Disclaimer: I do not own Ao no Exorcist. Unfortunately.

Humans were annoying. They were parasites that inhabited his domain, unaware of whom their true ruler was. They believed that money made their world go round, that it was the strength in their species. He, however, was their god. It was thanks to him that there was a world in which they could live. And they had forgotten that he existed. It was frustrating, to say the least. And he hated to be ignored.

The only good thing that had ever come from humans was the invention of sweets—if Amaimon had one weakness, it was probably candy. Besides that, he thought them to be a useless race. Demons were far superior; yet, as the years seemed to fly past, fear in his own species was almost nearly diminished. No one believed in the existence of demons anymore, and thus, there was no fear of his kind.

His father wanted to believe that this was a good thing. As the belief in demons fell, less exorcists were there to send demons back to Gehenna. Amaimon could deny neither this fact, nor the convenience of less dealings with those damnable exorcists. There was something he missed though, each time he visited Assiah...the fear he used to be capable of instilling in the humans that saw him as what he was.

Less humans experienced Mashou, and therefor, there were less humans that could see and fear him as the demon king he had been born to be. His father had given him the title of The Earth King at his birth, and Amaimon had throughly enjoyed his duties in Assiah. Unlike his father, he was able to stay for as long as he wished, and he had truly reveled in the joyous terror he had given humans in the middle ages. He was probably the reason that exorcisms became so common amongst the humans. Amaimon had spent too much time fooling with the people who inhabited Assiah.

Humans were annoying. He had told himself this since he could remember. It had been one of the first things his father had ever taught him. It was something he still believed, even if his older brother found them so amusing. Mephisto must have been doing something right though, because their father still thought well of him for spending so long in Assiah.

Amaimon found that he was having to tell himself this undeniable truth more often, however. Humans were pointless, and inferior to demons. But, then there was her. The human female that he could not help but to despise and adore at the same time.

It was because of her that he was even questioning himself. In all honesty, Amaimon did not even know her name, and he saw no need to. He simply found himself in the unfortunate circumstance of discovering her to be fascinating. He could only imagine what his father would do if he knew. Knowing, Satan, he would probably laugh. Then beat him senseless for being so pathetic. For acting like such a human.

Yet, Amaimon felt attached to the idea of someone being capable of communing with his element so easily.

It could not be coincidence that it was the same female that he had teased his youngest brother with, two years previous. The one he had jokingly 'married' in an attempt to rile Rin. It had worked, and at the time that was all he had cared about. Those glorious, blazing, blue flames that his brother had inherited.

Slightly irritated, he gnawed on his thumb nail. He was getting fixated, and he knew it. She was watering her garden with the help of her familiar—a juvenile greenman spirit she kept calling Nii-chan. Another coincidence, that the girl's familiar would be one of his kin. Amaimon was broken out of his trance at the taste of blood, and he gazed down at the wound he had inflicted upon his finger.

It was disregarded a moment later, however, when the girl started to hum to the garden as if it were her child. He let his hand drop, but he stayed crouched on the tree branch that managed to disguise his presence. This was he liked the most. As The Earth King, he could feel everything that the earth felt, and this garden was likely the happiest place he had ever been to. All of the plants seemed to hum with her, in a softer tone than hers. Its song was light and refreshing and grateful. This garden loved her, and she loved the garden to an equal extent.

Similarly, Amaimon sensed something deep in his chest as she hummed. He was certain it was a human feeling, but beyond that, he had no idea what it meant. Unconsciously, a small smile graced his lips as he observed her finish her duties, then flop herself down on the lush, green grass. Usually, he would not have stayed this long, and Amaimon was not positive why he had this time.

But, he was somehow glad he had, because than she began to talk. It was not to herself, nor her familiar, that she was speaking, but to the garden itself. The response it gave her was astounding; a symphony of voices broke out in pure happiness for the attention she gave the plants, and Amaimon felt a similar feeling through his subjects. Surely she could not hear their voices, but it was as if she sensed their delighted energies, and she laughed with a gentle, tinkling voice.

The wind blew softly through the garden, and she laid there for what felt like hours, talking to each of the plants, and calling them by names she had assigned them. The entire place thrummed with life, and it was only when she followed the steps into her home that he was able to force himself to leave. He returned immediately to his brother's office, and almost regretted it.

It was as if Mephisto had been waiting for him.

"You have been gone for a while," his brother commented slyly, adding, "I hope you weren't playing with Rin again."

Amaimon did not respond. Something in Mephisto's eyes told him that he knew he had not been pestering their youngest brother in the time since he had left, and it worried him. What did his brother know? Better yet, what had his brother felt necessary to share with their father? Satan would never approve of what he had been recently experiencing while spying on that human, and his punishments were never pleasant.

Thankfully, Mephisto moved on quickly enough. "Speaking of Rin, he finally figured out I'm his older brother. It took him long enough," he cackled. "He still doesn't like either of us, I think."

Amaimon snorted. This was one topic he did not mind focusing on. "He likes Chichi-ue even less. Does he still plan to kill him, Aniki?"

Mephisto shrugged, lifting a teacup to his lips. "He did cause Father Fujimoto's death, and that man was a good friend of mine as well. It would be disappointing if Rin gave up his goal so easily too."

"What makes you say that?" He asked, stealing a half-eaten bag of shrimp chips from Mephisto's desk. "Chichi-ue could not be killed so easily, even if Rin does possess the flames of Satan."

