Hello all! I hope you are enjoying life! Thanks all of you for your constant support! Please enjoy my next chapter! :)

I do not own Blue Exorcist, only my own characters and story.

"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever."

― Alfred Tennyson

Butterfly Weeds

It took some convincing, but eventually I was allowed by Amaimon to stand on my own two feet. It was a glorious moment of freedom during which I could momentarily relax. Unfortunately, that moment soon passed since I now had to consider a multitude of things.

Firstly, my departure from Mephisto's mansion was less than ideal and certainly not mannered – like my lingerie, I was concerned that it would come back and bite me. Of course, I don't believe he could fairly say that was my fault. Amaimon was uncontrollable when he wanted to be, and I certainly didn't have the strength to over power or stop him from whisking me away as he did.

All that being said, I might have secretly been grateful, and certainly could have attempted to try harder to stop him. But somehow, I felt I had been rescued from an unlucky fate. I wasn't sure if this was a result of my distrust in Amaimon's brother, or simply because I disliked losing games – like most humans do.

Perhaps a little bit of both.

It would have been folly for me to have total faith in Mephisto and his ambiguous deals – he was a demon after all. And unlike Amaimon, he was not a demon I knew well. Being on the losing side of an agreement with him was not ideal, no matter how innocuous the deal may have seemed, and Amaimon had certainly protected me from any of the unknown consequences – whether it was an intended protection or not.

Nonetheless, I knew it was impossible to believe that I wouldn't see any consequences at all from my illustrious rescue.

Secondly, I had no idea where Amaimon had seen fit to take me.

My surroundings were beautiful; I was in a forest – full of obviously ancient trees towering above me and new fledgling ones beginning their lives nearer to the floor. Though there was plenty of darkness beneath their branches, the sun still managed to illuminate the area with a greenish hue that kept the woodland inviting.

Still, despite it's inviting appearance, I couldn't not be uneasy about my total unawareness concerning my whereabouts nor what I heard around me. Nothing. Save the rustling of leaves in the breeze, there was absolutely no hint of noise around me. No birds. No bugs. I didn't even hear Behemoth scampering about, which was obviously concerning.

I turned to Amaimon who was kneeling down by a tree, "So…where are we?"

Amaimon cocked his head ever so slightly as he looked at me over his shoulder, and answered in his deadpan way, "A forest."

My nose twitched, I could see that. He had clearly missed the point of the question. My concern was more or less with the location of said forest. I sighed, "I know we are in a forest…"

"It's my kin's – ah…or mine." I blinked at the demon king as he flicked at something I couldn't quite see from behind him and stood up – I could have sworn I saw something fly into the shrubbery just past him, but I couldn't be sure – it had moved so fast.

It didn't help that I was more or less distracted by his last statement that forcibly made my mouth fall agape, "Yours? You have a forest?" I paused for a very short moment to carefully consider my next very important question, "A whole forest?" It's actual importance was a let down even by my own standards. That being said, I couldn't help but wonder how he had never mentioned this before. It wasn't exactly an important detail that impacted our relationship in any particular way, but it still seemed shocking to me that he had never so much as breathed a word of it. For the short time I had spent in the treetop, I had seen this was by no means a small patch of greenery, and to own this much acreage – well, he was by no means poor (so why exactly did I seem to be his sole source of candy – so much so he was basically bleeding me dry?)

Amaimon looked over his shoulder again, his glance was bored but there still seemed to be an amused twinkle in his eye that let on that something about this conversation seemed comical to him. "I'm Amaimon~"

I had no idea what that could possibly mean, and the confusion on my face had to effectively be communicating this if the way his apathetic glance narrowed in comedy was anything to go by. "That's not really an answer."

At this point, he turned to fully face me and blinked away the humor that had grown in his eyes, "It is ~ I'm me." He didn't give me much opportunity to say much in response to this before he seemed to glare at something behind me and started immediately towards it. He brushed past me as a blur, not roughly but with enough contact to turn me suddenly in that direction and I scarcely watched him disappear into a thicket in much the same way Behemoth had done earlier.

For a while, I just stood and stared at the jostling greenery until it was still. I was still attempting to actually understand how his being him meant he had a whole forest, but the puzzle pieces just weren't coming together in any sensible way. The thought did briefly occur to me that as a demon, he likely didn't interpret the idea of 'possessing' something in quite the same way I did – but nonetheless, his insistence that it was his simply because he was him just wasn't comprehensible.

"I don't understand anything he says or does anymore…" I said that like I ever could understand the things he did and said, which honestly probably wasn't the case. I sighed again and looked around.

It was still eerily quiet, I noticed.

I was eerily alone, I also noticed.

I looked back at the thicket Amaimon and Behemoth had disappeared into and before I even had time to think about it, my feet moved after them.

