Summary: After the fight with Satan, Furuichi hoped that his life would finally go back to normal. Or at least, as normal as it could get. When Oga was called to help out with a strange situation in Makai, Furuichi thought that whatever was happening there had nothing to do with him. But then a strange demon started following him around and suddenly, he found himself right in the middle of it.

Don't Make a Deal with the Devil
Chapter 1: Awakening

Clutching his bag tightly to his chest, Furuichi carefully rounded the corner towards his house, praying that no one else would challenge him to become Ishiyama's leader.

Offering a, "Damn you, Oga!" to the skies, Furuichi stealthily tried to get safely back home.

A few days after the fight with Satan, Hecadoth had come to Furuichi and told him to try and hold back on using the tissues for a while. Furuichi had been planning on throwing the tissues away in the first place, so he'd easily agreed. When he asked if there was something else they needed to worry about, Hecadoth shook his head and informed him that it was serious, but more of a nuisance. Apparently, there was a sudden increase in demonic energy and it was causing wild beasts to go berserk; lesser demons were also being driven to insanity, unable to handle the increase in power. It was nothing the other lesser divisions couldn't handle, but due to the immense number of cases, the 34th had to be called out and so would currently be unable to help Furuichi if he called them.

Again, having no plans of ever calling any demons for help in the near future, Furuichi easily agreed, even heaved a huge sigh of relief at that.

And then Oga was called to help out. Apparently, there were more and more cases of demons going insane, more and more beasts that needed to be taken care of, and they needed more manpower to keep the situation under control. Furuichi had no idea what Oga could do to help, as all the oaf could do was fight aggressively, but then again, this was the demon world they were talking about, maybe they killed the berserkers even if they hadn't exactly done anything wrong?

Furuichi shuddered at that. To be killed for something that wasn't even their fault... But! He wasn't going to think about that. Nope! Not him! He was content in the human world. Sure there was a different insanity going on here, with terrorism and bombings and shootings, but better the devil you know, right?

And so it was because of that that he was in this situation.

He was almost tempted to learn how to fight because of those delinquents, but the thought of hurting someone else...

"Well, well, well! Look who I found!"

Furuichi groaned. Was spending a day without getting beaten up too much to ask?!

Mephisto yawned as he walked around, lazily observing humanity's progress during the time he was asleep.

If he counted it right, then it would have been at least a few hundred years since then. He was so bored at the time that he made a deal with a human. When the human was redeemed by God, Mephisto got so bored again that he went to sleep. Slept for as long and hard as he could. Nothing was worse than being bored. It was definitely worse than being tortured. It definitely felt like death.

Stifling another yawn, Mephisto wondered why he was woken up. Before his plans of eternal sleep, there were many who came to him, offering deal after deal after deal. Most wanted his power- power which was said to be on par with Ajuka Beelzebub III himself who, if the guy hadn't lost interest yet, should still be the current Maou in Makai. But none of the deals they presented were of interest to him. Even humans had come to him during that time but all that shit with selling their soul was so yesterday. He'd already done that with Faust, and look how that ended.

And yet, no one was there at his resting place. So, why was he awake? He was so frustrated at being woken up that he accidentally let loose a wave or two of demonic energy.

So, so boring! Why was everything so boring? Whoever woke him better pay for this.

Suddenly tired, he collapsed on a bench in some park, startling some mothers walking with their kids. He noticed them staring at him, noticed the blushes and whispers and the immediate attraction, but none of that mattered to him anymore. There was a time when he would have tempted them away from their husbands, these weak-willed humans and their attraction to flesh, but the chaos it eventually came to brought no pleasure to him now.

Just as he was thinking of falling asleep on the bench, a sharp gasp caught his attention. Opening his eyes, he saw the mothers walk quickly away, whispering words of contempt among themselves. Looking over at the direction of their ire, he saw a group of teens, noisily gathered around one boy, shoving him back and forth without care and with much malice.