The quirk of Mephisto's lip gave him away without his having to say anything. Amaimon knew his brother's answer before he could say it, and was unsurprised when he said, "It would be an entertaining show, don't you think?"

Amaimon had gone silent again, munching on the chips with nothing much to say either way. If his brother was amused by seeing his younger brother and his father fight, then he had no reason to intervene. Not that he would anyway, when he had something much more interesting to watch. He could not believe he had allowed that girl to sneak back into his thoughts, but there was no point in pretending that she did not intrigue him.

He stared intently outside the large windows of his brother's office, pondering over that girl again. She was strangely captivating, and Amaimon, admittedly, did not know what to do with her. Normally, if a human pestered him so much, he would have killed them much sooner. The thought of his hands being covered by her beautiful, red blood was disturbing though, for reasons he could not possibly comprehend.

So, he supposed that was out of the question. Yet, he could not do nothing, either. Perhaps it would help if he spoke with her, rather than just watch her while she cared for her garden. Though the only interaction they had ever had was when he had been controlling her body to provoke Rin, he was under the impression she was a kind and sweet sort of individual.

And Amaimon liked things that were sweet.

Whatever the case, he was well aware that if he simply tried to approach her, she would probably scream and run for her very life. This was understandable, and a perfectly normal reaction for any human to have. It was something he missed. But it was not something he wanted from her.

He had to think of a way to meet her in an environment where she would not be tempted to run away...

Mephisto already knew what was bothering his brother. He knew nearly everything that happened in his academy and all that surrounded it. Amaimon had been studying that lower-class exorcist girl recently, and shockingly, had yet to do anything about her but think. It was obvious that Amaimon was already transfixed though, and it was likely he would not stop whatever he had planned until he was satisfied.

As long as it did not interfere with his own plans, Mephisto did not mind this—rather, he thought it might be diverting to watch his younger brother flounder about in confusion with the human feelings that were currently haunting him. It was the consequence of living around humans for too long, and he had gone through a similar process several hundred years previous.

The only reason Amaimon had yet to experience these things was because he had never stayed in one place for too long. He may have spent quite a duration of time in Assiah, but it was never around the same humans.

Mephisto shook his head, grinning to himself. He had such troublesome brothers.

Amaimon had already finished his shrimp chips, it appeared, because he had gone back to biting his thumb nail; an awful habit for anyone to have, in Mephisto's opinion. It could be a while before his brother came back down to earth from his thoughts, considering how he was looking out the window. It was as if he was staring at nothing.

He would wait though, because he already had a good feeling what Amaimon would ask of him, and he was not so cruel a demon that he would deny his brother. Besides, he greatly anticipating the opportunity he was getting to watch the new show unfold.

Mephisto was very close to laughing out loud at the sight of his younger brother standing awkwardly in front of the current class of exorcists. Just as he had suspected, Amaimon had requested to be temporarily enrolled in the exorcist cram school. Mephisto had allowed it, which was why he was currently introducing him to the horrified-looking students.

Amaimon was too busy looking at the girl in question to realize that everyone was waiting for him to say something. Mephisto promptly flicked his brother on the ear to catch his attention. He had hissed, and looked very tempted to retaliate in a similar way.

"Introduce yourself, new student."

He nodded, his eyes still set on the girl. "I am Amaimon, The Earth King," he muttered, chewing thoughtfully on his thumb nail again. The class already knew that, however.

Mephisto sighed in mock disappointment, guessing that he would have to take care of the rest. "Anyway," he continued in his usual, light tone, "Amaimon will be a part of this class so long as he behaves himself. Please treat my foolish Otouto as you would any other student."

That seemed to separate him from his thoughts because his brother was then sending him a deadly glare. Mephisto grinned back at him, before stating frankly, "If anyone gets killed, I will slaughter you." It felt as if he had been saying that quite often recently. The only response he got was a roll of his eyes, and Amaimon was stepping towards the desk closest to the door. It also happened to be the seat nearest to Shiemi, and Mephisto almost pitied the poor girl.

The moment Amaimon had sat down, a flock of goblins that had been hiding in the ceiling surrounded The Earth King excitedly, and he patted the closest one on the head. "Yeah, I know already," he grumbled back. "Ja ne." He was lucky his brother had not tried to ruffle his hair, or something equally embarrassing.

"I leave the rest to you, Shura-san!" Mephisto cackled, entertained by her annoyed reaction to the destroyed ceiling.

And then he was gone. The classroom he left behind him was utterly silent, a fact that went unnoticed by Amaimon. He had never really been to any school anyway, and what happened while the class was in session did not really bother him. This was the first time he had been so close to her since the incident in the forrest, and she was the only thing that occupied his thoughts. Even pestering Rin did not appeal as much.

She kept sending him worried glances from the corner of her eye, but he felt rather pleased with himself, for thinking of entering the exorcist school. It was where she spent a good chunk of her day, so it would be easer to approach her in a location it would be difficult for her to leave. Naturally, if his father knew that he had two sons enrolled in the cram school, he would probably be irate.

It was a dangerous move for him to make, and he was certain Mephisto would use it as blackmail at some point, but it seemed like the best idea. He just had no idea what to say to her yet. Once he figured out what he should say, the rest would be no problem, he was positive.