Navigating my way through the thick underbrush was not quite as easy as I would have liked. I realized much too late that I wasn't wearing shoes, which meant I often stepped on things that hurt. Additionally, more than a few times stray twigs snapped painfully back into my limbs and my bare feet caught on something that nearly sent me to my knees. I also realized sooner rather than later that I didn't have much hope in finding either demon unless I came to a clearing they happened to be in; as it were visibility was rather limited.

Eventually, a vine snagged my foot well enough to both cut it and finally bring me down to the forest floor, "Ah!" Now seated, whether I liked it or not, I looked to my foot. It wasn't a bad cut, something akin to a paper cut at worst, but it was annoying nonetheless. I sighed and took in my surroundings. Amaimon often seemed to do things without much consideration for others. Leaving me alone in a forest was certainly one of them.

I suppose it could be worse. At the very least there didn't seem to be anything dangerous around – likely since there didn't seem to be anything around. Perhaps, it was because it was apparently a demon king's forest? It would make some amount of sense for animals to stay clear.

I suppose also my presence was making most animals stay quietly hidden as well. Still, it was unsettling.

Rustle. I flinched and my head instantly darted towards that singular source of noise. Did I say the quiet was unsettling? I obviously meant something rustling around in a mostly quiet forest was unsettling. Hope whispered to me that it could have been one of my lost companions; 'lost' of course being loosely applied here, as it seemed this was more an instance of abandonment then misplacement. Experience, however, reminded me that when strange creatures approached from the shadows it rarely seemed to be the case that it was my more than welcome demonic duo.

That being said, I still found myself asking for them anyway, "Amaimon?" There was no response from the rustling shrub, "Behemoth?" This time, the rustling ceased and, for a moment, I believed it meant it was the hobgoblin. I quickly discovered that wasn't so.

As fast as the rustling stopped it begun again, but from the rustling foliage emerged a little green, leaf covered, head. The head was tiny, no bigger than my own fist, and had little discolored leaves adorning its top almost like a head of hair. The little black eyes of the creature stared at me in surprise as I stared back with equal surprise. It's closed mouth also slowly widened in shock – mirroring my own shocked countenance as my mouth also fell open.

Coincidentally, and in retrospectively comedic fashion, in the same moment that I squeaked, the little green head did too.

"GYA!" My hand slipped out from under me, which caused me to fall flatly on my side in total shock. Meanwhile, the little guy also squeaked in alarm and equally ungracefully fell face forward out of the bush – fully exposing its little leaf-covered body to view and seemingly knocking itself out in the process.

Now that I actually looked at the little thing from my awkward position on the forest floor, I realized it was kind of silly to react so fearfully to such a little green…thing? What was it anyway? It admittedly had a vaguely human, albeit unrealistically tiny, shape, but it definitely wasn't human.

It was…now that I looked at it…kind of cute actually. It reminded me of a grass and leaf coated doll or something of that sort.

I recovered from my shock much quicker than the green-thing did. I had scrambled to my knees in front of the creature and was carefully hovering a hand over its still figure. I was trying to decide if I should help it back to its feet or not. I figured if it was that scared of me, it probably didn't want me touching it. In the end, I did end up gently lifting the little figure off the ground. I just couldn't leave him lying there in that way, it seemed mean.

For the moment, it still seemed disoriented, "Are you okay?" At my words, however, it shook itself out of its disillusion and immediately started squirming and…squeaking? I wasn't really sure how to describe the sound it was making, but it sounded equal parts scared and condemning. Like it was terrified of me but also angry at me and therefore yelling at me – though I had no idea what it was actually trying to say. If I had to take a guess though, I'd say it probably wanted me to put it down, which I did with an apology. "S-sorry." Weirdly enough, I felt oddly scolded and quite guilty by this whole situation even though I couldn't really think of anything I had specifically done wrong.

It didn't help my guilt that when I put it down it seemed to continue its odd tantrum. I wasn't entirely sure what to do in this peculiar situation. So I just sat quietly and thrummed my fingers against my thighs nervously until the angry – squeaky – tirade seemed to finish. "…um…I'm Kotori…nice to meet you?"

With an awkward wave, I smiled at the creature. At first, it didn't seem to respond instead it just cocked its head at me and blinked. Eventually, it brought an arm up to its little mouth and cocked its head to the other side. It honestly, looked like it had no idea what to make of me. I knew how it felt as I felt the same about it.

At some point, it looked at me and at the surrounding area then back to me. Then it seemed to look me up and down. I stiffened. Not out of fear per say, but more out of discomfort at being so thoroughly appraised by a creature I wasn't sure what to make of. It must have made a decision because it happily squeaked, smiled, then waved and held out its arm to me.

I relaxed a little and held out an index finger to his little arm; with a tap we emulated something similar to a handshake.

This was by far the oddest encounter I'd ever had in the woods, but certainly far from the worst.

"Uh…have you seen two demons around? A hobgoblin, with a harness like this," I motioned towards my face and attempted to gesture a description of the harness to the little green man, "or a guy that looks kind of like me, but with a horn like this?" Again, I attempted to gesture a description to the creature by waving my hands above my head in an oddly horn-like fashion.

