"Do you really think Father is proud of me?" Rin asked few minutes after returning to Assiah; he was sitting on his bed looking at Mephisto.
"You are annoying me with that question. How often do I have to tell you? I'm starting to think that you just want to hear it to satisfy your ego." The King of Time replied, walking towards the door.
"Wait! Where are you going?" The Prince sprung up from his bed.
"I have some paperwork to do." Mephisto answered, opening the door which led to his office.
"Sounds boring. Can I go out? I don't want to spend the rest of the day here." Rin had a confidant smile on his face.
Mephisto looked at him, not saying anything.
"What? Come on, I can take care of myself. I mean, I won't run around screaming 'Hey guys! I'm the son of Satan! Please come and try to kill me!'" Rin was relieved when Mephisto nodded in agreement.
"Fine. You will probably just run away again if I don't let you go."
"Awesome! See you later then!" The Prince quickly ran past him and making his escape out of Mephisto's confinement.
"Teenagers." Mephisto shook his head, sitting down at his desk and going over some of his paperwork.
"Where is the exit of this place?" Rin thought out loud, running through True Cross Academy.
He had never thought about how big the school building was. The only thing he knew was that the Academy wasn't as gigantic as Satan's Castle.
"Hey! Wait a second!" A voice behind him called.
Rin turned around, noticing a group of teenagers he had seen somewhere before.
"Are you talking to me?" The Prince tried to reassure himself.
"Rin-kun? Is that you?" A shy female voice asked, coming from behind the boys that stood in the front.
"Shiemi! Hey. It's been a while. Sorry for showing up so rarely. What are you doing here?" Rin smiled when he recognized the small blonde girl.
"You know this guy, Shiemi? He was a guest in Mr. Okumura's class." A boy with a blonde streak in his hair said, triggering Rin's memories. These were the exorcists in training Yukio was teaching.
"I help her in her garden sometimes. Are you friends?" Rin was curious. He had never had a real friend, only servants and brothers, that didn't really count.
"We're just in the same class." A purple haired girl with weirdly small eyebrows answered.
"I wondered the whole time why you were watching our lesson. It's a bit weird since we never had guests in class." The boy with the blonde streak, Rin remembered that his name was Ryuji, asked.
"I was just interested what they are teaching you. Mephisto is my br-" Rin quickly thought about it. He knew that they were aware of Mephisto being a demon but he wasn't sure if they knew that he was a Demon King. If they knew that Mephisto was a son of Satan they would find out that Rin was too.
"He's my guardian while I'm here." He explained to them, hoping that they would believe him.
"So you don't want to become an exorcist?" Ryuji asked.
"Hell no. I'm not suicidal!" Rin laughed shortly, imagining himself becoming an exorcist. The idea of the son of Satan, the heir to Gehenna's throne, the wielder of blue flames fighting demons was too ridiculous.
"I'm Rin by the way. You're Suguro, right?" The Prince smiled warmly.
"It's Bon. These are Shima, Konekomaru and Kamiki, and you already know Moriyama." Ryuji introduced himself and his classmates.
"I can introduce myself." Kamiki snarled, walking past Rin and leaving them alone.
"Ignore her. She's always like that." Shima said apologizing.
"We were just heading out to eat something together because we just passed our exwire exams. Want to join us?" The pink haired boy invited Rin.
"Only if you have time of course. We don't want to force you to spend time with us." Shiemi blushed slightly in embarrassment.
"No, I would really like to come with you if you don't mind. I can't stand spending the whole day alone or with Mephisto." Rin accepted the offer.
"Okay. Who wants pizza?" Shima asked the group.
A little later, they all sat in a small Italian restaurant.
"You're not going to school at True Cross Academy, right?" Ryuji asked Rin. All of the exwires clearly wanted to get to know the Prince.
"No, Mephisto is teaching me everything I need to know." Rin answered, enjoying the company of his peers.
"Isn't it a bit scary to live with Sir Pheles? He seems to be an odd man and it's not a secret that he is a demon." Konekomaru whispered the last part as if he had said something forbidden.
"What is it with everyone and this weird fear of demons?" Rin decided to finally ask the question that had interested him since he came to Assiah the first time.
"You find it weird that humans fear those monsters? You clearly don't know what you're talking about. You probably didn't even receive a mashou or you would think different about it." The question seemed to anger Ryuji.