At last, Shura sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She had hoped everything would run more smoothly after Rin proved his worth in the Impure King ordeal, but it was as if Mephisto enjoyed seeing her life become more complicated than necessary. Hopefully, his threat was sound enough to keep Amaimon from doing something incredibly stupid. She was no match for him, and while Rin could probably stand his own against a demon of his caliber, no one had ever seen Amaimon fight seriously.

It bothered her that he was staring at Shiemi with such a serious face as well—was she what he was after? Shura would have otherwise assumed Amaimon was trying to irritate Rin, but he seemed to be ignoring his younger brother completely. Unless he meant to use that poor girl again, as he had on the camp trip.

Ultimately, this was Mephisto's fault, as far as she was concerned. But for the moment, she would just keep her eye on him to be sure he did not harm any of the exwires. If something should happen, she would undoubtedly have to announce it to the vatican, and that was not something she wanted to do, after they had tried to kill her idiotic student.

"Alright, everyone, since we have such a big-wig guest with us today, why don't we review different familiars that are kin of The Earth King?" Shura asked sarcastically.

It was unnerving to be stared at by a high-level demon for the entire duration of a day, as Shiemi quickly discovered. What made her even more uncomfortable was that he was not even trying to hide that he was watching her. Shiemi was embarrassed to remember what had happened when she had been controlled by Amaimon. Though she could not move or speak during the incident, she had watched the entire scene roll out, as if disconnected from her body.

He had almost stolen something very precious to her, and she frowned at the thought of him being in such close quarters. Someone as powerful as The Earth King had almost taken her first kiss...even if it had looked like he was really going to eat her face off, or something just as horrible.

But...

She knew that Amaimon was Rin's older brother. And she trusted Rin more than almost anyone. Would it be mean of her to not trust his older brother, just because he was a demon? She had accepted that Rin was the son of Satan, but what about Amaimon?

She was honestly worried. Shiemi did not think it was really fair of her to be mean to Rin's older brother, as long as he was going to be nice too. Not all demons were bad, she was beginning to learn. Nii-chan was technically one of Amaimon's subjects, and her familiar was one of her best friends.

Thinking about this was making her dizzy. She did not think that nice people tried to take out a girl's eyeball, or steal her first kiss. Plus, it was creepy that he kept looking at her so much. She had never even talked to him before.

Shiemi still wanted to make more friends, but it did not seem right to be his friend. Unless he proved he was a nice sort of demon, like Nii-chan, or Rin. Besides, Rin was another of her best friends. Would he be upset if she became Amaimon's friend? That was a possibility, since she got the feeling he did not get along very well with his older brother.

Thankfully, she would not have to deal with him for too long, because classes ended at last, and she was given the freedom to return home. He had not spoken to anyone the entire day, which Shiemi thought would relieve everyone, and he had been the first one out the door, his hobgoblin following closely at his heels. She sighed, making her way from the classroom after having collected all her books. Hurrying, she hoped to catch up to Rin, just to have some small feeling of protection.

To her surprise, however, the moment she stepped out the door, Shiemi met his eyes. He was biting his thumb nail once more, something she realized he must have done often. It had felt as if he had been doing it all day. She panicked for a second, wondering what she was supposed to do. Mephisto had told the class to treat him like any other student, so it would be rude to do otherwise.

She was not given too long to figure out what she should say to her new classmate, however, because he addressed her before she could decide to run away.

"It's Shiemi-san, right?"

She froze, unsure how to reply. Hesitantly, she nodded her head. He tilted his head to the side in curiosity, and she realized he was looking at her familiar, who was currently perched on her shoulder. It was then that it struck Amaimon what he could talk to her about, something they could both relate to. He should have thought of it sooner.

Moving his hand closer, he quietly muttered to the greenman, "Let me see you," in their own tongue. She looked bewildered as her familiar squeaked excitedly, then hopped onto Amaimon's long, slender finger. As he continued to speak to Nii-chan, she tried to decipher what was being said, until the realization that Amaimon had to be speaking the language of Gehenna hit her. It sounded rough to her ears, and it was like nothing she had ever heard before. She was certain that humans could never make the same sort of sounds with their mouths.

If Nii-chan had not looked so happy, Shiemi would have been scared for her little familiar. Of course, it was natural that Nii-chan would regard Amaimon with respect...there was no reason for a demon to fear another demon. Still, it felt strange for Nii-chan to like him so much, and Shiemi was not sure how to interpret what it meant. Should she trust Amaimon, like her familiar seemed to?

The one-way conversation Amaimon had with her familiar was short, and at the end of it, he held out the greenman to her. Nii-chan jumped into her open palms with his usual grin, and she looked up at the demon with puzzlement. "What were you telling him?" She whispered, finally meeting his vibrant, green eyes.

Shiemi was stunned by how tired he looked; the dark, purplish shadows under his eyes made him look as if someone had punched him in the nose. She pondered for a moment, whether he got any sleep at night or not. Amaimon looked as if he had not slept in weeks, and even though she still considered him her enemy, she could not help the instinctive twinge of worry she felt.

"I was asking him if..." he trailed off for a moment, slightly agitated by how she was looking at him, "...if he liked being a familiar." He began to chew on his thumb nail as he continued in saying, "He is still rather young to be a familiar, and has spent more time here in Assiah than he has in Gehenna. It is highly unusual, but he does not miss his home at all."

