." His body obeyed taking a seat on the other side of the table. "We might as well start the introductions. I'm Sakuraya Orihara. What's your name?"
The words slipped through his lips without him being able to stop. "Shitsuo Heiwajima." He still didn't know where he was. From what he could work out he had come into the room from heaven and the demon had no doubt come from hell. So this was, a conference room of some sort? Once again his gaze fell to the portal, knowing that the demon was watching him.
"What are you then?" What was with the questions? Unknowingly this woman had become his new master until he left the room.
"I'm an arch angel. What would you be?" Shitsuo found himself staring at the swishing bushy tail.
"I'm an arch duke. I'm part of the deciding force of hell. This is why we are here. You angels broke the rules, we are entitled to some sort of compensation." This wasn't good at all.
At last his number came up. Shizuo stood going back up to the desk. The raven checked his number handing him a clipboard. "Fill that in and give it back to me. All personal belongings go in this basket." His eyes narrowed unable to read a single word on the sheet. Taking a deep breath he tried to remain calm.
"Excuse me, I can't read this." The woman raised an eyebrow.
"Did you flunk school or something? You are a demon are you not?"
The seal in his hand proved that he was. His lack of ability only seemed to irritate the demon.
"I suppose you can do a verbal interview. Place your belongings in the basket." Placing the seal in the basket, the woman sighed. "And that ring." Shizuo froze. There was no way he could let go of his halo. "Or you can march yourself right back through that portal."
With a growl, his fingers rested on his halo as it slowly slipped from his finger. "Good, is that all?" With a nod the woman pulled the basket towards her. "What clan are you from anyway?" Her eyes widened as she picked it up. "I need to make a call. Sit back down." Reaching for the basket, his hand was smacked away. "All belongings will be returned after you have finished the interview.
The only seats were right at the back. His gaze never left the small basket. There was no telling what would happen if he lost his halo. The demon was talking to herself, her eyes kept glancing at the seal and then up at him.
The demon was still watching him, the two of them were the only ones in the room. "Its you, isn't it?" Shitsuo looked up confused? "Stand up." Pushing away from the table he was on his feet. "Sit down." His body moved taking a seat. "Hm, this is going to get troublesome." Both of the portals rippled signalling someone coming through. "Get under the table." The blond was helpless sliding from his chair and underneath the tablecloth that trailed on the floor.
He wasn't alone, the demon crawling underneath the other side. Shitsuo couldn't help notice the material slip showing a perfectly flat chest. Such a feminine demon was male? As if Sakuraya knew what he thought, one pink eye winked. "Lay down and don't struggle." The voice was whispered but still an order.
The raven crawled on top of him, laying flat on top, head rested on his chest. "Stay still and don't say a word." Shitsuo was helpless against his new master doing as he was told. Above him he could hear a mixture of voices and the scraping of chairs on both sides.
"You called this meeting, why?"
"Now you act innocent? You are fully aware that your angels trespassed into hell without permission." Shitsuo closed his eyes. This was because of them that this was happening.
"It has been dealt with, there was no need to concern yourselves." There was a loud thud above him the table shaking.
"I think we should go over the treaty again. We aren't allowed to step foot in heaven yet you think you can come to hell when you feel like it?"
Sakuraya reached up placing a finger on his lips. "The current rules are fair, there is no need to change anything. This time was a one off. One of the younger angels got lost." Just what had Tsuki caused? Surely they wouldn't start a war over it?
"That is no excuse. We have discussed this and made our decision. We will forgive this incident in exchange for Heaven's doll."
Shitsuo's eyes flew open his chest aching at the name. "Why would you want it? Surely there must be something else?" It looked like the archangels weren't ready to part just yet.
"Heaven's doll or we revise the treaty." He didn't hear anything else, soft hands covering his ears and blocking out any noise.
One hand moved able to hear raised voices. "From now on I am your only master." Shitsuo couldn't move as the raven whispered in his ear. "You will only obey my commands and come when I tell you. You will obey no one else." The demon smiled looking anything but innocent. Somehow he had been freed and bound at the same time.
Shizuo was back at the desk, the woman opening a door. "See the lift behind me? Step inside. Take these with you." The raven was already dealing with someone else. Since he had been told to wait, Shizuo had watched the demons go through the process. They were either rejected or given a package and escorted somewhere. Not one of them had been lead into the lift.
Holding the basket in one hand and the clipboard with the blank sheet in the other, Shizuo stepped into the lift, the doors closing behind him. His eyes widened as it started moving. One by one the lights blinked. Where had he been sent?