My newfound acquaintance stared at me in total awe while I gave my performance and at the end of it, his lack of response left me with little hope that he had any idea what I was saying. So I tried again, though this time I tried to describe Amaimon a little more clearly. I figured, seeing as Amaimon looked a lot more like me than Behemoth it might be easier to communicate a description.

I probably spent a good five minutes waving my hands around before I gave up. I hadn't gotten much more than squeaky laughter out of the little green man and I had decided my self-respect had reached the limit of what it would allow, "I guess you haven't seen Amaimon…"

For some reason, the creature seemed to perk up at just that precise moment. Like it had understood or heard something. I wasn't really sure which. It squeaked at me and bounced around excitedly. "What? What is it?" Eventually, it started into the shrubs. I stared dumbly after it, but didn't move until it popped its head out of the shrub, squeaked at me again, and I realized that it seemed it wanted me to follow it. "Oh! I'm coming!"

Perhaps, it was wishful thinking – but maybe it suddenly remembered something about my companions and was going to lead me to them?

Who am I kidding, it was definitely wishful thinking, yet I was on my feet following it nonetheless. Sometimes I make questionable decisions.

Yet somehow, even if it wasn't taking me to Amaimon or Behemoth, I felt more comfortable having a kind guide of some sort due to my penchant for getting turned around and running into less friendly figures. And I just sort of assumed wherever it was leading me, wouldn't be a horrible place to end up.

Our venture was not too long – my feet were greatly appeased by this – and I knew immediately when it ended. It was such a beautiful place it was impossible not to be the final destination of any wandering trip. A clearing in a wood, something like a flower filled corner nook in the dense forestry. Barely large enough to allow a gap of sunlight to filter in, but apparently still sufficient for forgiving mossy carpeting and jovial floral life to thrive and soothe the weeping trees above them with their soft embrace and cheerful colors.

"Oh…wow." Was about the only remark I could manage. I'd been to plenty of flower gardens in my life, but none quite so untouched and divine as this – no human hand had such talent.

Below me I heard a squeak, and I looked down to see the green man spring forward and land joyously in the thrush of greenery and flora. Simultaneously, dozens of little green heads popped out of the brush and squeaked in joy – almost seeming to celebrate the return of their companion. I was startled at first by the emergence of so many green people, but I eased when I realized that this was clearly their home and judging from the grins on their faces when they looked at me (following some unintelligible squeaks from my more recent cohort) I was quite welcome.

The group of green men gathered around me, never sitting still and never quiet it seemed, some chose to approach and pull on my jeans or tickle my toes, other seemed content to keep a relative distance and squeak in my general direction. My original companion bounced, seeming to lead the way as they slowly ushered me into their home. Awkwardly and as carefully as I could, I stepped into the clearing, "Oh, uh, hello everyone! Thank you for letting me into your…home?"

It seemed odd not to say anything – my mother had always raised me to be polite when entering other people's dwellings…though I wasn't really sure if I could effectively communicate with these creatures no matter how hard I tried. I was also vaguely concerned that I would end up crushing one of the beautiful flowers growing here – or one of the green men crowding around my feet -, which made every step I took tentative and measured.

When I finally found myself in the center of the clearing, the green men rejoiced, which was odd to say the least and perhaps slightly worrisome. However, their happiness was contagious and I soon found myself smiling along with them.

It was also around this time that I got to observe the likely source of this clearing's beauty and all the green men seemed to suddenly sprout flowers from their bodies and throw them into the air above my head. "Eep!" My surprise at the sudden bodily growths was quickly vocalized and I recoiled away from them all instinctively.

Unfortunately, I was well surrounded and in an equal effort not to accidently step on one while retreating backwards, I fell to the ground. It, courtesy of the moss, didn't hurt and luckily none of the green men were hurt.

In actuality, they seemed happy to take advantage of my spot closer to the ground to crawl all over my person until they each had found comfortable places for themselves to sit on my person.

"Oh…uh you guys don't seem too fond of personal space, eh?" I glanced at the one I was most familiar with, who had found a perch on my shoulder. The only response I earned, however, was a unanimous squeak.

I couldn't help but giggle. I'd always assumed Amaimon and Behemoth were special in their unfortunate lack of regard for personal bubbles, but apparently that's a fairly common problem among demons. Not that it was a problem I entirely minded.

"Hm…they like you."

"AH!" The oddly mulled voice of my green-haired demon king companion couldn't have been more than a few inches away and as a result I nearly had a heart attack. In my shock, I disrupted the comfortable seating of the little green creatures that had found perches across my body and they all fell to the ground. The chorus of pained and irritated squeaks that arose lit an ire in me on their behalf, "Amaimon! Look what you did! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

The demon king glanced at me, then at the collection of little green bodies on the forest floor. Then he blinked and shrugged, "I didn't sneak."