She asked out of concern before she could think of what it meant. "Is that a bad thing?"

Shiemi did not want to be doing anything that could harm Nii-chan, and this seemed even more strange to Amaimon than the idea that the juvenile greenman liked living with the human girl more than returning to Gehenna. He frowned, not sure how to answer her. Normally, exorcists did not care so much about the well being of their familiars—they were dispensable, as far as most tamers were concerned.

"Well," he could not believe he was hesitating with her. Amaimon went straight to the point. "He won't grow as quickly if he does not return to Gehenna enough. He still is at an age where he relies on his mother and father."

She bit her lip, and looked down at the small greenman in her palms. It would be difficult to go without her best friend, but it was not fair of her to keep him from his family for her own selfish reasons. "Nii-chan, do you want to go home to your Kaa-chan and Tou-chan?"

Nii-chan's response to her was simple, but very telling. He curled two, green arms around her thumb, in an embrace. Amaimon watched as she smiled awkwardly down at the juvenile greenman, and quirked his head. What was this feeling? He had felt it while watching her in the garden, and he could feel it now too. It was strangely warm, and overwhelming, but not entirely unpleasant. In a way, he liked how it felt, to see her happy. Still, he did not understand how the familiar felt towards her...it was as if he thought she was his mother.

He sighed, his eyebrows knitting together as he thought. "However," he felt he should add, "if Nii-chan is to stay in Assiah, he should get a more regular intake of milk. It will help him grow at the same rate he normally would."

Her verdant eyes (that reminded him so much of why he adored her) lit up. The tears that had been threatening to spill rolled down her pale cheeks, and the most beautiful smile spread across her pink lips. He stood, stunned, his eyes wide at her reaction, and he wanted very much to wipe those tears from her face. Amaimon almost reached for her when he remembered who he was, who she was, and what this all meant. That warmth he had felt in his limbs grew stronger, powerful, red flames licking at his insides.

Oh, hell. He knew what it all was now. How could he succumb to such human emotions? His father would probably banish him if he knew. And Mephisto was going to laugh. Then he was going to call him a troublesome little brother. But his brother would not have been wrong in thinking so.

At this point, however, there was no point in avoiding it. Making this human girl happy pleased him. Maybe she was capable of making him happy, too.

Amaimon could not believe how pathetic he was.

"You are sulking," Mephisto noted dully, not looking up from his gaming device—he was already past level ten, and he intended to get to the fifteenth level before much longer.

Amaimon did not respond to this comment, however, and continued to glare in confusion out the window of Mephisto's office. It had been a week since he had joined the exorcist class, and since his fateful realization. That he was attracted to a human. He had not breathed a word of this to his brother, but he was under the impression that Mephisto already knew about it.

Apparently, it was not so big a deal if he had not been scolded for it, but that did not change the fact that it was so, so wrong. She had thanked him for his advice, even though he felt he had hardly done anything for her besides tell her how to better take care of her familiar. He had never seen her as happy as she had then, even after hours of observing her in her garden.

Mephisto saw that he had to say more. He had hoped his brother would move much faster, but he could not blame Amaimon. For all the years Amaimon had spent in Assiah, he had still yet to experience a great romance, as he had. He had always been a child at heart, and had more focussed on play. It had only been when he had gone too far in teasing Rin with that girl, that Amaimon had shown the first signs of maturing. Mephisto had begun to think it would never happen.

At length, he proceeded in stating, "You know, I did give you that Infinity Key. Didn't you say you wanted to explore Japan more? Go see Hokkaido again, or something. The cold, northern air is refreshing this time of year."

It was not enough to distract Amaimon, however, because he stayed as he was, nibbling on his nail with determination. This was never a good sign. If it got much worse, Amaimon would end up doing something drastic at the last moment, and possibly ruin his precious plans.

Amaimon's eyes closed for a moment. The Infinity Key...yes, maybe it would be a good idea for him to take a day or two away, to clear his head. The more he thought about his situation, the more bothered he was becoming. Perhaps a momentary escape would be ideal, so he could decide what he needed to do next. He could not ignore her so easily anymore, now that he was aware of his own feelings, pitiful as they were.

He breathed in, then back out. It was for the best.

And the thing was, it was not as if she had really shown any hatred for him in particular, unlike the rest of the class. Amaimon was beginning to assume he had changed her opinion of him just by giving a tip for her familiar. It should not have been so easy. Sure, she still did nothing to approach him, but he caught the small smile she had when he sat down for class each day. Did she like that he was there?

She still sat next to Rin, though. For some reason, this bothered him. He did not know what sort of relationship they had, and while he was doubtful that they were by human terms, together, he could not help not liking it. He found himself feeling rather possessive over her, and she seemed fond of his youngest brother.

"Aniki," Amaimon finally sighed, "I will be out for a day or two."

He would leave, but not before visiting Shiemi in her garden again.

Mephisto did not look up from the screen of his gaming device as he nodded his head. Amaimon was old enough to take care of himself...most of the time.

As he made a quick visit to Shiemi's garden, Amaimon finally recognized what it was that he needed to do. Much to his displeasure, she had had another visitor over—his youngest brother and his twin. It had taken him a moment to understand what Rin had that he did not, and that was her trust. Rin may have been a demon, just as much as he was, but he had proven to Shiemi that he was someone she could rely on.

