Mephisto gave out a tired huff as he threw himself into the giant, four poster bead in the center of his room. It had been a hard, trying, downright annoying week. It was a week before the school opened up again for classes, so Mephisto had been swamped in papers up to his curl as per usual. But later that evening when he finally got the chance to unwind and relax, an emergency call came in from the exorcists.

The territory war between two of the biggest goblin nests had finally come to a head, which in its self wasn't such a big deal. Small wars such like this happened annually (especially now right before matting season began). Such a small situation, turned into an all-out blood bath thanks to two especially dimwitted exorcists. Instead of confining the demons to the sewer system like the protocol dictates, they somehow managed to bring the battle to the surface. Immediately making the nearby orphanage the battle ground to thousands of heat crazy demons. Mephisto didn't often have to wield his physical strength, usually just the threat of using his power caused human, and demon alike to get whatever needed doing done. But there are some instanced (such as this one) when the only thing to do is meet brute force with brute force.

So Mephisto was forced to delay a much needed bubble bath, and slaughter millions of stupid, low level curs since the stupid humans couldn't handle the situation themselves. The problem wasn't in killing them, they were easy to kill. It just took forever to complete the task, since there were soooooooooo many of them. Not to mention his favorite jacket was soaked in blood, and now completely ruined.

He didn't get home until 6, with a meeting at 6:30 he wasn't able to get any sleep. The meeting itself had been a drag, the gym coaches were demanding once again that the old, unused dorms next to the gym be torn down and made into a new field. Dorms that were inhabited by stray demons, and used as a training field for newer exorcists. The only area they could get hands-on training without hiking out into the nearby forest for a day. Of course he couldn't explain this to these ignorant humans- as they weren't part of the order. He had simply denied the request, stating that the field they had now was good enough, and to suck up the walk to the field.

The rest of the day consisted of more tiring paperwork, with the Vatican breathing down his neck to get countless reports done on top of that. He had to stop time for an hour just to get it all done. All Mephisto wanted to do now was SLEEP. Thank the gods tomorrow was Saturday. He could sleep the entire weekend away, he was that tired.

But fate wouldn't have it that way, because just as Mephisto was starting to drift off into a much needed slumber, he was awoken by what only could be describes as a pull. Like his entire being was being affected by a whole new gravity pull. He shot strait up in his bed, immediately awake. It came again, something pulling on him. Telling him to go. Go there. Now. Mephisto shuddered as the feeling coursed through his veins. In all his years of life, he had never felt something like this feeling. It was something new, something unexpected, and something Mephisto didn't have the strength to resist at the moment. Which was why when the pull came again, Mephisto was seized by it and forced to teleport to whatever was calling to him.

The first thing Mephisto noticed what the cement floor, since he landed on it face first. With a groan he stood up, rubbing his nose. He had never liked teleporting, the landings were always hard and he had a pounding head ache after words. Mephisto looked up and found himself standing in a small brick room, which looked somewhat like an office. The only other people in the room were a teenager and an exorcist Mephisto vaguely recognized, doing a surprisingly good impression of a fish.

"This is a demon?" a teenager asked, turning to the exorcist "looks more like a drunk clown than anything else. Can I try again for something else? Those things that attacked yesterday looked more dangerous,"

Mephisto ignored the boy, and rounded to the exorcist beside him, "You, what is going on here?"

"S-sir Mephisto!?," the man said hoarsely, taking a step back and bowing, "We were testing for new recruits at this orphanage, and I was seeing if anyone had the potential to be a tamer, and well excuse me but I'm a little surprised, I didn't know high level demons such as you could be summoned without a ritual."

"Summoned?" Mephisto snapped, "Like a common demon you mean?" He glared down to the teenager, a short boy with messy blond hair and glasses. He didn't look like much, but this boy had summoned him? Was that even possible? Could a prince of Gehenna be summoned without a ritual? Technically it was- but that would mean this kid's and his souls were linked. Despite himself, Mephisto soon found himself bursting out into a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Mephisto stopped laughing and turned to face the, boy with dirty blond hair. The boy was holding a small slip of paper. As soon as Mephisto's eyes landed on the boy he felt the same tugging feeling he had felt before. He narrowed his eyes and walked up to the boy, towering over him easily.

"You? You are the one who summoned me?" Mephisto tilted his head, examining the face before him.