To be fair he probably hadn't sneaked on purpose. It's very likely that I just hadn't noticed his approach as a result of my being distracted, or simply because of the density of the forest. Nonetheless, I couldn't just abandon my case, "Just…be more careful…" even if it was a very weak case.

Amaimon never really responded to that request however. Rather, his apathetic gaze looked from my face, to my feet, to the little collection of green creatures, then back to my face. "…you didn't wait."

I blinked. "Eh?"

"You shouldn't wander the forest alone~" Amaimon made this statement with so much of a matter of fact tone; I almost was made to feel stupid. Until I remembered that he had run off without me to begin with.

Crossing my arms, I glared at him, "But…you left me there. Alone. I was just trying to find you."

Apparently, not appreciating my tone he narrowed his eyes at me as well, "I didn't want you to." For some reason, that statement really bothered me – it felt like it was intended in so many more ways than I realized even though I couldn't honestly give a real reason why.

"What was I supposed to do? Stay there?"

"Yes." He gave a very resolute nod when he said this – one that seemed to shake the lingering irritation from his eyes.

I huffed, "Well you should have said so. I don't know what your thinking." At this point I was starting to get inexplicably upset by this particular notion, "I never really know what you're thinking, even when I really want to or think I do."

"Ah~ but knowing would scare you."

"I tried to discover, in the rumor of forests and waves, words that other men could not hear, and I pricked up my ears to listen to the revelation of their harmony."
― Gustave Flaubert, November

I turned to look at the demon king. Authentically curious.

What? What did that mean? Clearly, I wasn't going to get an answer to that question, even if I did voice it. But I couldn't help my nosiness and I almost opened my mouth to ask, but I was interrupted by the squeaks of the surrounding green men.

Some seemed to be somewhere between, scared, irritated, and in awe of Amaimon's presence. Others, however, had seemingly grown bored of the novelty of our presence and had resumed other tasks. My newest friend, however, was the loudest of them. He most obviously wanted my attention. And I was keen to give it to him if it meant he'd quit squeaking directly in my ear. "Yes?"

I was awarded for my attention by the green man. As soon as I queried, he sprouted a bushy cluster of bright orange flowers from a single stem, which he presented to me in an almost romantic sense. I flushed pink from the gesture and smiled bashfully, "Oh! Why thank you kind sir." I stopped for a moment, "Um…you are a sir, right?"

I might have accidently insulted the poor green fellow, as his cheeks fluffed up and he frowned – quickly squeaking an obvious confirmation.

Immediately, I started backtracking, "S-sorry! I mean, obviously, you are! What with how handsome and manly you are! Why any lady should be lucky to receive affection from such a fetching fellow!" With my final statement I motioned theatrically towards the green man, and apparently, my compliments achieved the desired effect – he seemed both coy and content.

For a second at least.

As quickly as his demeanor changed from anger to joy, it changed again to absolute fright and he swiftly fled his perch on my shoulder and disappeared into the surrounding flowers. "Huh? What happened?" I turned around to look at Amaimon, who was staring intensely at the flora in my hand in hopes he might have an answer, but the demon simply shrugged and looked away at a tree.

It was an odd moment to say the least.

I glanced at the gifted flower – it was quite pretty, I wished I knew what kind it was. Still admiring the flower, I spoke to the demon king, "So…this is your forest? It's beautiful. I've never seen anything quite like it."

"Of course. Humans don't come here."

I nodded and smiled ruefully in his general direction. "That's probably for the best – I'm scared even I might accidently ruin it by being here." Humans loved nature, but perhaps we weren't always the best at preserving it.

Having apparently finished examining the tree, my green haired companion looked to me, "No. You can't."

I wasn't sure if he was implying that I specifically didn't have the capacity or ability for devastation, or if he was simply relaying that he believed that I would be careful in his usual inept fashion. Nonetheless, I felt complimented and a light blush warmed my cheeks. I averted my gaze back to my orange flower. "Well…I'll certainly try not to."

"…" There was something uncomfortable about the silence, which was unusual, and I turned to look back at the demon. Again, he was staring at my flower.

While there was no obvious emotion on his stoic face, I still felt that he was paying this flower a significant amount of attention. Perhaps, it was because I had been given a gift, yet he had not been? "It's a pretty flower isn't it? I'd give it to you if it wasn't a gift…but that would be rude of me."

He scowled almost immediately at the mere mention of being given the flower. "I don't want it."

I flinched. "O-oh." I wasn't expecting such an ill response and unintentionally I found myself withdrawing from the irritated male.

Ever since my run in with his brother, Amaimon and I had been a little at odds. It was uncomfortable and I wasn't sure how to rectify the situation. I thought we had come to somewhat of an understanding earlier, but apparently the air still hadn't completely cleared. Or at least, that's what it seemed like.