Gaining someone's trust would not be a simple task, however. His brother had been with The True Cross for over two centuries, and they still did not have complete faith in him, simply because of his heritage. Maybe it was because she had known him better before she had realized he was the son of Satan. While it was obviously too late for him to pretend to be human, perhaps there was something else he could do for her to grasp that he did not intend to harm her.

He could not speak for her friends (most of them still annoyed him), but he would not hurt her. If he had planned as much, he would have taken a sooner chance to do so. There had to be more to gaining trust, then, besides just not harming someone. Admittedly, this was not his area of expertise. Most demons did not care about humans enough to want to gain their trust. He did not either; he just wanter her trust. The rest of them could rot in hell.

Then, as these thoughts kept flowing, something Rin asked her caught his attention.

"Have you found The Garden of Amahara yet?"

It was rare when a human was interested in The Garden of Amahara in current times. Humans were attempting to find it a few hundred years ago, but he had thought it was almost forgotten by now. Those who were knowledgeable enough to have heard about it thought it a myth. He was amazed that she—of all people—was searching for the legendary garden. Well, technically, it was his garden.

This, he could work with. If she wanted to find The Garden of Amahara, then he will gladly help her. Suddenly inspired, he went on his way. It had been a few years since he had last visited the garden, and if he was going to show it to a human, it was probably best that he spruce it up a little. Amaimon took out the Infinity Key, and raced to the closest storage room door.

A soft sigh escaped through her lips. Amaimon had not been in class for three days, and while her friends were all pleased by this, Shiemi felt the tugging of concern. For reasons she could not comprehend, she had gotten used to having his presence in the classroom, and it was slightly alarming to not have him there. Then there was that fear ringing in the back of her mind, where she imagined him reporting all he had learned about the prospective exorcists to Satan. Surely Mephisto would never have allowed such a thing, even if he was Amaimon's older brother.

It appeared that he was not going to show up again, and part of her felt somewhat disappointed. The other part of her felt convinced he was telling his father all he knew on the new class of exorcists. She felt more let down than anything, though. She may have been training to become a Tamer, but she was not a particularly violent person, and she liked the idea of demons and humans getting along. While her ideals may have seemed ridiculous, she hoped that one day, Assiah would be a peaceful place for everyone.

With this mind, and feeling grateful for his help with Nii-chan, she had even baked him a batch of her grandmother's special herb cookies. He had scarfed the entire batch down in class, much to the displeasure of Shura-sensei. Apparently, he had a sweet-tooth. He had eaten it while staring at her again, and while that still served to make her anxious, she was glad that he had enjoyed them with such vigor.

After that, she had been optimistic. Maybe it had meant that better human-demon relations were possible. But then he had disappeared, with no sign of returning.

She looked down at her small hands, more than a little stressed. Maybe demons were not accustomed to kindness? Could she have scared him off? Somehow, she doubted it.

The door finally opened, and she first assumed that Shura-sensei had just come late, as usual, when the footsteps stopped in front of where she sat. She looked up, and met a pair of excited, green eyes. "Ah—Amaimon-san!" She uttered in shock.

Shiemi could sense that the entire class was on the edge of their seats, ready to jump up if necessary, but she knew that help would not be required from her friends.

"You don't have to address me so formally," he answered quietly, feeling sort of impatient. He had worked in his garden for the past few days, arranging all the plants to be more aesthetically pleasing. He wanted her to see his garden, and if he was lucky, perhaps it would make up for the time he had almost nibbled off those soft looking lips of hers, or when he had almost plucked out one of her eyes.

He had no idea what he had even been thinking, to commit such a heinous crime. It was sicking to even ponder over.

"Okay," she murmured thoughtfully, before exclaiming with enthusiasm, "Mai-chan!"

Astonished, he stumbled back a step, his face burning a violent red in his embarrassment. He had never been called something something so decidedly cute. It took him a moment to decide that he liked it. Or, at least, he liked that she had thought him worthy of a nickname.

Awkwardly, he scratched the back of his head, changing the subject as soon as he had recovered. "You are searching for The Garden of Amahara, correct?"

Her entire face flushed, and he could not deny that it was rather adorable on her. "How did you know about that?"

Amaimon had the faintest idea that humans did not like being spied on, so he decided to not share that he had been watching her gardening. Instead, he held his hand out for her to take. He saw the reluctance in her eyes, and she looked at her classmates as if searching for some form of approval. He smirked at the knowledge that Rin was grinding his teeth in frustration, that the only other girl in the class told her not to be an idiot by trusting him, and that everyone had, at that point, gotten to their feet.

Yet, despite all this, she tentatively placed her dainty, slender hand in his, and a grin of satisfaction pulled his lips apart, showing off rows of pearly, sharp teeth. "As The Earth King, I am the appointed keeper of The Garden of Amahara. No one but myself has ever stepped foot into it, and I am the only one alive that knows of it's hiding place."

Shiemi felt overwhelmed by dizziness. What he said made perfect sense to her, but she could not grasp why he, as keeper of the garden, would ever allow anyone into it. Surely, her presence there would only taint the place, as she was a mere human. Confused, and not sure what she was supposed to do, she asked, "Why would you want to take me to such a precious place?"

He shrugged. "Humor me," Amaimon answered simply.