And humans called his kind devils. What was this world turning into?

"Hey, hey Furuchin, not so tough without Oga around, huh?"

"Actually, even with Oga around I have never been tou-oof! How dare you! That hurt!"

That comment caused the other boys to laugh at 'Furuchin' (naked dick, really? how unoriginal can they get?). The boy laughed right along with them, causing one of the troublemakers to punch the boy again. This time, the boy doubled over in pain.

Pressing down on the boy with his foot, another one of the delinquents sneered, "Of course it'll hurt, mobichi! Or rather, shouldn't you be used to this by now? You are Oga's bitch, right? He surely hits much harder than us, right? Right?"

Grinding his foot against the boy's head with every question, with the other boys getting more and more violent too, Mephisto was sure the boy would give up on the attitude. Except the boy suddenly stood up, pushing the delinquent off balance and knocking him to the floor.

Pointing an accusing finger at him, the boy said, "Hey you! I don't know what kind of rumors you've heard but I'm no one's bitch! And Oga, despite his violence, would never knowingly hurt a friend! He's more than what you could ever hope to be so stop dreaming of becoming Ishiyama's leader! He'll be back before you kno-oof! Hey! Cut it out!"

Getting bored again, Mephisto walked off but not before his and the boy's eyes met. He was surprised when he saw no desperation in the boy's eyes, just grim determination. Despite an adult being there, and despite how weak he was, that boy didn't call for help.

Before he could think more of it though, the boy huffed a laugh, apparently having done something to distract the delinquents, before giving them a cocky salute and running off.

Mephisto found himself chuckling before catching himself in the act. Huh. Well, he was loathed to admit it, but that was somewhat interesting.

Catching his breath in an alley somewhere hopefully far away from those fools, Furuichi collapsed against the wall and hoped they wouldn't find him.

Honestly, Oga only gave him problems.

"This is all your fault, you dumb ape! I'm barely hanging on here! Look after Ishiyama for me, my ass! You should've told that to Toujou-san, for fuck's sake! Or any of the senpais for that matter!" raising an angry fist at the sky, then thinking better of it because Oga was definitely not in that direction, he directed his fist towards the ground, Furuichi angrily muttered, "You dumb shit fuck ape! I'm not buying croquettes for you when you come back! For one whole week!"

Wondering why this was his life, Furuichi slumped further against the wall, thankful that at least he was mostly still presentable. At least Honoka won't give him the evil eye when he gets back.

Seriously, does no one care for him anymore? Was he doomed to live the life of a mob character forever? Inconsequential, constantly getting the short end of the stick? Or even a stick at all? What's with these sad metaphors anyway?!

Thinking of croquettes though... Gingerly standing up, because damn those punches still hurt no matter how many times he's been hit, he used the wall to support himself. Smiling at his success, he brushed any dirt he could from his uniform, checked if he was bleeding somewhere because that would seriously be bad (not because Lamia wasn't here, but because he did not want Lamia to be here!) before making his way towards their favorite shop.

All thoughts of the fight now gone from his mind, Furuichi was counting his money when he heard the voice of the shop owner yelling angrily at someone. Wondering why the owner was so far away from the store, he wandered over and found the man gripping the arm of some weirdly dressed guy.

A leather jacket over a black shirt, skin tight jeans and boots, this guy could've been an extra on a biker movie or something. Not that he had the body size for it though, or the hair. He had no beard, too! And he was too pretty-faced to be anything but the lead in some romcom or one of those operas!

Besides that, this was the same guy in the park a while ago! The one who sat by and did nothing when he was getting his ass kicked.

Instantly hating the guy on principle, Furuichi seethed as he moved aside, preferring to stay away from this situation.

"But it was all right there outside the store! Displayed for all to see! I thought it was free! I really thought it was free!"

"Free?! After all the love and dedication I put into making those, FREE?! Boy, in what age did you come from? Nothing is for free anymore!"