A pair of shoes entered my line of sight while I sat deep in thought, and I realized Amaimon had moved to stand in front of me. His scowl had disappeared and the apathetic expression I was used to had returned. New, however, was the outstretched hand and I would be lying if it didn't surprise me. "Come~"

Despite my surprise, I didn't hesitate to take his hand. It was easy for him to pull me to my feet. It was also easy for him to start dragging me along through the alcove, but I also offered no resistance. I figured, I couldn't get back without his help anyway, so I might as well follow him. Plus, I guess I was fairly used to being carried and dragged away by him – it almost seemed like the natural thing.

"Where are we going?"

"A place."

I snorted; I wondered why I even bothered asking. Apparently, I never learn. "Okay then."

I could see him momentarily glance back at me and then look away, "It's a nice place." Possibly, he detected my exasperation and sought to alleviate it. Or I could be giving him too much credit. Either way, it was comforting to know he wasn't taking me somewhere less than nice.

While I was dragged along I admired the passing flora and the green men still hard at work. They kept a decent distance from Amaimon and I, and gave us fleeting glances and squeaks, but otherwise they continued to tend the diverse plant life that filled the alcove. Many of the flowers I'd never seen before in nature but I still recognized.

Sprouting anew, I observed the green men grow petunias of various colors. Droves of veteran marigolds surrounded the gardeners as they worked, while the occasional red rhododendron was striking against the golden blanket. A few of the demonic landscapers seemed to be taking a break – having collected a pile of whortleberries to have as a snack amongst themselves.

Eventually, the alcove opened into a clearing filled to the brim with white clovers. Here the green men seemed scarcer. In their place, however, was a throng of snarling hobgoblins chasing one another in play. I realized immediately, Behemoth was amongst them.

"Behemoth!" I beamed as I called out to my missing companion. Though I would soon regret doing so.

The thrilled familiar halted in his play to look at me, a goofy grin alighting his face. However, he was not alone. Every other hobgoblin in the clearing stopped to take in my countenance. It was clear to me that they didn't seemed unhappy. Though I knew none of them, they all seemed extremely enthusiastic that I was there and a choir of joyous growls filled the clearing as they all charged forward.

"Uh…wait." As Amaimon still had a firm grip on me, I was forced to drop my gifted flower so that I would have a free hand to hold out in front of me hoping to ward them off. "Wait…w-wait!" My voice was losing resolve as the horde of apparently ecstatic and sizable demons approached. I took a step backwards, only to have Amaimon pull me into his shoulder.

Within moments of colliding with Amaimon, the horde collided with us. Well, mostly with the demon king actually, though I felt it nonetheless. As Behemoth did smash straight into my stomach and the mass straight into the entirety of Amaimon, we both fell to our backs with our distinctive oofs. Though admittedly, I'm not entirely convinced the demon king didn't simply allow himself to fall to the ground.

Fortunately, though my stomach was not saved, my back was as the clover field was relatively soft and I mostly landed on Amaimon anyways.

The choir of thrilled grumbled that echoed from above us rose in volume, as tongues dove to our faces and necks and granted uninvited kisses. "Eek! No! Too much love! Too much love!" My protestations fell on deaf ears and eventually unraveled into uncontrollable giggles, not due to joy but more due to how easily tickled I tended to be.

Amidst the noise, I heard Amaimon's laugh. It was also quickly followed by a none too gentle shove that promptly removed the hobgoblin horde from their pinning position. They whined slightly as they were pushed, clearly wishing to continue their shower of playful love, but soon found amusement in the tackling and chasing of one another. Behemoth, lingered nearby, finding safety from Amaimon's hand and arm by staying on my side.

I turned to face him after catching my breath, "I see you found some friends? Is that why you took off earlier?" He purred and leaned in to lay yet another slobbery kiss across my face.

However, he didn't quite make it as he was halted by Amaimon's hand a few inches from his target and promptly shoved nearly across the clover field. Admittedly, I was initially a little concerned, but despite his rough treatment, Behemoth seemed to be having fun since he was chortling as he rolled away. Meanwhile, my eyes followed the route of Amaimon's arm up and above until they rested on the face of the green-haired demon who had rolled over to reach across me. Normally, such a position would flood my face with heat.

However, I ended up in a fit of giggles instead.

I'd never seen Amaimon in anything less than a pristine state before, but now I was seeing something as similar to bed head as I'd likely ever get to see. The slobber smooches that had been granted him had left his hair in a state of disarray so that it was pointed in every direction. Moreover, amongst the spikes were broken white and green clovers.

I'm not sure why I found such a thrill in observing the condition of his hair. Perhaps, I just liked seeing new and unexpected sides of him? Or maybe it just made us seem more alike.

Nonetheless, the giggles came and stayed, and while I often try to suppress my laughter when it came at the demon kings expense, I didn't bother to.

It didn't take long for him to shift his gaze down towards me. A clear, albeit light, scowl on his face – he seemed genuinely puzzled and perhaps a little annoyed by my sudden humor. His head cocked to the side, "What's so funny?"

Still laughing, though more quietly, I met his gaze – "You're hair," then glanced to all of the clovers, "it's all messy, and it's cute."