Then she was being led out the door, and Shiemi found she was only partially aware that her friends were calling out for her, telling her to not go—Rin even jumped out of his seat and started to follow.

Annoyed, Amaimon looked over his shoulder, and frowned at his younger brother, who, in his opinion, had no right to budge in. "Ah, Otouto," he said coolly, "kindly tell Shura-san that I will return Shiemi in a day or two. If she even wishes to leave." Amused as he was by Rin's horrified face, he anticipated bringing her to the legendary garden more, and left.

Before they could be stopped, he took out his Infinity Key, crossed the hall, and unlocked the door that was located there.

Shiemi almost laughed, because it was not the legendary Garden of Amahara that they walked into, but rather, her own. She was almost convinced that he was paying her a compliment, until he was gently leading her up the steps to the storeroom, where he knew she slept at nights. He was thankful that she did not question how he knew where exactly she lived. It might have disturbed her to know that he often watched her in the afternoons as she tended to her garden, and that he usually did not leave until she had retired for the evening.

"You are going to need warmer apparel, if you intend to visit The Garden of Amahara with me," Amaimon explained before she could ask anything. "Show me what sort of winter clothing you have, and I'll check if it will be good enough to reach the garden."

She felt mildly embarrassed to show him anything out of her wardrobe, but he did not seem bothered by being in a girl's room, and was almost completely indifferent as he advised her to wear a several-layered kimono. Shiemi almost protested, scandalized by the thought of wearing a winter kimono in the middle of summer. It was highly untraditional, but she held her tongue when she saw the severe look he gave her, and she knew he must have had a reasonable purpose in having her wear so much clothing.

"Where is the garden? If I honestly need to wear something so thick, could plants really survive?" She asked from behind a shoji screen, feeling slightly discomforted that he was on the other side of it, sitting on her bed.

"I can't tell you that," he answered dully. "I technically should not be showing you my garden in the first place. If my father found out..."

He left her to imagine what Satan would do, if he learned of his intentions. She had almost forgotten that Amaimon was Satan's son, having been too distracted by her fantasies of The Garden of Amahara. When her life's dream was only a short ways off, she had a difficult time thinking of much else.

Again, she asked, "Why are you taking me there, if it could get you in trouble?"

He answered with a question of his own. "You wish to see the garden, correct?"

Shiemi could not deny it. "Well, yes. Of course I do," she replied, opening the screen and stepping out. It had been challenging to put the kimono by herself, but she felt content with her work. "I just don't understand what could possibly inspire you to even want to take me somewhere so important to you. Or how you could have known that I dreamed of going there."

He shrugged. "Magical demon powers."

She laughed, knowing he had not been solemn by the tone he had used. "I'm serious. Why would you care if I wanted to see The Garden of Amahara? If anything, you should be trying to keep me from finding it, as its keeper."

"That," he smirked as he effortlessly lifted her in one arm, "is for me to know, and for you to never find out."

She squealed in surprise, but he held her steady, without even the slightest amount of strain showing on his face. It was even more amazing than Rin's strength—he had carried her on his shoulders, a much more stable place, and she had still come close to falling in a swamp of larvae. Shiemi had never supposed that someone could be stronger than Rin, but it was as obvious as a smack in the face that his older brother was much more capable.

One-handedly, he dug through his pocket for the key again, and slid it into the lock of her door. The reason why he was carrying her, and the reason she was wearing winter clothing, was made clear to her the moment he stepped through the doorway into a cabin that had not been properly heated in a long time.

Wherever they were, it was absolutely freezing. The cold bothered him about as much as her weight did though, and he marched right into the snow, even if he was not dressed nearly as warm as a human needed to be. Shiemi had to remind herself that he was not human.

Once outside, he stopped for a moment, and looked up the side of a daunting, snow-capped mountain. Instantly, she knew that was where they were going, and it made much more sense that the Garden of Amahara had never been found by humans, because no one would look in a northern tundra for a garden that was home to every plant known to exist. Amaimon had certainly chosen an ideal place to hide it.

The hike up the mountain was shorter than she had expected. The icy wind, elevation, and high incline did not seem to affect him, even though each of these factors seemed to be attacking him at the same time. And for the first time, Shiemi understood why it was demons considered themselves a superior race. Because they were. Even the most physically fit human could not accomplish hiking the mountain while holding her. With one arm. It reminded her briefly of when he had been baiting Rin to attack him.

He then set her down at the mouth of a cave. She squinted her eyes in an attempt to see through what was like a thick fog of black, but to no avail. He could not have expected her to navigate down the cave without her eyesight, surely. She could not even see her hands in front of her face.

He grabbed her hand in the dark, though, and it surprised her so much she squeaked, before remembering that it was only him. "How can you see through this?" She wondered aloud. "It's almost like—"

"Smoke. I'm glad that the precautionary spell is still in place. I don't think I've ever tested it on human eyes, and I first cast it a few hundred years ago. No light can pierce through the darkness, not even with modern technology."

Of course. He was the keeper, after all, and a demon able to cast several, much more potent spells. Even if hiding The Garden of Amahara on a snowy mountain was beyond human comprehension, he would still need other sorts of barriers. It was not a location completely inaccessible for people to reach, no matter how exhausting the climb would be.