"Well, that's seriously sad. I've been away for a long, long time you see, so I didn't know. Is an apology not enough anymore?"

Furuichi narrowed his eyes at the guy as he walked past, because even his voice sounded cool even though he was practically begging Old Man Croquette to let him off.

"Of course not!" Old Man Croquette screeched, "Pay for this right now!"

"But I told you, I don't have any money. All I can offer is my body."

Furuichi's eyes bulged at that. Did he seriously hear that?!

"Will a finger suffice? Or a whole hand? I don't know how important this fried thing is, but I'm sure my hand is worth it, yes?"

Having heard enough, Furuichi siddled up towards the two and, before Old Man Croquette could hyperventilate from high blood pressure, Furuichi took the man's free hand and handed him the money. Not entirely knowing what to say, he went with the first thing that came to mind and said, "Hai, hai, nii-san, that's enough! Seriously, you just got back here from... Macau and you're already causing trouble! Oji-san, I'm really sorry about this!"

Old Man Croquette, who Oga had unknowingly helped quite a few times by chasing off other delinquents, looked at him questioningly for a while before remembering who he was. Honestly, was he no one without Oga?!

"Ah, Furuchin, was it?"

Annoyed, Furuichi almost yelled but held back, "It's Furuichi, oji-san. That's just a stupid nickname from Oga."

"Right, right. Oga Tatsumi. He's a violent type but he's a good boy, that one. You say this is a friend of yours?"

Glancing quickly at the other guy, and shaking his head at him before the guy could say something, Furuichi answered, "No, no, no! He's a friend of Oga's from... Macau. Oga asked me to look after him while he was gone and well... I'm really sorry, oji-san. He isn't used to Japanese culture yet."

"Hmph, well, see to it that you take better care of Oga's friend," letting the guy's hand go, Old Man Croquette finally turned away, but not before giving Furuichi a disapproving glare.

Utterly defeated, Furuichi smiled strainedly back, then bowed slightly in thanks. He sighed tiredly, releasing any negative thoughts, before turning to Leather Jacket-san.

Leather Jacket-san, who was looking at him much too intensely than what's normal.

"Errr," Furuichi started. Then he cleared his throat, gathered back his courage and said, "Look here, idiot Leather Jacket-san!" Furuchi never had any problems insulting complete strangers; it was rude, but he never did it on those who didn't deserve it! "You better behave after this! Seriously, stealing in broad daylight! And here!" he said, pushing the rest of his allowance for the day to the other guy, "If you don't have money, this should be enough to get you home."

Walking away, Furuichi turned back one more time and said, "No more stealing, you hear me! And go back home!"

Completely drained, Furuichi didn't notice the guy follow him, his thoughts already focused on his unfinished JUMP manga at home.

Deciding to follow the boy purely on impulse, Mephisto was following behind for a while now, but the boy hadn't noticed his presence even once. Sighing in boredom, Mephisto gathered demonic energy towards him and teleported himself a few streets down. It was a complete waste of energy, but who was watching? Snickering to himself in anticipation, he waited for the boy to pass through.

He waited. And he waited. Before he realized it was taking way too long.

Glancing at the corner, he was surprised when his eyes met the boy's quickly widening ones, caught in the act of sneaking away from him. The boy ran around a corner some few streets down, before he was out of Mephisto's sight.

Huffing out an amused laugh, Mephisto gathered more demonic energy, used it to sense the boy's presence, then teleported himself ahead of the boy. With a raised brow he sensed that the boy quickly changed direction, as if knowing exactly where he was.

Getting more and more curious, Mephisto kept on moving, not really caring where he landed so long as it was near the boy. He laughed as the boy got more and more agitated, the expression on his face way too amusing to ignore. Finally the boy snapped as he yelled, "Cut it out already! What the hell do you want from me?!"