He seemed indecisive for a moment, as he stared at me with relatively little change in expression, before deciding on his usual threatening response, "…stop." Somehow, his threat just did not seem all that authentic. Like it was a penchant threat he felt he had to make because he was him, when in reality he didn't really care as much as he tried to imply.

I chuckled and continued to stare up at him despite his alleged discontent, "Oh!" Feeling somewhat excited, I reached up into Amaimon's hair and gently took hold of a single four-leaf clover, which I carefully removed, showed to the demon king, and then promptly placed in my own hair with giant guileful grin. "How lucky!"

His face had abruptly regained its usual blank stare when I pulled the clover out of his hair. For a short while he seemed quite taken with the clover and he didn't move, but then he blinked, sat up quite suddenly, and shook his head – sprinkling the greenery that had accumulated there all around him.

Following suit, I also sat up. While I was quite certain I too had quite the collection accrued in my hair, I wasn't really bothered by it.

The choir of hobgoblin grumbles recalled my attention now, and I turned to see the group playing what seemed to be a game of chicken with Behemoth. Behemoth would charge forward, while the group would wait as long as possible before recoiling out of the way. Admittedly, if it wasn't for the silly grins on all of their faces I might have been worried that they were in the midst of a fight. As it were, I wasn't.

Amaimon was now standing, I noted, and I moved to join him. However, I stopped when I realized that the orange flower that had been given to me earlier was now trampled and in pieces on the ground. I felt guilty about it, as it had been a gift, however, I also knew that the flower would have died eventually anyway and I had been powerless to stop the events that had led to it's current state.

I sighed. Then stood and brushed myself off.

When I looked back over at the hobgoblins, I beamed. Amaimon had joined their game; he was now charging them along with Behemoth. I wondered if I could join the game – I also wondered which group I should join if I did. The decision seemed to be quite obvious, there was absolutely no way I was intimidating enough to scare a group of hobgoblins after all – but I might excel as the chicken. Before I knew it, I was on the other side of the clearing getting ready to run off at the next lunge by Amaimon and Behemoth.

The two seemed extra enthusiastic now that I was playing; Behemoth pawed the ground as a bull preparing to charge would. Amaimon didn't do anything special, but his laughter seemed a little giddier, and it was contagious as I chuckled nervously myself.

When I blinked next, the two had blurred in my vision and instinctively I knew it was time to run away. Admittedly, I was first among the so-called chickens. However, I was also the slowest so it seemed allowable to me to be so. Despite this, I was unsuccessful by chicken standards, and even though I was first to flee, I had still lost to Behemoth and Amaimon, as my hobgoblin companion bounced off my back knocking me clear to the ground while Amaimon stood over me.

"Darn it." I giggled despite my exclamation of anguish. My green haired cohort pushed the clambering Behemoth off me, and dragged me by the back of my collar gracelessly to my feet in front of him.

From behind me, he spoke into my ear, "Ah~ you're a dead chicken." His words somehow vexed me; perhaps it was a combination of his startling proximity in combination with his provoking statement that heated my cheeks and mind.

I turned on him, meeting him eye to eye. For a moment, I thought I would make a wordy declaration – but I remained silent and opted to glare in determination and stick my tongue out in rebellion. This alighted Amaimon's boisterous and competitive instincts, which sent him back in preparation and prompted a toothy laugh.

It seemed I had issued a challenge.

The two demons and the 'chicken' goblins were both preparing for another round, and I nervously followed suit. Behemoth and Amaimon shared a quick glance, and fake started – which startled both me and our other playmates, but for the most part we had stood our ground.

The next time they darted forward, it was a true start and despite every bone in my body telling me I should have taken off a second sooner, I didn't move or blink. I stared Amaimon down.

Eventually we were nose to nose and I felt a soft breeze rush past my cheek from the sheer force of his approach. However, while I hadn't moved an inch or taken my eyes off him, Amaimon had halted.

The demon king's eyes widened slowly as we stared at one another.

We were coming to the same realization, and while his grin fell in surprise, mine grew in equal parts shock and delight. Amaimon had stopped his charge and I hadn't fled. He had backed down before me…

Which meant…

I won.

I had won the game of chicken against the Demon King!

I bit my lip and resisted the urge to rub my victory in his clearly surprised face. Apparently, I wasn't resisting well enough – "I wi-"

I did not finish my statement. While I was completely unsuccessful in keeping my victory to myself, Behemoth had much more luck. He collided with Amaimon, full force, which knocked him into me and halted any other words I might have said.

Perhaps it was for the best. Amaimon seemed to be in a legitimate state of shock and I'm not sure announcing my victory would have helped alleviate it.

"…I don't like this game." He announced it with little ado and no obvious irritation, so I wasn't really sure how he was taking having lost to me – I would assume, due to his lack of obvious anger or annoyance, he was taking it rather well. Though, I also noted that he hadn't quite acknowledged that I had won and he had lost.

Almost typical, but also almost not – at least not for Amaimon.