"Yeah, so what?" the boy actually had the balls to glare back at him. Interesting.

"Interesting, what's your name?"

"Fujimoto Shiro. Who the hell are you?" the kid said, crossing his arms

"I am Mephisto Pheles," Mephisto took a step back, and gave a deep bow, one arm out to the side the other across his waist before snapping strait back up, "Demon lord of time and space. Also Head of the Japanese Branch of the True Cross Knight Order, as well as the principle of True Cross Academy. In short I'm that man's boss' boss' boss." Mephisto hiked his thumb over his shoulder and pointed at the exorcist behind him.

"Sir Pheles is also the one who saved the school from the demons yesterday," the exorcist chimed in.

"Really, that was you?" the boy said, rubbing his chin, looking over Mephisto, "don't look like you can do shit."

"Looks can be deceiving." Mephisto said eerily, and let that sink into the boys mind. Clapping his hands "it was nice to meet you Fujimoto, but I must take my leave. I have lots of work that has to be done."

"Hold the phone for a second" Shiro said holding up the piece of paper in his hand, "you're my summon, you do what I say right? I still have some questions for you still."

"Shiro," Mephisto sighed dramatically, "In order for a summon to obey its master, the summoner has to be stronger than the summon in the first place." Mephisto said, and snatched the magic circle out of the boy's hand, holding it just above his reach. The kid glared at him angrily, "I'm frankly am only here because I was half asleep. You summoning me just some freak accident." I hope, Mephisto thought bitterly. He ripped the paper in half, and tossed the paper to the side, "but you still managed to summon me, so you do have the ability to become a tamer," Mephisto said encouragingly, "just try again tomorrow. Besides I'm way too busy to be a summon anyway. I won't be able to get away from my work often enough to actually help you on missions."

"Yes, if you managed to pull Mephisto out of bed, imagine what else you could summon?" The exorcist smiled, handing over several white strips of paper the Shiro, "now let's talk about moving you to the exorcist school. Good evening Sir Pheles"

"Farewell," Mephisto said before counting to three and disappearing. Well that was an interesting experience, he thought as he changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed,

_the next day_

The early noon sun filtered in though the shabby orphanages windows as Shiro sat, starring down one of the white slip of paper the exorcist had given him yesterday evening. It all seemed so surreal. First being caught up in the goblin's attack. Then being approached by the Exorcist about joining in to fight demons of all things. He sighed and looked out the window, watching the tiny little black coal tar float by his window. Well, it wasn't like he had anything to lose by becoming an exorcist. Already being a teenager in an orphanage, there was no chance he would get adopted. All he could hope for was the mediocre education given by the public high school, then being cast out onto the streets at the age of 18 to do as he please. The exorcist yesterday had said that if he was interested in seriously becoming an exorcist, he could be put in the cram school come high school.

Shiro sighed, and looked down at the intricate seal printed on the paper. He remembered the demon from yesterday, Mephisto, saying that he had great potential. He wanted to see if he could summon another demon- one that would be cooler. Maybe something akin to a dog, he wasn't allowed to have pets in the orphanage. Did it count when half the staff couldn't see it?

Well, it was worth a shot. He poked his finger with a pin, and smeared the blood on the seal, and started to concentrate. Just like last night, he could feel some sort of presence off in the distance, like a slight buzzing in the back of his skull. He metal braced himself, grabbed the presence and pulled with his mind. He kept pulling, until he felt something give.

Crack!

A huge grey cloud of smoke appeared, and with it the demon. Which immediately collapsed on top of Shiro "Gah!" Shiro flailed his arms, barley managing to push the heavy weight off of him, sending whatever he had summoned onto the floor beside his bed. He stared in shock, at the sleeping figure of Mephisto, now curled up on his floor, dead to the world.

Shiro froze, taking in the sight of the demon on the floor. The man was sprawled out on his back, arms thrown over his head, passed out. If it wasn't for the rise and fall of his chest, and a purple tail swishing back and forth on the ground, Shiro would have thought the demon dead.

"I summoned him again?!" Shiro grumbled angrily, "Man I wanted something cooler." Shiro sighed, "Well... better wake him up before someone comes in and sees him."

Shiro reached down and shook the older man's shoulder, "hey." when he got no reaction from the man, he tried again. "Oi, Mephisto. Mephisto? Mephisto! Wake up already!"

