Chapter 6- World's Greatest Dad

A/N: Ello, everyone! Sorry for the delay in updates, I'm drowning in oneshots (someone help, lol). I also want to thank cherryblossoms86 for all the (needed) help; I truly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. So, without further ado, here's chapter 6 of Promise!

The silver-haired teacher walked into the break room, hand curled around his favorite book. Sitting in one of the plastic chairs he pulled out his lunch (courtesy Akane and Kagari), pausing to read the pink sticky-note. He smiled at the childish scrawl; it was something about having a good day and not eating anyone (which, due to his short temper, was an actual concern). If he was alone he would have laughed at the last line:

"Oh, and Uncle Makishima, could we please read Shakespeare in class? I'm sure everyone would understand it, eventually! Although, Shuu-kun still has problems with it…

Love,

Akane (she drew a little kitten next to her name)"

A man's voice broke his train of thought as an elderly teacher plopped down beside him.

"Makishima-kun, are you excited for Parents' Day?"

"…I have heard nothing of it until now."

The other man chuckled, adjusting his tie. "That's not surprising. You never talk with any of the other teachers in your department. Some are beginning to think you're a hermit! Anyway, Parents' Day is a day where parents are allowed on campus for a field day. There will be a series of contests and a single winner will be picked."

"That sounds interesting…" The demon smirked, throwing away the remnants of his lunch. Grabbing his book and sticking the note inside, he gave a curt goodbye to the science teacher, shoes clacking against the tiled floor.

"Eh, a contest?"

The brunette nodded happily, clambering into his lap. She pulled on his horns as per usual, giggling as he groaned, not even trying to swat her hands away.

"Yep! It's Parents' Day tomorrow! Since you and Uncle Makishima take care of me you guys can participate!"

"I don't know…"

"Please, Shuu-kun! Uncle Makishima already said he'd participate!"

The two demons stood at the white line, a smirk plastered on both of their faces.

"Don't hurt yourself, Kagari-kun. It would be a shame if something bad happened during the race—"

"Shut it, Makishima! You're just worried you'll lose!"

An intercom broke the two's bickering, calling for all participants to go to the starting line. A group of over forty parents stood near the line as the gunshot went off. The demons quickly made up the front of the pack, glaring at each other. Their horns began to grow, nails turning to talons as they ran with supernatural speed. People in the bleachers watched awkwardly as the pair became a blur, literally running laps around everyone else. The orange blur paused when he realized that a certain brunette child was nowhere to be seen.

Kagari pulled the other demon to a stop, head-butting him roughly.

"W-what the—"

"Not now, Makishima. Where's Akane-chan?"

He frowned, crossing his arms. "On the first lap I noticed her sitting in the bleachers. I never saw her leave, though."

The orange-haired demon face palmed, sighing heavily. Dragging the other demon, he walked off the track, forfeiting the race.

"Hey, kid, where are you?"

"Akane-chan, are you around?"

The demons paced the exterior of the academy, searching for the little girl.

"This feels oddly familiar…"

"Just shut up, Makishima! This is what, the fifth time we've lost her? I'm surprised we haven't been arrested yet."

They continued their search, passing the large fountain in the courtyard at least thirty times. Stopping near the border of the academy, the pair paused to catch their breath under an oak tree.

"This is ridiculous; she's just seven years old. How far could she have gone?"

"Wait, I do remember something, Kagari!" He exclaimed, running towards the forest.

"What?" The orange-haired youth questioned, following the other demon.

"She said something about talking to Ginoza Nobuchika. Odds are, due to his home life, he'd want to be as far away from the festivities as possible!"

"Ginoza-kun, are you sure we're allowed out here? I remember principal Kasei saying that the woods were off limits and I'm sure Shuu-kun and Uncle Makishima are looking for me by now…"

"I just wanted to get away from everyone. You didn't have to follow me here, you know."

"But, we're friends and I don't want to leave you alone!"

The boy stopped abruptly, turning around to face the girl.

"Friends? You punched me in the face!"