Nonetheless, after his statement, I found myself floating through the air for the second time that day as Amaimon had lifted me up in his arm once again.

"WAH!" I had a feeling this was the end of my woodland adventure and I was dreading the trip back…

But, I also trusted and needed the demon king to get me home safely.

"I'm not sure this is a world I belong in anymore. I'm not sure that I want to wake up."
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay

"Hello?"

"Kotori! Are you okay! I've called you, like, four times!" Chou had wasted little time in blowing my ear off. When I entered my apartment, I arrived to a ringing cellphone, which I answered in record time.

I regretted it a little. She sounded a tiny bit upset. But I also realized she was clearly very worried about me. "Hey Chou, I'm feeling a lot better, actually. I'm sorry to have worried you."

"Geez- I swear, you're gonna shave years off my life, you know that?" I heard her sigh and I covered my mouth to restrain a giggle, "This isn't a laughing matter, Kotori." Clearly, I didn't restrain it well enough to hide it from my irritated friend, "Why weren't you picking up your phone anyway? I was almost on my way over to make sure you were okay."

I heard the springs on my bed squeak and glanced over to see Behemoth had started rolling around on the mattress, I shook my head, "I'm sorry, to be honest, Amaimon came over while I was sick and took me," I paused for a moment…perhaps telling her I had gone to see his brother would seem weird, "to get some medical care and I forgot my cellphone." That wasn't quite a lie, more like a half-truth, right?

"…oh. Oh~" Immediately I didn't like that very Chou-esque tone. "Must be nice~"

I felt myself tense a little and my hart rate accelerated, "What's that supposed to mean?" In my peripheral, I saw the demon king join the hobgoblin on my bed and I subconsciously found my gaze drift to focus entirely on him, though I didn't really move my head to face him.

"I think you know what that means, but I'll play along and spell it out for you." She sounded teasing, "You liiiiike him."

I flushed, "I DO NOT!" My loud exclamation startled everyone, and Behemoth and Amaimon paused their playful endeavors to stare at me. For a short moment, my eyes locked with Amaimon's – but I looked away almost instantly, being completely unable to keep a steady gaze in my pinkish state. I heard delighted laughter on the other end of the cellphone and continued my tirade, which proceeded more like a whisper than a rant, "Why would you even say that!?" Subconsciously, it seemed I was wary that the demon king might overhear our conversation.

It took a little for Chou to gather her wits and respond, "Why would I not?" She snorted before continuing, "I know you, Kotori. We've been friends forever and we've been through a lot of crushes together. You really think I wouldn't notice you falling head over heels?"

"But…it's really not like that. He's just a friend." As much as I appreciated Chou and her brand of wisdom, I had to correct her.

"…Impressive."

"What?"

I heard a heavy sigh; I could almost picture Chou rubbing her head like an exasperated parent unsure of what to do with a problematic child, "Well, you'll realize sooner or later. Hopefully sooner rather than later, for my own amusement."

"I'm not going to realize anything! It can't be like that, Chou."

"And why not?"

The question caught me off guard. It didn't make sense, or compute with what I thought I had said. "Uh, what?"

"You didn't say is wasn't like that, you said it can't be like that. So, why can't it?"

Had I said that? I guess it made sense that I said that. Probably, an invisible line had been drawn in my mind. Amaimon was a demon after all and I was a human, it was a sensible line. However, now that it was being questioned I really didn't have an answer for why it couldn't be like that. We've already crossed an invisible boundary once by being friends; it wouldn't be unbelievable to think it could happen again.

I mean it wouldn't be such a bad thing if it did.

"Oh!" My eyes widened and my already reddened face tinted further. What was I thinking? Amaimon would never think of me like that. I mean, we don't think of each other like that…I glanced back at Amaimon, he was still looking at me – curiously with his head cocked – my heart beat heavily when our eyes met and comfortable warmth flooded out.

I heard another chuckle from the phone, "It's all coming together now, isn't it, Kotori?"

"I…you…just be quiet!" CLICK. Callously, I hung up on my friend. I couldn't handle any more of her teasing, especially in a moment when I was slightly confused by my own thoughts and feelings.

I looked up and felt my stomach lurch in surprise, Amaimon had quietly left my bed and was now a hairsbreadth away, standing behind me and staring at my phone. "Uh-" With my verbal cue, my demonic companion turned to meet my gaze. Again, I felt my heart thump in my chest. Normally, such a heavy heartbeat would imply I was startled, but the following warmth that flooded through me was not the embarrassed or startled kind and soothed any reflexive recoil that might have usually occurred. Actually, soothed might be too soft of a word. It felt more like the warmth was making my limbs feel tingly and weak in an oddly nice way – a way I don't recall having really experienced before.

That was concerning on its own.

Especially, as it felt so nice that I didn't want to look away, which of course meant that I definitely needed to. But even as I thought that, my gaze didn't shift. It was like it was held hostage by Amaimon's and the warmth.

"That's a phone." He went to reach around me, clearly aiming to snag my cellular device, however, he didn't achieve his goal.

