My very first MephiShura fic! More friendship than romance, but I was inspired by Chapter 51 and needed to get this out.

Summary: Stuck in a hospital bed, Shura Kirigakure is visited by the last person she would expect.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ao No Exorcist or the characters, they belong to Kazue Katō.

She groaned and stretched in her bed as a light breeze came through the window, rolling onto her side with a discontent mutter when some sunlight flashed into her eyes, preventing her from returning to the blissful sleep she'd been in. Another groan escaped her lips as she pried her eyes open, blinking in confusion at the white walls and thin curtains fluttering in the breeze.

This was definitely not her room.

A sharp pain in her side brought her back to the present, with a quick look at her wrist and the IV needle taped to it, she realized that she was in the hospital. It was then she recalled talking to Mephisto as he rebuilt the barrier, her injuries affecting her as she lost her temper with him. He caught her just as she fell; his smug look had her growling with annoyance as he lectured her about going to the hospital.

Looks like he got his way in the end.

A light snickering behind her drew her attention, twisting her head around to see a white dog adorned with a pink and white bow tied around his neck. She scowled at the way he could still look so smug and amused in that form.

"I'm glad to see you awake," he began before a flurry of smoke revealed the demon in his human form, bowing to her at his waist before glancing up with that arrogant smirk on his face again. "My lady."

"Shove it, Mephisto," she croaked, glaring at him as she tried to sit herself up in the bed. She ignored how he was watching her closely until she was comfortably leaning back into her pillows, her side aching and breath heavy from the movement. "What's going on? Have you heard anything from those kids?"

"I told you to worry less about them, and more about yourself." He narrowed his eyes on her as he took a seat at her bedside. His hands folded together, his chin leaning on them as he once again donned a smirk. "Besides, you should trust them to take care of themselves a little more."

She huffed and turned away, grumbling under her breath about him being far too relaxed about the fact they were taking on Lucifer and the Illuminati alone. She glared out the window for a few minutes before she felt herself get too anxious about the Esquires off on such a dangerous mission by themselves, she couldn't feel as easy about it like Mephisto did. With a low growl, she grabbed the edge of her blankets and tossed them off, gritting her teeth as she moved to swing her legs over the side of the bed.

Her injured side was screaming at her, but she ignored it in favor of escaping the bed and the hospital.

Her bare feet barely had a chance to brush the cool floor before she found gloved hands pressing firmly against her shoulders, drawing her attention to Mephisto as he glowered at her.

"My lady, you are to remain here and recover until the doctor clears you for duty again."

"I'm fine," she hissed, swatting at his hands even though they didn't budge. "Let me up."

"Fine. Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." He let go of her to wave his hand in the air breezily, turning his back to her as if he was dismissing her entirely. She knew he wasn't, though, he was just waiting for her to fall again, to show she was weakened and prove him right. She growled again, she was that much more determined to show him she could still fight.

She managed to stand, her hand hovering over the nightstand next to her as she got her bearings. Once she felt confident, she removed her IVs and the sensors to the monitors, preparing to head toward the bathroom to clean up. She looked up to see Mephisto's head turned toward her, his eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat as he watched her stoically. He raised a brow in mild amusement when she huffed and took a step, wavering for only a second before she got her balance and let momentum carry her the few feet to the bathroom.

Once at the door, she turned to glare at Mephisto again, turning her nose up and slamming the door on him. She could hear his chuckling on the other side and was tempted to open the door again to throw something at him. She only refrained because there was nothing available, at least nothing as satisfying as a brick would be at the moment.

After taking a few minutes for herself in the bathroom, she finally came out to see Mephisto still standing there, leaning against the back of his chair with his legs crossed, his attention on a small coin he kept idly flipping between his fingers, even after his eyes landed on her filled with amusement. "Feeling better, Ms. Kirigakure?"

"I'm feeling fantastic, thank you for asking," she chirped with false cheer dripping from her voice. "What are you even doing here, Mephisto? I thought you were busy with the barriers?"

"I finished early this morning, everything is back as it should be," he explained. "After a quick nap, I thought I should pay you a visit to make sure you hadn't attempted to escape. Also, I thought it was customary to visit your colleagues while they were in the hospital?"

"Right, 'cause I'm sure you were so worried about me," she drawled out sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "And it's also customary to bring flowers when you visit, but I don't see any bouquets to wish me well. Not even a dandelion."

"Oh, my apologies," he smirked again, his hand rising in front of his face as he spoke, "Ein, Zwei, Drei."

Another flurry of spoke followed a snap of his fingers. When it cleared, Shura was staring wide eyed at the room now filled with all kinds of flowers. Lilies, carnations, daisies, and quite a few that she had no idea what they were or where they came from, littered every surface and even the floor. Her eyes narrowed on a vase of red roses set on the nightstand next to the bed, a much smaller vase with three dandelions sat beside it. Mephisto stood there chuckling the entire time.