The darkness would have seemed never-ending to her, if she had not stepped right into bright sunlight. Shiemi shaded her eyes and stared up, realizing that he had made use of a dormant volcano by turning it into an oasis. She was looking up at clouds and blue sky and sharp, ragged rocks on all sides. Then she took in the wondrous sights of The Amahara Garden, struggling to keep in the foolish-looking smile that was dying to be shown.

Amaimon casually slid his hands into his pockets, quickly checking if everything was as he left it. Then he turned to her. And when he looked at her face, he was not sure if he should laugh or be disappointed, because her cheeks were puffed up in an unusual way, and it had morphed all of her features into something less...appealing.

"What happened to your face?" He asked in bewilderment. She looked as if she were about to explode, or something equally horrible.

"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed as all the oxygen left her lungs, and a stunning smile graced her pink lips. "I was so excited that I was afraid of smiling like an idiot."

He could not help it. Amaimon snorted at her logic. "I don't mind how you smile."

He had not thought it possible until he saw it for himself, but her smile grew even wider. "Good!" She cried happily as she dashed forward across the carpet of grasses, and started to explore the strange, new world he had just introduced her to. Though a part of him had been doubtful about bringing her to his precious garden, he was glad he had after all. Now he could say he was the first person to ever make her as happy as she was then, and perhaps, he might have gained some small amount of trust after sharing something like The Garden of Amahara with her.

Not wanting to ruin the atmosphere she had created in the place, he sat down and pulled a strawberry lollipop from the deep recesses of his jacket pocket. Already he could feel a shift of energy in the garden, just from his bringing her there, and it felt lighter than he what had ever experienced. Popping the lollipop in his mouth, he watched and waited, for surely she would return to his side again, and demand answers this time. Maybe he would give her what she wanted, even if she might come to regret asking. He was in a good enough mood to actually consider something as insane as sharing how fond he was of her.

She managed to return before he could talk himself out of telling her why he had showed her his garden. The oasis was rather warm, but he was still surprised to see she had removed a few layers from her kimono, leaving only the pristine, white under robe. She sat beside him, and elegantly folded her legs. It was hard for him to not look at her when she was beaming with pure joy.

She looked up at him, and he already knew she was going to ask again, why he had brought her there. A nervousness he had never before felt fluttered in his stomach, and though the words were on the tip of his tongue, he somehow could not force them out. They were stuck there for some reason, and the longer he sat in silence, the worse it got.

Her voice felt far away when she asked, yet again. Something in him panicked, and without thinking, he cupped her pale cheeks and leaned forward to press his lips to hers.

The only reason Mephisto looked up when the door to his office slammed open was because he had already finished his video game, and had been in the middle of morning tea instead. He was unsurprised to see an entire class of exorcists, and its teacher, march right in. "Good morning," he smirked, "I see that everyone is rather lively today."

"You clown! Where did that broccoli-head take her?" Rin automatically shouted, stomping ahead of the rest.

"I do not have the pleasure of knowing what you are talking about, Otouto," Mephisto replied with his usual, sly smile. The young demon growled in frustration, probably more at being reminded of their relations than anything else.

Shura, clearly impatient, stepped forward. "Amaimon stole Shiemi from the classroom before I arrived. Where did they go, polka-dot-freak?" She snapped back at him.

Mephisto laughed. "You ask me as if I know," he said, ignoring the insult she had made to his fashion sense. "If anyone did, it would probably be your students, since they were in the classroom at the time." Mephisto then looked to the exwires with a devilish grin. "Well, did he say anything interesting before they left together?"

Mephisto was only interested, naturally, because he had never imagined that Amaimon would make such a bold move, no matter how intense the fixation had become.

"He brought up The Garden of Amahara, or something like that," Konekomaru answered at last.

Mephisto, who had been sipping from his teacup, spurted the overly sweetened beverage all across his desk in shock. He quickly muttered an apology for his rudeness, laughing as he did so, before snatching up his cellular phone and quickly dialing Amaimon's number. Anticipating the results he supposed he would get, he instinctively got to his feet and put his phone on loud speaker. He could only imagine the horrified reactions he would get from the young exorcists, and it would certainly serve to amuse him.

Nothing could describe the the shock Shiemi had felt when he brushed his lips against hers. She was at least capable of comprehending that he meant his kiss to be an answer to her question, but what she could not understand for the life of her was why she was kissing him back. What in the world was she even thinking? It was so wrong, in so many ways.

It was only encouraging him to go further, because as she returned his gentle kiss, he grew more bold by tangling his long fingers into her blond hair and pulling her even closer.

To make it even more awkward, a blaring noise sounded from his pocket, startling them both. Shiemi was almost thankful for the interruption, but at the same time, wished who ever it was calling him had waited at least another five minutes. Amaimon released her at last, leaving her breathless, and rested his forehead against hers for a moment as he dug his hand into his pocket.

He looked right into her eyes just as he lifted his face away from hers, and she wondered if her cheeks were as red as they felt.

Frustrated, Amaimon looked at the screen to see his brother's name, before answering it in their native language with a sharp, "What do you want?"

The answer he got was laughter.

"I don't think I've ever heard you talk back at me, Otouto. How adorable of you," Mephisto finally said in the same tongue. "Please speak in Japanese though. Oh, and that class of exorcists stormed in just now, claiming you stole a certain Moriyama Shiemi. Is this true?"

Amaimon was quiet for a moment, thinking it over before replying. "She came willingly, if that is what you want to know, Aniki."