Mostly due to the fact that his hand brushed my arm and in so doing all the heat that had been gently pulsing through my body surged towards that arm. The suddenness and intenseness of the heat was like I had been burnt and the shock let me break my trance and retreat away from him.

Before I knew it, I was holding my phone tightly to my chest and leaning against my dresser. I turned to face Amaimon, who was watching me curiously, thoroughly appalled by my own actions. What was wrong with me? I thought I was past recoiling from Amaimon's touch. He'd think I was scared of him again, even when I really wasn't. If anything the problem was quite the opposite.

This was all Chou's fault. She made me start thinking about things I shouldn't of thought of.

"S-sorry." I met his curious stare with worried, somewhat unfocused eyes and glowing cheeks. "I'm not scared of you!"

Something in Amaimon's regard shifted. It wasn't an obvious shift; it was the type of change I might have missed if I wasn't so intensely focused on him. But something about it reminded me dangerously of his brother, in that I couldn't read it but desperately wished I could. It seemed… perilous? But not in the normal sense.

He smiled an almost Amaimon smile, and I was reminded all over again that I was dealing with more than your average teenage boy or demon, "I know."

I was almost scared to ask just how much he felt he knew, "You do?"

Behemoth fell off the bed behind Amaimon, and I was momentarily distracted as I watched him scurry out of my bedroom – until my vision was blocked by a certain demon king who was again standing far too close. I retreated back again and ended up against the wall.

But I was promptly followed and soon cornered.

I had a sense of de ja vu. I was in a similar situation once before, when Amaimon ate his brother's letter to me… and bit my finger. My face heated as I recalled that awkward exchange.

"Yes~"

I looked from side to side, searching for an escape of some kind, but before I could move either way, his arms trapped me against the wall. "Amaimon! What…s-stop it." My voice was quiet while I looked at him and pleaded.

He was still wearing that playful smile, comparing it to his previous smiles – it reminded me a little of the smile he wore while playing games in the forest, but this one seemed just a little more…demonic. And while wearing it he leaned in, I dropped my phone and pushed against his chest, to no avail, as I hardly had the strength to over power him – and to be honest it was only a half hearted attempt.

Which again, was extremely worrisome. I wanted to push him away. I swear I did, but I really didn't want to either.

He only stopped when I could feel his nose pushing my hair back so his mouth could rest near my ear. "Dead chicken~."

I knew exactly what had just happened. I knew exactly what he was referring back to. I knew this was his revenge, his way of asserting his superiority in games. And yet, despite what my mind was trying to reason, my body was doing something much different.

I'd never shivered from heat before. But I suppose there is a first time for everything.

I felt weak in the knees and I was certain that if the wall wasn't behind me and my hands weren't on Amaimon's chest, I would have probably melted to the floor.

"You…you're such a sore loser."

He leaned back and looked down at me, "Ah~ but I won."

I really couldn't argue with him in this position. Not effectively anyway, so I settled with a heated glare and made a weak attempt at shoving him away.

His grin faded and his usual monotonous expression reformed while he cocked his head at me, "Don't play chicken."

"What?" I felt like he was slowly banning me from playing every game on the planet. "Why not?"

"Eh…dead chickens get eaten."

Eaten? "Amaimon…I'm not actually a chicken…no one is going to eat me."

His gaze narrowed, "…only me."

My eyes widened and my face heated up, "E-excuse me?" He was going to…eat me? I very much was concerned by what exactly that meant.

He cocked his head to the other side, apparently confused with my confusion, "Only play with me." I clearly very much misunderstood where he was headed with that statement. Of course, I had misunderstood. Amaimon didn't eat people. He ate candy. And he certainly didn't have any other kind of inappropriate thoughts. I mentally slapped myself.

I very much needed to be out of this situation. I also very much needed to think through my own thoughts and feelings as they were muddling the already murky waters more. But before I could do that, I needed Amaimon to let me go. And at this point my brain was so fuzzy, I was ready to agree to even his most ridiculous terms if it meant being released from this wonderf- horrible position.

"O-okay! I can do that!"

"I always had this idea that you should never give up a happy middle in the hopes of a happy ending, because there is no such thing as a happy ending. Do you know what I mean? There is so much to lose."
― John Green, Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances

Bawk! baw-baw-bawk.

Bahahahaha. Here's to the chickens of the world.

I really enjoyed this chapter far too much. I am fairly impressed with Amaimon's ability to somehow make calling someone a dead chicken – steamy hehe. The question of course becomes: what are his real thoughts and intentions in those moments, especially now?

I felt it was around time that Amaimon started acting a little more like a demon… not that he wasn't before but… well something had to change.

That goes for Kotori too.

Somehow, I really feel like Chou and I are kindred spirits, making trouble for Kotori in every way we can and deriving way too much pleasure from it.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did and I hope you all rather like the direction I'm taking their relationship now. I think, after all, it's time for a shift in their dynamics.

~Cheru