They are plenty of things that I want to address before the chapter stars, nothing negative like last time. Thankfully, they stop argue on the comment section after the third chapter:

XXOblivionXX, I'm aware that the bosses and characters of Nocturne (and most of SMT games in general) are waaaaaaaaaaaaay more powerful that all of Persona characters. I buffed some things because it will make the story pretty boring if Naoki was one shooting everything on his path…that he can still do but I'm planning some things for the future.

And for the last guest. I'm sorry. I tried my best but my English grammar is atrocious, I need a beta tester but I can't get any. If anyone knows about a beta tester, please DM me.

Aigis will be introduce early into the story, well, you should guess by the pairings I choose. She will be the deuteragonist of this fic. The reason is because of her robotic nature: Androids are meant to mimic humans but they will never be humans. So I thought that she could have a great dynamic with Naoki because he stop being a human and now he is a demon.

Chapter 4: Demon negotiation

People always thinks that because of his attitude he was cold and calm but the truth is that most of the things that happen on his sorroundings were below him. All the shit he saw at the vortex world, make things like popularity, girls and job security being child problems to him. Having demons, angels, cultists and demon slayers going after your head and/or soul were more important that those things.

Altrough, some little things could get under his skin and one of those things was that fucking old man. Lucifer Morningstar. Satan himself or whatever you wish to call him, he was the king of hell. And a fucking pain on his ass.

Yes, he did bring him back to life but only for his entertainment. Then it develop into a plan to turn him into the demon of chaos and want him to lead his demon army on the war against God. While having unlimited power and resources sounds nice….at surface level, behind those sweet words was a live as an eternal slave of the fallen angel. Funny, he was all about freedom and choice but he orchestrated a plan to turn him into a perfect pawn. A little hypocrite if you ask him.

But when he returned the world back to its former glory, the old man (actually he was on his child form but those are semantics) congratulate him for doing it. He was pleased because he choose the same path as he did once. As a matter of fact, he remembered that Kagatsuchi said the same when he and the gang confront it. No one expected, that Lucifer will let him keep his demonic nature.

A curse disguised a blessing.

He died that day, turning into a demon was the only way to survive. He didn't have a choice in the matter. Lucifer decided for him. Twice.

Being a demon…it wasn't pleasant. Sure, it has a lot of benefits like super strength and being able to talk and read every human tongue. But all the downsides….were too much. Not being a human was more than just having power, he lost a lot of things like dreaming. Summer and winter do not affect him. The taste….he forgot how things taste.

The coffee and croissant that he ate today…taste like dirt. Everything taste like dirt. It was maddening, he could no longer enjoy a meal or eat in a ramen post.

All because of that old man.

And now, he put him back again to do his work. Sure, people will die if he didn't help but that didn't mean that he wanted to do it.

Wait.

When he defeated Kagatsuchi, the old man told him that his true adversary will appear one day. Doesn't mean that he already know all about the dark hour and death?

"Fucking old man."

"C'mon, you know you want it." He looked away and saw a group of guys harassing two girls. Naoki recognize her uniforms, they were from his school. One of those girls was the most stereotypic gal he ever seen. Tanned skin, dyed orange hair and a lot of makeup. A great contrast with the other girl, who looked pretty normal. In fact, she looked very nervous.

"N-Natsuki-chan, we should go home."

"Then go home. And I told you to not to come."

"Don't be so mean, Natsu-chan. We don't mind her, as a matter of fact, she very pretty."

Honestly, they were giving too much cringe. He wonder that they actually believe that their pickup lines actually work. Naoki didn't know what they deal was but he was really annoying and his temper was volatile.

"What you looking at?" One of them said…to him? Was that asshole talking to him? "Mind your own business, pal!"

He didn't said nothing, something that annoy the punk even more. As well as his group of friends. Teenagers are stupid, especially when they are in groups. Whenever you put a bunch of kids together, they lose their sense of self-awareness and tried to be as cool as they can.

Just look at the situation. They act though because they are four and he was alone. People around them didn't bother to act or pretend to ignore them. Japanese people are hypocrites and cowards.

"Natsu-chan, he has the same uniforms as yours. You know this bitch?"

"Just because we got to the same school doesn't mean that I know him."

"What a shame, if you were one of her friends we could have let this pass."

If he approach the Persona users, would they do the same? No, they weren't this stupid. They knew that the only chance to fight back was on the dark hour and he could attack if they want to do something.

"You're dumb or something?!" They grab him by the collar and pull him closer. The timid girl yelled at them but they ignore her. "Answer!"