He had to hold the phone away from his sensitive ears as there was a chorus of shouts, and as his brother's laughter became even more obnoxious than usual. At this point, Amaimon had figured that Mephisto had put his phone on loud speaker, and the consequences be damned, he was going to break the stupid, ostentatiously pink thing when he got back.

"If you don't mind, I have something I want to get back to," Amaimon said at last, bringing the phone back to his ear after the noise had gone down again. He thought it best to ignore whatever they had said.

"What, were you smooching Shiemi-chan or something?" Mephisto sneered jokingly.

The pause was long enough to give away the truth-that he had been smooching Shiemi. His brother's hysterics being too much to listen to, he kindly snapped, "Shut the fuck up," reverting back to the language of Gehenna.

With that, he chucked his phone as hard as he could, huffing with satisfaction when the sound of it being crushed against the sharp rocks of the garden's wall reached his ears. Suddenly exhausted by the relatively short conversation he had just finished with his brother, Amaimon threw himself back onto the grass with a heavy thud.

Cautiously, Shiemi crept closer to him where he lay. "Ah, Mai-chan?"

He only just barely managed to remember that was the nickname she had bestowed upon him. "Yes?" He asked, wondering if there was any chance of her letting him kiss her again. He seriously doubted it.

"I'm sorry," she uttered softly, curling a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and looking down at him with an expression of guilt. "This is all my fault, because I wanted to see your garden so badly."

He propped himself up onto his elbows and snorted. "No," he stated. "It's not. It was only a matter of time before I rebelled against my brother. He's a rather pushy individual."

Mephisto could not stop his cackling. It had always been only a matter of time before Amaimon would cross the line and finally crack. The exorcists that had entered his office had been shocked into silence. Though they could not understand the language of Gehenna, they could easily figure out what it was that Amaimon had shouted into the speaker before the line had gone dead.

He laced his fingers together, unable to keep the grin off his face. "And there you have it, boys and girls," Mephisto said at length. "Even demons have to go through puberty at some point. You should take this as a learning experience."

Shura gave him a dubious look, as if to blame him for his brother's actions, muttering, "I'll be giving that girl a full questioning when she gets back, and if he did something she didn't like, I'm reporting your freaky, polka-dotted ass," as she dragged Rin away by the hair at the nape of his neck. Rin was foaming at the mouth in his fury, and already sputtering blue flames. She shook her head in annoyance-after all the training he had undergone, he was still set off by the smallest of things. Of course, Amaimon going around him and sweeping Shiemi off her feet was not such a small thing as she would like to think.

"All right class! Were going back now. Shiemi will come home at some point, or this idiot will get dragged to the vatican by his goddamned tail."

Mephisto snickered. "I consider that sexual harassment, Shura-san."

She threw the nearest vase of flowers at his head.

Shiemi still had no idea why. Not why he had brought her to The Garden of Amahara, because he had already made his feelings for her known, but why she reacted him in the way she did. It was almost instinctive, like her mind only worked on the basis of compulsion when he was near. It was almost scary, in the way her heart had leapt in her chest when he first kissed her, and then how her body had instantly craved more. There had to be something wrong with her.

Maybe it was because now they had no form of outside communication. Resisting what her urges wanted was futile, and with no one there but her, him, and the plants, there was no stopping. When he had first kissed her, she had only reacted, but this time, she had all the responsibility for initiating it. It was rather bold of her to do something like lean down and start kissing him on her own, but it was even harder to break away when he took it a step further.

Amaimon's breath was startlingly warm, and tasted unbearably sweet in her mouth. The moment he had gently prodded at her lips with his tongue, begging for entrance, whatever restraint she had was lost. Though she was naturally a very shy and tentative sort of person, once Amaimon had unlocked the door, she could not stop. In the back of her mind, as he hovered over her, settling his weight on her gently, she wondered if her reactions would have been different if it had been someone else. If Rin had chalked up the courage to kiss her, would she have enjoyed it so much? Would she have kissed him back with the same fervor he bestowed upon her?

Something told her that she would not have. Rin was probably one of her best friends, but this was different. It felt as if she were betraying everyone she knew; her mother would kill her for being involved with a demon, and her friends would never look at her in the same way again. The strange thing about this though was, as he pressed his warm body even closer, the consequences of her actions seemed less important than how she felt that moment.

What she was doing was very dangerous. Not because she thought he would ever harm her, but because he was probably very capable of making her fall in love with him. He was awkward in some ways (not that she was not awkward herself) and rough around the edges and a demon king no less, but despite all this, there was something about how careful he was being that was appealing to her. It was as if it proved what she had wanted to believe possible since learning that Rin was the bastard child of Satan. Humans and demons were capable of getting along fine.

If they found reason to want to.

And just maybe, she had found the perfect reason.

AN: Well, this turned out completely different from how I originally imagined it. This is the first time I have really finished a fanfiction outside the Naruto-verse, and I feel glad I finally did something a little different. Who knows if I'll go back to writing ItaSaku, now that I've had a taste of this... Anyway, why Amaimon/Shiemi? Well, I was horrified when I realized there were so few fics for my favorite Ao no Exorcist pairing, and thought I would fix that. I guess I should apologize to my usual readers, who were probably anticipating another ItaSaku fic from me. :O

Until next time,

~Itahime-chan