Mephisto only mumbled something, and rolled away from Shiro, curling up to use his arms as pillow. Shiro grumbled, annoying old demon. He crouched down beside the Man. Well what now? Obviously the supposed 'demon lord' hadn't lied about being exhausted if he was out like a log. Shiro snorted, some demon lord this man was. Dressed in pink pajamas. Seriously? Something moved, catching his attention. Shiro smirked.

He reached out and yanked the tail as hard as he could. Almost Immediately Shiro regretted his decision, as the Man beneath him jolted awake, grabbed Shiro, and pinned him to the floor. Shiro, suddenly aware of five very sharp claws digging into his shoulder, gulped when he met the literally glowing gaze of the demon now pinning him to the floor. The man's eyes were slits, like a snake, and the brightest yellow green he had ever seen. Almost neon.

"m-morning" Shiro managed to stutter out nervously, the man, no demon, definitely demon, above him blinked once, then several times in succession. Each time he blinked his eyes reverted back to being more human-like Shiro noted.

"You pulled my tail," Mephisto said, accusingly, after he seemed to come to reality.

"I couldn't get you up,"

"You PULLED my TAIL" Mephisto said hotly, squeezing Shiro's shoulder painfully, "Do you know how much that hurts?"

"Um... a lot? That was kind of the point," Shiro winced as the nails dug deeper into his shoulder, "Oi- let go." Shiro snapped.

Mephisto glared down at the boy, then released his shoulder, "I told you not to summon me again," he hissed taking his tail in his hands and rubbing if fondly. He snapped his fingers, and an ice pack appeared out of nowhere. He pressed it to the part of his tail Shiro had grabbed, wincing.

"You told me to try again tomorrow," Shiro said, sitting up, "Well it's tomorrow, you expect me to get it right the first time? Don't glare at me like that you shitty old demon."

I have every right to glare at you!" Mephisto said accusingly, "you not only summoned me again, but you pulled my tail!"

Shiro gritted his teeth in annoyance, fixing his glasses, "god you're like a child. Why did my summon have to be so fucking annoying?"

I am not a child," Mephisto glared, "I'm just cranky. And for good reason. This was probably the best night of sleep I've had in days and you had to go and wake me up! By pulling my tail no less!"

"Just drop the matter already"

"No, it hurt. And it still hurts"

"Why, won't it just regenerate after a while, or is that not one of your demon powers"

"No demon can regenerate their tail," Mephisto explained, rolling his eyes "it's one of our two week points, and our most sensitive organ. There are several major blood vessels that are located in the tail, if you cut off a demon's tail there is a very high percent chance of them dying of blood loss..."

"Whatever," Shiro muttered, getting up off the floor, "next time I'll pull on this then," he said, and tugged on the queer looking curl on the man's head. The demon knocked his hand away, glaring up at him.

"You pull either and I'll knock you through a wall," Mephisto threatened, "and this is the last time you're summoning me- you can bet on that."

"You wana bet that?" Shiro asked, holding up the paper teasingly, "The book I read this morning said it's impossible to resist a summon."

"For lower levels certainly. But I'm not some common filth-" Mephisto said proudly, "besides I have more important things to do than-"the demon tapered off, when he looked up at Shiro. He leaned back on his arms and looked up at Shiro as if he was examining the boy. The demon was actually looking at Shiro for the first time, and for some reason it made Shiro uncomfortable. Because he knew the demon was probably looking at his soul or something, and that was creepy as fuck.

"oi- don't space out on me old man," Shiro said, snapping his fingers.

Mephisto blinked, "Sorry, got distracted there for a second," The demon said, sitting forward again, crossing his legs, "what were you saying?"

"You were going on about yourself," Shiro frowned, "what was that look you gave me? Were you looking at my soul or something?"

"No- rather your future," the demon said awkwardly, "sometimes I just look at someone and it… hits me. Sorry it just threw me off guard for a second."

"Man you must be really tired," Shiro said, sitting down on the edge of his bed, then smiled, "you see anything interesting?"

Mephisto waved a hand, "I don't do fortunes."

"Hey, I'm the summoner here" Shiro smirked, waving the white piece of paper, "you do what I say- answer my question."

