Sleepwalkers

Summary: It was a strange habit, really. Between his love of sweets and videogames, Amaimon rarely slept. Whenever he did, however, usually resulted in him sleepwalking to strange places. Like to a certain blonde's garden. Or her bedroom. He may have also brought Behemoth once… Amaimon/Shiemi

A/N: Whoo, my first ANE fic and it's a crack pairing! Ah, anyway, if you get the chance, please review and tell me what you think! Thanks! This is more of a prologue; if you guys like it I'll continue it!

Chapter 1- One Not So Graceful Landing

The green-haired youth lounged in the love seat, feet dangling against the side. He toyed with the tattered edges of his coat, eyes cast to the large window in the office. The demon could barely make out the figure of a certain blue-haired teen.

"Brother, can I go play with Rin now?"

Mephisto sighed, pushing the stack of papers away from him. The flamboyant man rose from his chair, locking eyes with his younger brother.

"Amaimon, this is the fourth time you've asked that in the past hour! The answer will always be no! You know what, I'm going out for a bit. Stay here."

The Earth King waved his hand dismissively at his older brother, chewing at a red lollipop. Ice blue eyes gazed lazily around the room, watching as the violet-haired demon picked up his ice cream adorned umbrella.

"I understand. No leaving this room. But, when you come back, you have to play videogames with me." He whined, reaching into his pocket for another lollipop but coming up empty. He had to steal some from Mephisto's drawer of sweets later.

When he turned around from his seat he realized the principal was gone, office door locked and windows shut tight, covered by heavy drapery. Amaimon shrugged, chewing at the end of his nail. He weighed the risk of being caught by his brother versus boredom and came to the surprising conclusion that it would require more effort to disobey than just sit in the office.

Continuing to dangle his legs over the side of the fluorescent pink couch, the Earth King picked up one of the numerous manga littering the floor. He read a few pages before he grew bored, tossing it back to the ground. Now that the curtains were drawn, he felt the spindles of sleep slowly manifest in his eyes. He would take a short nap and when he woke up Mephisto would be back, hopefully with a handful of candy.

The blonde exwire wiped sweat from her brow, smiling down at the lilies she had just planted.

"Grow strong, little ones…" She whispered, accidentally wiping dirt onto her kimono.

She frowned, rising to her feet. A quick bath and she would come back to water her chrysanthemums. Humming, the teen skipped out of the garden.

"Ah, nothing like a nice bath before dinner…" She sighed, flopping onto her floral printed bed. Emerald eyes gazed around the room contentedly, gaze fixing from the mirror, to the floor, and finally, to the ceiling. Which just so happened to have a sleeping demon attached to a ceiling fan.

Shiemi let out a squeak of surprise, falling off of her bed. The man slowly blinked awake, cerulean eyes furrowed in confusion. The girl quickly scurried under her bed, holding her summoning paper close to her chest.

Amaimon scanned his surroundings, rubbing the back of his head. He could hear the song-like voices of the plants, each flower singing a cacophony of blessings to the girl who took care of them. He listened, eyes widening slightly as a sunflower whispered out the name Shiemi. Why did the name seem so familiar?

Rolling onto his stomach (not being a hundred-percent awake caused his depth perception to be a bit… slow, making his what was supposed to be graceful jump a nose dive, face colliding with the wooden floor) he looked up to see a frightened blonde shivering under the bed.

"Ah, my bride. Hello…" He gave a fanged grin, laughing as the woman backed up as far as she could under the bed, holding out a small slip of paper.

"S-stay back, Earth King, I'll summon something horrible if I have to!"

"Eh? Brother said not to mess with anyone in the cram school but if you want to play…"

The blonde furiously shook her head, flustered. "N-no, talking's just fine."

The demon immediately stood up, the mischievous glint in his eyes long gone.

"W-wait, Amaimon!" The girl called out, hesitantly crawling out of her hiding spot.

"Hmm?" He turned around, a bored expression on his face. Maybe this girl had candy? The thought made the impending conversation just a little less annoying.

"W-why were you sleeping on my ceiling?"

The demon shrugged, chewing at his nail. "I dunno… I was in Brother's office and then I woke up here. I think the flowers called out to me."

"The flowers?"

He nodded, pointing at the plotted tulip in the room. "They said you're a good caretaker. They are really happy."

The girl blushed, fidgeting with the ends of her hair. "You can hear them?" She asked, voice laced with curiosity.

He nodded again, leaning against the wall. "They are under my dominion. Most just complain about the sunlight or not getting enough water; it's rare to hear them praising someone."

Before she could ask another question, a women's voice range out, "Shiemi, are you out of the shower? It's time for dinner!"

"I'll be down in a second, mom!" She called back, eyeing the demon with worry.

"You have to leave now… please." She held in her breath, pushing the man forcibly towards the window. The green-haired demon gave an amused grin, surprised by her sudden outburst.

Opening the window, he looked back one last time at the flustered blonde. He jumped out, landing gracefully (this time) to the ground. He stopped by a field of chrysanthemum, speaking out a few words in demon language. And then, he was gone.

The girl quickly shut the window right before her mother walked in.

"Shiemi, I called you ages ago, what are you doing? And were you talking to someone? I thought I heard voices…"

She forced out a small grin, shaking her head. "I-I was just talking to my flower, he seemed lonely."

"I worry for you sometimes. You spend too much time in that garden; I swear you'll turn into a plant someday."

"N-no, I don't chat with all my flowers. Just the tulip."

"Why?"

"Uh, because… Amaimon's my favorite!" She immediately covered her mouth, mentally berating herself for saying the name of the Earth King out loud, in front of her mother of all people!

"Right… just tell 'Amaimon' to be a bit quieter. Anyway, dinner's getting cold. Let's go."

Shiemi nodded eagerly, following behind the older woman.

The green-haired man sat on the roof of the abandoned building, staring into the moon. He could barely make out the exwire's house in the distance. He started chewing on his fingernail again, mind processing the day's events. He had sleepwalked before, but never that far. His teeth made a sharp crunching sound, wind billowing around the demon as he walked towards the edge of the building.

"You were right, Brother. Assiah is fun!" He yelled, jumping off the building. He fell head first down the façade of the building, eyes alight with glee. Before he hit the ground he righted himself, landing on his feet. It was about time to make his way back to the office. Amaimon shoved his hands in his pockets, slowly walking towards the school. His fingers curled around the stem of a chrysanthemum, a small souvenir from his adventure. He could feel the life draining away from the flower, drying until it turned an ugly brown. Eventually, it turned to ash in his clawed grip. Nothing lasted long in Assiah… but, there were no flowers in Gehenna.

And somehow, that woman reminded him of a frail, beautiful flower.