"I was protecting Yuki-chan! I thought you were a really mean person at first! You always got in trouble with the teachers, never talked with anyone in the class, and you were always frowning! But, I now know you're actually really nice! So, please don't go away! It would be sad if you got kicked out of school!"

"Do you really mean that?"

The brunette nodded her head eagerly, holding out her pinky. "Pinky-promise you won't leave and that you'll be my friend forever!"

The emerald eyed boy blushed, looking away as he locked fingers with her. "I promise…"

A sudden rustling from the trees startled the children, the raven-haired boy stepping in front of the girl. Puffing up her cheeks, the brunette ran in front of the boy, holding out her arms.

"W-whoever's there, I won't let you take Gino-kun away! I mean it!" A familiar chuckle emerged from the woods as a certain silver-haired demon came into sight, jumping down from the nearest branch.

"Akane-chan, Nobuchika-kun, I was looking for you two. The race has probably ended already; you guys don't want to miss out on all the other festivities, do you?" A muffled curse could be heard as Kagari fell from the same tree, landing ungracefully on his, well, face.

"Oww…" he mumbled, picking himself off the ground. The topaz eyed man had to hide a smirk behind his palm as he turned around, doing his best to keep his 'serious uncle face' on.

"Hey, kid, what have we told you about running off? We were worried, you know?" Kagari questioned, crouching down to be on eyelevel of the small girl.

"Sorry, Shuu-kun! I was just following Gino-kun to make sure he was ok. But, everything's better now so we can go watch the rest of the games!" She grabbed the boy's arm, smiling widely. He gave a bewildered look, blushing heavily until composing himself, allowing a small smile to grace his lips as he allowed Akane to lead him back towards the festivities.

The two demons stared at the retreating forms, stunned beyond belief.

"Did she really just—"

"They grow up so fast, don't they, Kagari-kun?"

"S-shut up, you bibliophile!"

"Wow, I'm surprised you even knew a word that big!"

The orange haired man growled lightly, elbowing him in the side. "Whatever, she's too young to be holding hands with boys! I'll curse him later—"

"Let her have some fun, Kagari. She's a good girl. And this Ginoza Nobuchika seems interesting. I would love to see what kind of person he turns out to be. Will he follow the broken path of his father or forge a new one to happiness? Or will he be swallowed by his demons? Oh, the complexity of humans…"

The other demon was already walking away, hands in his pocket. He whistled a little tune, completely ignoring the silver-haired man. Smirking, Makishima followed behind, a mysterious glint in his eyes.

The second contest was once again, a race. The other participants stood wearily at the starting point, keeping their distance from the two demons. Hushed whispers befell the runners until Kasei barked out a command into the microphone, "Alright, everyone. This race is for triple the points. The goal is at the other end of the lake. You can run around it, or, if you want to take the chance, swim through the lake. But, there's a catch. The lake is usually off limits to our students for one good reason: there are alligators."

Laughter erupted from the crowd. "You can't be serious? Alligators? What a joke!"

"Your funeral," she muttered, shooting off the gun. Many took off their shirts and jumped into the lake. Screams soon replaced the laughter as parent after parent swam back to shore, scaly monsters following after them.

"Are you crazy? This has to be illegal—"

"Move." A flash of silver dove into the lake, unabashed by the beasts. He laughed, petting the creatures. What could only be called purrs came from the alligators as the onlookers (including Kagari) watched in abject horror.

"There is no way that guy's human!"

The other demon jumped into the lake, a cocky grin plastered to his face. He expected the monsters to accept him with open arms (err… open claws?), not open mouths. He flailed pitifully in the water, surrounded by a pack of water monsters. "H-help, someone!"

Makishima crossed over the victory line with ease, whistling. The alligators followed his call, beaching themselves on the bank of the pond.

The orange-haired man swam to the other side of the lake, pulling himself up onto the grassy bank. Soaked, he unbuttoned the first few buttons of his dress shirt, shielding his eyes from the sun with his arm.

Akane rushed to his side, hazel eyes wide with worry.

"Are you alright, Shuu-kun?"

He gave a weak grin, ruffling her hair.

"I'm fine, kid. Go back to the bleachers, it's dangerous here. You too, Ginoza."