At last the top number blinked the doors sliding open. He was in another room, this one with a long window, bookcases either side and a desk in the centre of the room, where another demon sat. A growl left his throat before he could stop it. Taking a step forward he noticed some sort of circle device on the floor.
Stepping around it he placed the basket on the desk along with the clipboard. The demon had funny triangular ears, something long moved behind him. Crimson eyes settled on him making him growl again, his nose twitching. "So you're the one, Namie-san was talking about." Before he could snatch the basket back his instincts screaming to do so, the demon lifted it away.
"You have a seal but you can't understand the language." Shizuo noticed the demon's eyes widen slightly then narrow. Why was everyone so damn shocked about the seal? "Interesting. What's this?" His halo was picked up and inspected.
"Give that back." Shizuo recoiled the demon hissing at him.
"Sit down, you'll get it back." His precious halo was slipped onto a corrupted finger. "I'm Izaya. Now lets start the interview shall we?"
"Your name?" The demon tapped a pen against the page.
"Shizuo..." Should he say his family name? There was no way he could be listed as a fallen.
"Orihara?" Shizuo was out of his seat temper rising.
"Don't call me that. It's Heiwajima." Forcing himself to take a breath he returned to his seat.
Izaya was smirking. "Funny, we already have a Heiwajima here. Deli-chan and he's a fallen angel." Shit. This was bad. "Shizu-chan, take off your top. I need to verify your mark. You do have one don't you?"It was already too late to take back that he was a demon.
Under sharp crimson eyes he removed his top, leaning back in the chair. As long as his back wasn't seen it would be fine. The demon bounded out of his chair leaning closer, one finger brushing over his birthmark. "I see, this is real. Now do you want to tell me what you are? Or should I call the higher ups?" Damn it why was everything going wrong?
The raven sighed perching on the edge of the desk. "I'll tell you what I think. Both the seal and that mark confirm you are from the Orihara clan, you gave your name as Heiwajima which is an angel clan. Meaning that you are a child of both, in other words a hybrid of demon and angel. You Shizu-chan are a child that shouldn't exist."
With a growl Shizuo tried to leave knowing he had been caught out. He wasn't the smart one, there was no way he could come up with an excuse. Izaya looked smug licking his palm. "Are you going to deny it? I don't mind it. In fact I would be willing to hide the fact that I know what you are." Confused coffee eyes blinked.
"How do I know you aren't lying?" Something about the demon didn't feel right. The black thing swished again.
"You don't. Here, I'm returning your halo." Shizuo snatched the ring back slipping it on his finger. "I'm guessing you have never left heaven before and are now trapped. I can hide you here. The only thing is that you're a bit of a protozoan, you know nothing about the human realm. Normally I wouldn't pass you. But in this case, you'll be staying with me where I can teach you all you need to know."
The demon was right. He was stuck. "You won't t-"
"Tell anyone? I said I wouldn't. You wouldn't want your mother executed would you?" Shizuo let his head drop clenching his fist. All he done was cause trouble. His very existence was a crime. The mark ached, a warning telling him not to trust the demon, to get as far away as possible.
"Okay. Until I know everything, I'll stay with you."
The demon grinned, moving closer until they bumped noses. "What the hell?" The raven had already moved away.
"I was just saying hello. Hm, your nose is wet." Shizuo growled. So his nose was always cold, there wasn't anything wrong with it. "Now you'll need information for a start. Come here." More than slightly irritated he shoved his top back on and followed Izaya who was running his finger along the spines of books. His gaze fell to that damn swishing thing.
"Oi, what kind of demon are you?" Crimson eyes gleamed.
"Just like you angels, every demon clan has an ability or addition. My family have animal features according to their personalities. I doubt you know what a cat is. You really are a protozoan." Shizuo grit his teeth, he really couldn't get along with the demon.
"You'll need this one and this one. This one too." His arms were soon full of books and still the demon wasn't finished. "Where is it? Ah up there." The demon jumped landing on the second floor where there were more books. "Shizu-chan, fetch!" The book was thrown past him, jumping back he caught it in between his teeth having no hands free.
"Ahahaha, it really is you." Glaring at the raven, he let the book do dropping it on the pile. Izaya leaped from the bookcase, landing gracefully on his feet. "That's everything for now. That last one is important. It's all you need to know about dogs."
"What the fuck is a dog and why do I need to know about it?" The demon was already skipping from the room. "Shizu-chan, come on." Shaking his head and left with no other option, Shizuo followed after Izaya, who seemed really happy, as if he had gotten a present. "Oi! Wait up, I can't see anything holding these." Half of the books were taken from him, the two of them leaving the building side by side. "Oh! Shizu-chan, Welcome to Ikebukuro."