"Is this more to my lady's liking?" He asked, standing straight to once again bow at the waist, this time removing his hat in an over the top gentlemanly manner.

"Tsh, show off," she muttered, moving toward the pile of her things in the corner. She had barely taken her second step before a sharp pain burst from her wound, her teeth gritting as a hand went to push into her side in a vain attempt to ease the pain. Her vision spun suddenly and she felt her legs giving out on her again. Letting out a low curse she prepared to hit the floor, but to her surprise she was once more caught.

She slowly opened her eyes to look up at Mephisto's frowning face as it hovered over her own, his green eyes narrowed and annoyed while they bored into hers. She ignored the fact he was close enough to let her feel his breath fan over her face, as well as the fact one of his arms was comfortably wrapped around her waist. The arm he had wrapped around her shoulders shifted, holding her steady as he silently maneuvered his other arm under her knees so he could pick her up and cradle her to his chest.

"I do believe you need to remain here as the doctor ordered, my lady. If you go after the Esquires now, you will only be a further liability in their mission." He glared at her when she growled in irritation at his lecture, not wanting to admit that he was right, not when she was so worried about those kids. "Please act your age and do what you're told."

Her arms crossed in a huff, she let him carry her back to her bed and lay her down gently. She turned her face away from him to look out the window as he pulled her blankets back up to her lap, tucking her in without a word.

"Now then, since my lady has resigned herself to remaining in the hospital like I suggested," he spoke boisterously as he stood straight again, a finger rising in the air triumphantly before he snapped his fingers again. A plastic bag appeared in his hand once the smoke cleared, drawing Shura's curiosity as she tried to spy the contents. "I have taken the liberty of procuring a few things to ease your boredom." Her eyes lit up at the first item he pulled from the bag and held out to her. "Your game console. A necessity, I know."

She immediately snatched the handheld console from his hands and flipped it on. Maybe a short respite at the hospital wouldn't be so bad; she could finally beat that last level that she had been working on for days.

"I saw you almost had that game beat, so I brought a few new games in case you finish that one," Mephisto continued, pulling out three more games and setting them on the table next to her. He smirked when she looked at him curiously, wondering if they were some of his own, or if he had actually gone to the effort of buying her new games. "You can keep those." That was the only answer she got, but she shrugged and accepted the rare gift as he moved to pull more things from the bag. "And, of course, the latest volumes of your favorite mangas."

"Oooo," she looked in awe, grabbing the shoujo mangas from him and skimming through them to see which titles he brought her. She froze on one she recognized, but she hadn't been reading before, it was on her list of titles to start, though. She flipped it over, seeing the slightly worn spine signaling it was used, and glanced up at him in question.

"That's from my collection. I thought you might enjoy it. I want it back when you're done, though. I have the entire series; if you like it, I'll consider letting you borrow it." He explained, his voice low as he frowned.

"What's the catch?" She asked skeptically, incredibly wary any time Mephisto did anything that even looked remotely selfless and considerate.

"No catch," he waved off, though his frown suddenly turned back into that arrogant, knowing smirk of his. "You would think that after working together as much as we have, getting as close as we have," his voice got lower, clearly hinting at one particular event that involved her sitting in his lap before threatening him with a kunai to his jugular, causing Shura to narrow her eyes at him as he went on, "that you wouldn't be so suspicious of me."

"You know that only makes me more suspicious since every time I even come close to figuring out even a fraction of what you must be thinking, you end up doing something that leaves me with twice as many questions as I had before. So spill, what's the catch with all the gifts and niceties?"

"Just as I said- no catch. Though, I do hope that I may gain your cooperation in the near future should I need it." He trailed off as he took his seat again, his smirking never fading as he moved to pull out a manga for himself to read.

She glared at him for a moment, then realized it was futile, this was Mephisto she was dealing with, after all, and shrugged before turning back to her game. "So you're buying my loyalty. Never knew you could take such desperately low measures. Sorry, as nice as all this is, my priority is Rin's safety and growth."

She didn't see him glance up at her, his cheek leaning against his fist, mischievous green eyes shadowed by his hat. His smirk spread a little wider as he chuckled and turned his eyes back down to the pages in front of him, a barely perceptible comment left for her to mull over later. "That's all I could ask for from you, my lady."

Silence descended, only the occasional sound effect from Shura's game or the turn of a page from Mephisto's manga to break the atmosphere.

Until Shura's patience snapped and she turned to holler at him.

"What the hell are you still doing here, anyway!?"

"Everyone thinks I'm busy at the moment, and this is the absolute last place in all of Assiah that anyone would look for me…" He trailed off in a bored tone, knowing she'd get the hint.

She finally gave into her urge to throw something at him as the next moment one of the mangas resting on her bed connected right between his eyes, sending him falling back in his chair with a startled cry.

"Get out already!"

Now I just need another chapter with more interaction between these two again and I'll be a happy shipper... and maybe try to write stuff for these two more regularly. Anyway, since this is my first attempt at MephiShura, reviews are definitely appreciated. XD