"Calm down, Bon. He probably didn't mean it like that." Konekomaru laid his hand on Bon's shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know that it's such a delicate subject." Rin apologized, recognizing that he shouldn't mention demons again if he wanted to make friends.
An awkward silence emerged. After a few minutes, Shima broke the quiet.
"How do you know Moriyama?" The pink haired boy asked.
"Oh, I help her out in her garden. It's nothing special." Rin answered, smiling at Shiemi.
"You've done more than that. Rin helped me when I was possessed by a demon." The blonde insisted, blushing when he smiled at her.
"No way. Really? You fought off a demon by yourself even though you're not an exorcist?" Konekomaru was amazed, imagining a heroic fight against a monster.
"It's really not that big of a deal. It was just a Dekalp. And I didn't really fight against it. I- I don't want to talk about it." The Prince mumbled, looking at his hands and hoping that the others wouldn't notice his shame. How could they be so amazed, thinking he fought and killed a demon? Rin still felt horrible about it.
"A Dekalp, huh? You do seem to know a lot about demons, but you said that you aren't an exorcist." Ryuji seemed to be very suspicious of Rin.
"Mephisto is my guardian and an exorcist. He talks a lot about demons and his job. That's why I know one or two things." The Prince felt bad about lying to the people he wanted to befriend but he had no choice.
"That really makes sense, Bon. It's pretty rude to interrogate him like that. We've just met him." Shima intervened, trying to calm his best friend down.
Ryuji just scowled at the pink haired monk and stopped questioning Rin.
"You seem to be very close friends." The Prince stated, hiding his jealousy. He never had a true friend, just servants.
"We grew up together." Konekomaru quickly explained, making some space for a waiter to put down their pizza.
"That's amazing. So you're like brothers? I wished my brothers would be closer to my age." Rin said, looking a bit sceptical at the pizza. Cautiously, he took a slice and tasted it.
"You have siblings? You've never told me about that." Shiemi asked, wanting to get to know him a little better. Of course, they talked when Rin helped her in her garden, but he usually avoided talking about his family.
"Oh, umm, yeah. I've got a few brothers. I didn't think it would be interesting." The Prince smiled apologizing.
"Wow, that answer is more than vague." Bon commented.
Slowly, Rin became annoyed by the former monk's attitude towards him.
"What is your problem? Since I've met you you're acting like a total dick." Rin really had to focus to keep himself from growling at the pompous prick.
"I just don't think that Honorary Knight Sir Mephisto Pheles has just some guy who is not even an exorcist as a ward. You've got to be hiding something. I mean, come on guys, you don't think that he is so kind hearted that he voluntarily takes care of anyone, do you?" Ryuji stood up, scowling at the Demon Prince.
The exwires were staring at Rin, waiting for a response.
"He kind of has a point." Konekomaru said slowly.
At this moment, it was really hard for Rin to control his temper. But when he opened his mouth to say something he was interrupted.
"Why are you all so mean? Rin did nothing wrong!" Shiemi suddenly cried, shocking the exwires and the Demon Prince. They had never seen Shiemi, who was usually so quiet and timid, raise her voice like that.
Rin was so baffled that he completely forgot about his anger towards Ryuji.
"But Moriyama, aren't you at least a bit curious about him?" Shima asked, still being a bit shocked by her outburst.
"Of course I am, but I don't want to corner him like that. He is going to tell me about him when he wants to. And if he doesn't want to that's fine with me. We're friends after all." Shiemi defended the demon.
"Friends?" Rin quietly thought out loud. Were they really friends? Her words touched Rin who wouldn't have thought that Shiemi thought of him like that. All he knew at this moment was that he was really happy.
Shiemi let out a little yelp when Rin suddenly hugged her.
"Rin? What are you doing?" She asked silently.
"I just want to say thank you." He muttered with a smile on his face before letting her go.
"I guess, I should go now. I don't want to raise the tension any more." Rin glanced at the other exwires, "Bye!"
After he was gone, Shima looked at Shiemi, "But you have to admit that he is a bit weird."
"Hey Mephisto! I'm back!" Rin just entered his older brother's office without hesitation and without knocking.
"You certainly are in a good mood. But could you please knock at least next time." Mephisto kneaded his temples as he looked up from his paperwork.
"Looks like you aren't. Come on, stop complaining. You didn't have to become the headmaster of a school." The Prince smiled.