*POW*

All the people present didn't understand what happen. It was something that they saw often. Punks trying to beat up a helpless random. Only the police officers were able to do something, so it was normal that someone get beaten and no one come to help them.

But the moment that school boy got grabbed by his collar, the one who tried to hurt him disappeared from everyone's view.

His friends and companions didn't couldn't talk. They stare at the empty space where their friend was standing not so long ago.

The first one who manage to get a grip of what was going on was the timid girl. Who notice that the boy's right fist had blood on it. Was he hurt? No. She remember that the boy wasn't bleeding when they approach him meaning that the blood wasn't his. Fuuka decided to take her eyes from him and look away.

Her eyes almost pop out when she saw that the boy who was bullying him was incrusted inside the wall of the park. His face….god, it was like he was hit by a hammer. But his wounds and the broken wall lost impact when she realized the distance between them and the wall.

Twenty meters.

To say that the tension was up was an understatement. They didn't say it but they were scare. Scared of what he could do if he decide to attack them.

Kirijo Mitsuru respected and admired her father. Their relationship was….peculiar. It wasn't horrible but not the best. Kirijo Takeharu was the head of the Kirijo group, he was as one would expect of someone of that position. People who didn't know him are scared of his cold stone face, and the eyepatch didn't help either. To be the head, one needed to be strong and ruthless.

So imagine her surprise when her father and his bodyguards decided to come to 'visit' the dorms.

"This can't be all you find."

"I'm sorry to tell you this but it is, sir. Even with all our resources, it was impossible to get any more information about Kashima-kun and his….condition."

"So the footage you show us is real…"

"We all saw it, father. What he is capable of…."

"And he can do this whenever he wants?"

"Yes."

Her father didn't say nothing, he remain silent. The fact that someone like him was out of words made her realize how horrible their situation was. For the last couple of hours, they were discussing about their next course. Nothing about Kashima's file was helpful, nothing relevant about his…powers.

"How does he behave in school?"

"Surprisingly well. The teachers told me that he answer all the questions perfectly and his behavior was non-violent. Although, he has only assisted the school for two days. The reports on his previous schools said that he get into fights every month. Some came to challenge him directly in his classroom."

"Those people who challenge him….why there's no data about them?"

"Besides some information from teachers and students, we couldn't find any information about those individuals. Although, there's a young man who currently appears to fight him. The only one who is being seeing with him multiple times."

The file show pictures of a young man wearing an old fashioned school uniform, one from the Meiji era. He even have a shako cap. But what stand out about this young man was that he was wearing a cloak and carrying a katana. Mitsuru stared at the photo and saw his face. He had strong features and a stone face, yet what call her attention the most were the two sharp sideburns that give him a ferocity look.

But for some reason, Takeba was blushing when she was looking at the picture.

"But I'm sorry to tell you that we didn't find any information about this young man. We're currently investigating his identity, he might be the only lead about Naoki-kun true background."

"What about these individuals? Nitta Isamu and Tachibana Chiaki?"

"They're both dead ends."

"How so?"

"Accordingly to his first year teachers, Nitta-kun and Tachibana-kun were the closest to him. As a matter of fact, Tachibana-kun was a childhood friend of his. But for some unknown reason, he cut ties completely with these two."

"By any chance, did this happen during-"

"April? Yes."

"Again with that month, what happen?"

"If we knew then we shouldn't be asking this questions, Sanada-kun."

"Anyways-"

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

All eyes turn to the door. Suddenly they felt a sense of dread on the back of their heads. They didn't say anything but the person behind the door came in without permission.

For no one surprise, it was no other than Kashida Naoki.

He didn't say nothing, he didn't greet them. He just walk towards them and sit before Mitsuru's father. The Kirijo patriarchy stare at the rude teen before his eye. "Kashida Naoki, I suppose."

"Yes. And who you might be?"

"Kirijo Takeharu. Head of the Kirijo group, founder of S.E.E.S and Mitsuru's father."

"A pleasure."

"What is that you want, boy?"

"I'm here to bargain."

"Excuse me?"

"Didn't you hear me? Then let me put it in other words: I'm here to negotiate, to make a deal, to establish a mutual agreement."

"Didn't you tell us that you didn't want to help us?"

"I don't but then I think that I could take advantage of this situation."

"You bastard!"

"Stand down, Sanada." Takeharu stopped the white haired boy from acting. "You want to negotiate, why we should do it?"

"I can kill shadows without even trying with only my bare hands. Besides, I don't need those Personas things to fight them and defeat them. If you play your cards well, you will have a trump card to reach your goals."

