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"There is going to be a meeting of the RAD student council tomorrow in the afternoon. Diavolo asked for our all attendance, so I expect you to be there on time."
Lucifer's words still ran through my mind as I tried to focus on the pages of my reading; for sure I had gotten through it over a dozens of times but I didn't get tired of this story. Maybe it was also due to the wonderful girl which gifted me the book once ... the bond we shared had been special but way more special to me than to her; I hadn't been her first choice and I never blamed her for being lucky for several years now, sharing both, love and family with the one she utterly held dear. Though I couldn't help but get the taste of her soft lips on mine or the memory of her body warmth next to me sometimes once I was all by myself. Thanks to Chloe I could bear with everything; her purr and urge to cuddle was helpful to remind me that I indeed was needed by someone around here. Snorting quietly I frowned and intuitionally squinched my face.
Mammon, Levi, the twins, there was none of them with whom I shared any major interest or similarity. Asmo seemed to approach now and then for several reasons and in terms of Lucifer ... well, that was a different story. I smirked slightly at the memory of a cup of coffee being spiced with tabasco ... the secret shot of Lucifer's face after taking a sip did cause a storm of enthusiasm on Devilgram some years ago, garnished with several very delicate comments. Just the mere thought put me in a brilliant mood as I laid 'Inferno' aside and picked up my adorable black kitty onto my lap to fondle her ears. Chloe meowed pleased and closed her emerald eyes while I sank my shoulders and sighed; did I really want to leave now to attend any student council officer's nonsense just because my dearest oldest brother had asked me to do so? Gritting my teeth I grumbled quietly. I couldn't care less about Lucifer losing his face but sadly I possessed enough sense of duty to care about not losing my own.
Just when I was about to set Chloe down I heard the sound of pounding as someone knocked on my door: "Ey! Ya ready? Ya better be, we're off leavin'!" Rolling my eyes I quickly grabbed the jacket and slipped in, adjusting the fit of my uniform before saying goodbye to Chloe and leaving my room. I hadn't reached the stairhead leading down into the entrance hall as I heard an aggravated Lucifer calling my name; I didn't hurry up after listening to his displeased voice and just joined my summoned brothers outside the House of Lamentation, facing Lucifer and made an ironic bow passing him: "You called, sir?" Without awaiting an answer I headed straight forward down to RAD while Lucifer came up with some warnings clearly spoken out to me. I didn't pause to turn around or gave away any signs that I actually got what he just said, knowing that meeting him with pretended ignorance would bother Lucifer even more – until we reached the point of totally ignoring each other for at least one day. I played this game often enough up to now to be certain of that.
In front of the RAD ground we met the threesome of Simeon, Solomon and Luke, the human sorcerer being taken in the middle of both angels. I greeted them with a mere nod and made my way inside of the large, history-charged building, followed by the rest – though I got distracted halfway by Simeon and his attempts to support a conversation with Lucifer about the exchange program. And suddenly it began to dawn on me what today student council officer's meeting would be about; several exchange students from the human world had arrived already, being put immediately under the wings of my brothers and some of them got used quickly to their lives in the Devildom, also sharing a special bond to them; even Levi had often trouble to unglue from the one sticking to his side. I didn't pay attention in particular to all of that nor wasn't notably jealous - all of this happy beaming and hugging and kissing and snuggling ... I was busy with other issues so I didn't mind being untroubled by my own human to look after; it meant less time for important things like reading or feel-good-times with Chloe – or better said, it would mean nothing else but headaches once the human was as stubborn as the troublemaker Lucifer had personally chosen to look after.
At least that was the statement I had fixed for myself. While brooding I got a voice calling out for me several times and eventually turned around, hissing irritated: "I know what my name is – what is it?!" Immediately the young woman backed off a few steps and distorted her pretty face. My eyes narrowed slightly, responding her firm look as she frowned and sank her shoulders: "... you'll never change, won't you?" I licked my lips and looked downwards before replying her gaze again: "I assume you're right."
Anyone else would have met my usual sarcasm but I knew in the meanwhile that it didn't work on her. Being one of the less which were able to look right through me I couldn't fool her with witticism, so I had no choice but to be honest. For a second my gaze lingered on her crimson hair and these amazing brown eyes of which I knew I still could dive in deeply. However my mien remained neutral as I raised both eyebrows listening to her words. And needed to cross my arms when she finished: "... Is he serious?" My counterpart nodded and smiled her wonderful smile: "Yes, Diavolo's quite looking forward to it – and me, too. It's some while ago since we had some fun altogether besides school and reckless use of magic."
Intuitionally I bared my teeth: "Don't you call it fun, it was a nightmare!" Growling I remembered the incident caused by Beel's protégé, possessing magical potential; for almost one week me and my brothers had been stuck to the age of toddlers until the magic wore off and after realizing Asmo had been doodling with crayons in one of my favorite books I put a curse on him from which he still needed to recover. Judging how my dialogue partner raised her eyebrows and squeezed her eyes, one hand over her mouth I could tell that she worked hard to suppress a giggle: "Though it was quite an adorable sight to behold when you fell asleep next to Chloe; she cared for you as if you were a kitten of hers."
I felt my cheeks flushing and distorted my face: "Just drop it already. Let's just get over with this meeting for I can return home and give Chloe a cuddle." Listening to her giggling behind me was little annoying but I remained calm; I wouldn't hear the end of it once her love and everyone else found out about my pathetic self-control.
Entering the assembly hall I greeted Diavolo shortly and made my way over to my seat, Mammon and Beel joining me to the right and the left. As Diavolo started to speak my mind wasn't able to focus on his words though my sight was straight looking towards him. Another human exchange student ... as if it would matter. One more or less didn't make a great difference anymore and there was any demon who would be put in charge of him or her. I just narrowed my eyes and sighed quietly as I caught a gesture out of the corners of my eyes; and after blinking irritated I frowned as Diavolo looked me over: "... don't you agree?" The mien of our future Demon King was even a tad more delightful than usual. Suspiciously I tilted my head; anyhow I wasn't fond of this expression.