"Just go to your room before I hurt you." The King of Time couldn't use an annoying teenager disturbing his work. He really hated paperwork.
"Alright, alright." Rin went to his room in the back of Mephisto's office.
"And please change clothes. We're getting a visitor later." Mephisto turned his chair to face his younger brother.
"Why can't I stay like that? I like these clothes. And who's visiting?" Rin asked before entering his room.
"Of course you like these clothes but they are so unfabulous. And you will see soon enough who's coming." The King of Time made a small wave with his hand and Rin was pushed into his room, landing hard on the floor.
"Unfabulous? Weirdo." Rin mumbled, laying down on his bed and thinking about his first real friend.
Two hours later, Mephisto also came to Rin's room.
"So you haven't changed. I should have known. Well, just come out, he should be here soon." He sighed.
"You still didn't tell me who's visiting. Is i-" Rin stopped when he picked up a familiar scent of a person right in front of Mephisto's office door, "Yukio! Why didn't you tell me that he was coming?"
Rin rushed out of his room, opening the office door. His smile faded when he noticed the small difference between Yukio's and the man's scent who stood in front of him. He stumbled back, bumping into Mephisto who just shoved him aside.
"Father Fujimoto, great you could make it." The King of Time greeted his guest.
"So he really is here." Fujimoto snarled, entering Mephisto's office.
His presence sent Rin a chill down his spine. He knew that Paladin was the highest rank an exorcist could reach and the priest was most likely not on good terms with the Demon Prince after he stole Kurikara and nearly burned down his monastery.
"Yes, he is. Don't be rude, Rin. Greet our guest. You've really been forgetting your manners since you came here." Mephisto grinned, patting on the teenager's back.
"Why is he here?" The Prince's voice was shaking.
The Paladin burst out in laughter.
"The boy has good instincts. He would be stupid if he wasn't afraid." He laughed, making Rin even more uncomfortable.
"But you didn't come here to kill my sweet little brother, did you?" Mephisto asked calmly.
"I could change my mind about killing him when he apologizes for burning down the monastery and killing some good men. It would prove that there is at least some humanity left inside of him and I can't kill a human who regrets what he has done." Shiro crossed his arms, looking at Rin and expecting an apology.
"But it was an acci- Ow!" Rin started but was whacked by Mephisto at the back of his head.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I didn't have control over my flames." The Prince looked at the ground. It was the first time he really questioned what he had one the night he stole Kurikara.
"Fair enough." Fujimoto accepted the apology.
"So, you told Yukio that you could convince Satan not to conquer Assiah. Is that true?" The Paladin asked.
His question was answered by Mephisto who chuckled, knowing that nobody could convince Satan to do anything.
"So I guess that was a lie." Shiro concluded, waiting for Rin to say something.
"It wasn't a lie. I would ask Father, but it's not really a good time. He wouldn't listen to me if I asked him now." He defended himself. Satan wouldn't even really look at him when he saw him last time. Mephisto claimed that Satan was proud of him and just didn't say anything, but he would probably first have to become a King himself before he could ask his father for something big.
"And when would be a good time?" Shiro asked, not believing that Rin could do anything to save Assiah.
"I don't know." The Prince admitted.
"Well, at the latest it would be when my sweet brother claims Gehenna's throne and takes his place. Let's just hope our father won't attack Assiah for at least a millennium." Mephisto explained optimistically.
"Great. So we have to find another way after all." The Paladin sighed, "Okay, I just have to make sure that you're not a threat, so I don't have to report you to the Vatican. The moment you attack someone or reveal your flames, I will tell the other exorcists about you. Do you understand?"
The Prince quickly nodded, still having a lot of respect for the man.
"Okay, don't do anything stupid. I have to go to the service now." The Paladin left the two demons alone.
"It wasn't that bad. I really thought he would attack you. I guess you were lucky." Mephisto stated after the priest left.
"You mean you invited him, expecting he would try to kill me? What is wrong with you?"
Hey guys,
Again, I want to thank you for all your reviews, favorites, follows etc.
It's so amazing that so many people are liking my story and it's just a great feeling to entertain you with new chapters.
I really couldn't do this without my beta reader TheBeautyInTheDarkness. It would be great if you would check out her story as well.
So yeah, that's the new chapter. Hope you like it. And get ready for one or two "new" characters in the next chapters.