"….In a negotiation both parts must get benefits, otherwise is just extortion. If I decide to make a deal with you…I'll need to know some…important matters about you?"

"Like?"

"What are you?"

"….I can give you two types of answers: A very long and convoluted story that could take hours to tell and days to comprehend. Or summarize what I am into 3 words that everyone in here could understand."

"The latter."

"I'm a demon"

….

….

"What?"

"Technically speaking, I'm a demi-fiend. Absolutely not a human but I'm not a true demon."

"Hold on…b-by 'demon' you mean….like the ones that appear on hell?"

"Is there other type of demon, Takeba?"

"Kashida-kun….by any chance, did you turn into a demon during April of 2003?" Ikutsuki asked what everyone wanted to know. The self-proclaimed demon look at the glasses wearing adult.

"You really did your research, director."

"Wait! You're really a demon?!"

"Didn't you hear it the first time?"

"How? How did you become a demon?"

"A ate a bug."

"I don't like when people treat me like a fool, Kashida."

Before the elder Kirijo could finish his argument, Naoki put his hand inside his throat for the disgust of everyone. Slowly, he pull out an insect that looked like a centipede. "This is a magatama, the essence of a demon. With this thing, I become a demon." No one said anything. "And before you ask. No, it cannot be reproduce and put it inside a human will mean its death."

"Then how is that you are alive?"

"I will leave to your imagination. By the way, if I learn that any of you want to recreate a magatama or try to steal one from me, I will kill you with no hesitation." After his warning, he swallow the bug. "Now, can we negotiate?"

"Did you honestly believe that we'll just accept what you just say?"

"Is all I'm going to share with you. Deal with it."

"You are not very good at negotiating."

"I make wonders, old man. Now, let's put this shit at side and focus on what matters."

"….What you want?"

"I already told these people that I'm don't want cameras on my bedroom and that they don't cross me. But now that I have you here, there's two things that I need."

"Tell me."

"First, I want all of you to let me do my things. I don't want any of you breathing on my neck and tell me what to do. In other words, I want to finish this year without getting expelled."

"Noted. And the second?"

"During the course of the year, some….individuals will approach me and challenge to a fight. For your own sake, don't follow us. Trust me. If you do, I cannot guarantee your safety."

"Why?"

"Because we'll be go all out and you don't want to be close to us when we fight."

"Kashida…the ones who challenge you…they aren't humans, are they?"

"Almost all of them are not, of course they are some idiots that think that they are hot shit and try to fight me. Although, they are some humans that are able to keep up with me."

"What can you tell us about this young man?"

"Hoh, didn't expect him to get capture. Don't worry, he is human. And if you came to meet him, he won't do anything to you."

"Who is he?"

"Not a treat."

"…This is a negotiation, you ask for conditions. So it's fair that I ask the same."

"It is."

"The most important thing that I ask you is that you don't let any of the S.E.E.S. members die or get wounded. Their wellbeing is the most important matter whenever you are close to them."

"F-Father…"

"Seems fair. Don't worry, I won't let them die. What else?"

"When we hear about you, the meeting board plan what to do against you. You're an unknown factor and instead of answers you give me more questions and worries. So I will have….an insurance in case you don't fulfill your part."

"Which is?"

"We'll employ an Anti-shadow suppression weapon as a supervisor for your movements."

"I don't like to be watch, Kirijo."

"Let me summarize my thoughts into 4 words that everyone can understand: I don't trust you. You come here expecting us to accept everything you say and don't explain further what you told us. Forgive me if I don't trust you with the safety of my daughter and her classmates."

"….What is an Anti-shadow suppression weapon?"

"Allow me to explain it, Kashida-kun. Before implementing Persona user and their evokers, we created androids that could develop Personas so they could hunt down shadows."

"Wait, we have those things all the time?"

"Actually, we only have one. Almost all the anti-shadow units were disposed years ago. Only one remains."

"So you're gonna put a robot as my nanny?"

"Essentially, yes."

"….Alright. I accept, but I don't take responsibility of her actions."

"You don't have to. She will follow our orders and will not step out of the line. You have my word."

"I see…do you have something else to add?"

"A concern. You said that demons will appear to challenge you. Tell me, if there's a chance that they decided to harm any of us in order to get you?"

"Not at all. Their conflict is with me. If they kill me using that kind of stuff, no one will fear them. They don't want to kill me out of malice but as a measure of their strength. For demons, friendship, money, possession, are meaningless. If you are strong, then you able to do anything you want. So, don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to your precious daughter." Naoki extended his right arm to Takeharu. "Do we have a deal?"