The boy faltered in his steps, stuttering out an apology before grabbing the girl's arm and pulling her back to the crowd.

"Heh, you've won this round, Makishima. But, I won't lose that easily."

After a series of races, obstacle courses, riddles, and assorted trivia, only two participants remained (partly because half of the 'participants' forfeited after the alligator incident).

"You ready to lose, Makishima?"

"Ah, you have such a great sense of humor. How does it feel to be second place?"

A woman coughed, adjusting her glasses. "The last contest will be a bit different. We at Sybil Academy take great pride in our academics. For this round, both of you must respond to quotes with another quote, until the other cannot respond. Good luck."

Principal Kasei flashed a knowing look at the silver-haired demon, walking off the podium.

"Alright, I'll start. These set of quotes must not only fit in with what the other person said, but also fall under the category of life or philosophy quotes. Let's see… "every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time," Voltaire."

Makishima responded fluidly, "Man's status in the natural world is determined, therefore, by the quality of his thinking," Manly P. Hall."

"Shit, uh… "All I know is that I do not know anything," Socrates."

Kasei raised an eyebrow, but allowed the quote to count. The white-haired man smiled, responding with another quote, "One does what one is, one becomes what one does," Robert von Musil Kleine Prosa."

"You've got to be kidding me! Uh, crap, quotes I know, quotes I know…" Kagari paused, eyes flicking rapidly from the other man to the clock that said he had less than thirty seconds to respond.

" L-live how you live, feel how you feel and fuck all the phonies in your way," Christopher Krovatin."

This roused a chuckle from the topaz-eyed man. "You've done much better than I expected, Kagari-kun. But, this is the end. "Things that matter the most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least," Goethe."

"Damn it, Makishima! How do you even know all these quotes? Uh, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened," Dr. Seuss."

"I should have known you'd quote a child's book at some point. No matter; I will win. "A man dies… only a few circles in the water prove that he was ever there. And even they quickly disappear. And when they're gone, he's forgotten, without a trace, as if he'd never even existed. And that's all," Wolfgang Borchert."

The orange-haired man didn't respond, clenching his fists in anger.

"I'm sorry you didn't win, Shuu-kun. And that you're not allowed on school campus anymore 'cause you punched Uncle Makishima in the face."

"He was being a smartass, he deserved it—"

A book collided with his face, causing him to let out a strangled cry.

"Mind your language and try reading that. It may help you, next time."

Kagari pried the book off his face, glaring at the title. "Philosophy for Dummies! Why you little piece of sh—"

"Please stop fighting!" Akane intervened, wrapping her arms around the youth's waist. The demon let out a sigh, returning to his seat, allowing the child to clamber into his lap. She rested against him sleepily, listening to the beating of his heart.

"Ah, I forgot! I made you something, Shuu-kun!" the girl quickly bolted from her seat, running to her backpack.

"I made it for you after the contest. We were working on making pinch-pots in pottery but I wanted to make something more useful!"

She handed him a clay cup, the words '#1 Dad' etched into the side. She looked up at him expectantly, as he smiled warmly. He picked her up, spinning her around as she giggled.

"It's great! Who needs a dumb trophy anyway? Thank you, Akane-chan!"

The other demon paused from his reading, pulling the bookmark into place.

"I'll be back in a little bit." He rose from the sofa, walking out the door.

"O-ok! See ya later, Uncle Makishima!" Akane waved wildly as he chuckled, closing the door behind him.

"It's time, Choe. Don't forget about Touma."

"I understand, Makishima-san. I will not fail you. The girl will be taken care of."

The demon gave a twisted grin. "That's what I like to hear. Make sure Touma fulfills his end of the bargain. Demons can hold grudges for centuries, after all."

The man abruptly hung up the phone, walking away from the pay-phone.

"Now, what will you do, Kagari-kun? Demons are almost as fun to test as humans..."

A/N: I apologize again for the late updates! I've been attacked by school work and one-shot ideas. If you wanna see what I'm working on currently, just check out my profile for news/information. Thanks again for all the reviews; they really help me stay focused and reading them make me really happy :3 I truly appreciate all the kind words!

Until next time,

Isis