Appearing behind a pole near the boy, the boy jumped in surprise, his whole body tense and ready for a fight. Or rather, flight, as evidenced by the situation at the park a while ago. O great maou in hell, had it been just a while ago? Time had never passed so quickly for him for centuries now.

Warily looking at him, the boy stuttered, "O-oi, a-a-are you one of those de-demons affected by the minus wave- ah, shit, wrong story. I mean, by the increase in demonic energy lately? You're going insane from it, right? Actually, how would you know if you were insane? And actually, why the hell am asking you! God, this sucks! Why do you guys keep bothering me!"

"'You guys'?" Mephisto asked, curious, "You mean you've met others like me? Do you know what I am?"

The boy flinched at his apparent blunder, before he pursed his lips, tensed up even more as his eyes kept roaming around, probably trying to find a way to escape.

Not willing to let go of his new toy just yet, Mephisto tried to look as unassuming as possible as he reassured the boy, "Hey, for your information, I am definitely not insane. At least, the last time I checked, which was a couple of hundred years ago, so who knows? Standards keep on changing anyway. And would you stop looking as if I'm about to kill you? Because I'm not, okay? I just wanted to ask stuff, that's all!"

Having been awake for a few weeks now, Mephisto had learned all the new words and nuances of humanity's language. He was so thankful humans have left all the 'de gozarus' behind!

The boy stared at him for a while more, then he sighed, resigned, probably assuming that it didn't matter if he said no. Mephisto grinned in approval, because the boy was completely right.

"F-fine," he said, trying to sound confident but failing spectacularly, "But only if I get to ask questions in return!"

Eyes lighting up in amusement, Mephisto easily agreed, "Then let's make a deal! One answer for one question. Then I'll star-,"

"Hold up! Wait wait wait wait! I'm not agreeing to something so vague like that! The answer needs to be satisfying enough. And no 'yes' or 'no' answers! I want details, details! And just three questions each, then we'll decide if we want to ask more. You can't force me if I don't want to continue either! Or manipulate me to agree with you! I still have school tomorrow, I need to sleep!"

Chuckling once again in amusement, seriously this boy was hilarious, and clever to boot!, Mephisto nodded, "Okay, okay, I can agree to that. You really have met my kind before, haven't you?"

"Yes, I have; multiple times. Met so many I at least know what you're capable of," smirking at Mephisto, the boy declared, "That was your first question! My turn!"

Laughing out loud, who ever heard of a human getting an upper hand over the devil?!- well except that stupid Faust anyway, before he reached out, grabbed the boy's collar and whisked them off to a more comfortable place.

Dumping the boy unceremoniously, watching with a sheepish smile as the boy heaved from the sudden transfer (he'd honestly forgotten how fragile humans were!), Mephisto patted the boy's back comfortingly as he said, "Okay, okay, it'll pass. Go on and ask your question once you're settled."

Truly, he should be a saint for his patience!

Panting from the effort and the nausea, the boy's eyes bulged when he realized where they were.

"Holy shit! Are we in-," catching himself, the boy clamed his mouth shut so fast he must have nearly bit his tongue off. Unable to stop himself from teasing the boy, Mephistoh hedged, "Are we in...?"

Space. Mephisto had taken them to outer space. It was quiet there, peaceful. And Earth was as beatiful as ever.

"S-shut up! I wasn't done! There wasn't even a question mark there yet!"

"Sure, sure, so? Your question?"

Except the boy wasn't paying attention to him anymore. His eyes were riveted to the scenery in front of him, marveling at beauty of space and of the Earth he was living in.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Earth? Makes you wonder why humans deserve to live in a place like this, if you only destroy every single thing in your sight. I, for one, would be sad to see this go."

The boy looked at him then, and for that moment, Mephisto knew the boy had realized he was no ordinary demon. Looking at him with the same intensity he had when he fought against those boys in the park, the boy asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Mephisto," he happily answered, "One of the great demon lords in Hell."