Mephisto glared up at him indignantly, then made a snatch for the white piece of paper. Shiro pulled it out of his reach, "Oi- don't you dare," Shiro said, before Mephisto could tackle him and wrestle the paper from him.

Mephisto stopped, one hand on the bed, and looked as if he was going to disobey and tackle him. But his entire body seemed to shake slightly, and he glared up at Shiro.

"Tell me what you saw," Shiro said, adjusting his glasses.

"che- you're an annoying little brat," Mephisto said, looking off to the side, "Fine. But if I tell you- you have to promise not to summon me again."

"No promises," Shiro said, sticking his tong out, "now tell me. All of it."

"Fine," the demon pouted, "you… have the potential to a good exorcist- one of the best… though I don't think a lot of people are going to be happy about it. It will be a hard life… but a good one." The demon seemed suck on something, and there was more he obviously was trying not to say, though he was compelled to do so. Finally the demon gave and spoke the last part really fast, with a blush on his cheeks, "andwehavethepottentialtobereallygoodfreinds"

Shiro laughed, throwing his head back, "Friends? Us?!"

"The future isn't solid," Mephisto snapped, his face a little red, "nothing about predictions can be true- or all of it can be true."

"Yeah I figured," Shiro said, chuckling lightly, looking down at the demon on the floor from his bed, "you know what though- I think we could be good friends."

"I'm a demon," Mephisto said, crossing his arms, "having a friend isn't in my nature."

"Yet you work for a group involved in exorcising demons," Shiro said, leaning down on the bed, his arms hanging off the side, "you're not under contract by them, I'm guessing. Which means you're here of your own volition."

"Because humans are so interesting," Mephisto said, smiling creepily, "It's so much more fun to watch from this side."

"Is it?" Shiro asked, doubtfully, "or did you just get sick of the other demons?" Mephisto's tail, which had been switching back and forth paused, the only physically reaction to tell that his words had hit some kind of mark. Shiro smiled, "Wo you're a demon that hates other demons; and I'm not particularly fond of humans myself. Yeah, I could see us being friends."

"You're way too astute for a human child," Mephisto said darkly, then smiled, looking off to the side, and Shiro frowned slightly at how tired the demon looked, "I guess I could try this 'friendship' you humans have. Though I'll warn you now that most of my human 'friends' are pawns."

"Well I'm not that good with people either," Shiro chuckled, "I usually just beat the shit out of them until I get what I want. I'm pretty sure we'll figure it out though." Shiro slid off the bed, and then tore the sheet of paper, making Mephisto blink up at him, "Alright then, I'll let you head out for today. You look beat." He picked up a pen off his floor and wrote the orphanage's number on the back of one of the slips, "Here, call me when you get a day off. I doubt we'll see much of each other until I get to high school next year, but I guess we could stay in contact."

The purple haired demon took the paper, looking not at the number but the ripped seal on the back, "you're not going to summon me again?"

"I could, but I don't want to pull you away from something important on accident," Shiro said.

"I wouldn't mind if you pulled me away from all that paper work," Mephisto grumbled, thinking of the stack probably waiting for him in his office on Monday. He slipped the piece of paper into his pocket, "Alright then, I should probably give you my number as well." He took the pen and other half of paper, writing the numbers on the paper, "call me if you ever need anything."

"Sure thing," Shiro said, taking the slip of paper, "you get off to bed- I've got chores to go do. Have a good day Mephisto."

Mephisto nodded, then teleported himself back to his room- right onto his giant pink bed. He collapsed back onto the comforter and sighed, looking up at the canopy. A friend huh? He smiled, remembering the glimpses he had caught briefly in his accidental glimpse into Shiro's future. How Shiro would become a light in his life, one that he was attracted to like a moth to flame. The fun they would have arguing with each other over little things- and the joy of fighting side by side. His smile faded when he came to the end though- how Shiro would go out in a bright blue flame. His time with Shiro would be fleeting- but would it be worth it? After Shiro left he would alone… and already Mephisto didn't like the idea of not seeing the blond boy again.

Mephisto rolled over onto his side, looking at the torn seal, more specifically the line of blood on the paper, "Has to ruin everything, doesn't he." Mephisto sighed, pulling his phone from his side table, he added the boy's number into the device, then continued to stare at the broken seal. He eventually drifted off, clutching the seal tightly as he dreamt of the future- and a friend that wasn't a pawn, but his queen.