Therefore Lucifer stood up immediately, shaking his head: "Normally I wouldn't contradict but I'm afraid that I don't share your opinion on here – he is not capable of succeeding such an important task." The glance he threw at me while speaking made me snap back to reality completely and I widened my eyes in outrage. Not capable of what? Me, not being capable of doing anything? Snorting I got up and glared at Lucifer, baring my teeth: "Pardon – do you assume that there might be any business I'm unable to take care of?" Though I tried my very best to remain calm my demonic aura caused the air surrounding me to whirr furiously while my eyes narrowed in anger. Lucifer raised his eyebrows and shortly tilted his head before the oldest of us sighed and dropped his shoulders: "Sadly I don't merely assume it – indeed I'm quite confident about that and your recklessness confirms my presumption." Now I took a few deep breaths as Lucifer's mien changed back to its usual dry, demure expression, giving me a stare as if being disappointed. I didn't get this at all and became even more irritated.
"There, there, no need to dispute – I would like to remind you what happened the last time you said that, Lucifer." That was Diavolo again and still he got that beaming smile spread over his face. Mammon next to me chuckled: "He's speakin' about me, for sure – well, wouldn't have thought to find somethin' equally important to me as money!" Twitching the corners of his mouth my brother gave me a nod and though I didn't get the whole required context I replied the gesture; Mammon still wasn't quite reliable however after the first run of the exchange program he had changed remarkably. Now Asmo smiled wide also turning around to me: "True! And you need to admit that Satan is a lot more responsible by nature than Mammon. Actually I'm sure that he can do it."
As even Beel spoke out himself, smiling at me, I couldn't help but blink: "All he needs is some support." The face of the ginger was serious towards Diavolo while his twin brother only joined the common notion with a nod: "I think so, too. If he's about to lose it, we're going to help him to calm down again." Belphie tilted his head smiling but different from the rest of my brothers his mien also held another expression: expectation and curiousity, as if he was eager to see what would happen. I wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about but still Lucifer's words kept circling in my mind and were draining me; the more he was determined to not to believe in me the stronger my urge grew to unteach him.
He is not capable of succeeding.
I would just prove to Lucifer how wrong he was! Yet my oldest brother had narrowed his eyes while glancing at me sceptical, crossing his arms. Diavolo shrugged his shoulders, his look was a mixture of joy and an excusing smirk, quickly followed by a light-hearted laughter: "Well, I guess it is settled now – Lucifer, I'm certain you will do everything within the bounds of possibility to ensure that Satan is up to handle his forthcoming assignment." Content Diavolo nodded with another wide smile while Lucifer still seemed to remain concerned; I shot another glance at him and stood up: "There is no need to worry. As a member of the RAD student council I will live up to everyone's expectations." The confident and self-reliant my words had been, the more these dark, bordeaux coloured eyes of my brother narrowed suspiciously. However as Lucifer opened his mouth again, he nodded towards Diavolo before turning around to me, even smiling slightly: "Then so be it, you shall get your way if you want to prove yourself this badly. However keep in mind that you have to fulfill this duty until the end – nobody else will be able to to it for you."
With this said, Lucifer sat back down, focusing Diavolo: "So, when is the human going to arrive?"
For just a second I felt like his words had swept me off my feet and I barely managed to safe face; being lucky that everyone else was looking at Diavolo and didn't get how my jaw dropped – so that was the business all of this was about?! My heart skipped a beat, inevitably I started to tremble while intuitionally my pulse fastened; what the heck had I let myself in for? I took a deeper breath and tried to calm down desperately, closing my eyes. 'Don't lose your head now, you won't hear the end of it ... contain your temper ...'
"Eh, Satan, you're alright?" That was Mammon, leaning closer and giving me a nudge while whispering. And for once I was grateful for that; there was no way I wanted to let everybody else know what utter chaos ran through my mind right now. Did I really agree to look after a human? I still had no reassurance about that. Frowning I gnawed on my lower lip; if it was that way -and chances were high- then there was nothing I could do to reject it. So I wouldn't have any other possibility as to deal with it. Running a hand through my hair I inhaled and massaged my temples.
"You can do this, Satan", Beel said on my other side and smiled down at me. I licked my lips and twitched the corners of my mouth, pretending my usual, confident self: "Of course I can. This is me after all." The ginger seemed to be pleased with this answer and nodded before turning his lilac eyes back to Diavolo who was about to give Lucifer an answer: "Barbatos will be there with this human in just a few mom-"
All of a sudden Diavolo interrupted himself as the air cracked quietly, whirring up in front of us. Little by little tiny black flashes appeared out of nowhere and seemed to draw lines on the ground like a pattern; I had seen this often enough, it was one of several ways for a demon to show up in a completely different place, those with greater power didn't need to get summoned by others. Barbatos, being one of those powerful demons, was able to actually travel between the three worlds though he did rarely since he was Diavolo's personal butler. Right now the ground of the assembly hall was covered in lines glowing in a dark cyan, overall it looked like an intertwined depiction of several clock faces – the one being able to see the past, the present and the future came back home.
Frowning I observed a shadow framing the stature of Barbatos kneeling in the middle of all of these lines out of nowhere before the butler stood up calmly with a bow towards Diavolo and greeting us as well: "It was not easy to find this one ... but I shall return with our newest exchange student from the human world."
"Excellent, Barbatos! I knew I can entrust you with any possible and even impossible sort of business!" While Diavolo clapped Barbatos made another bow and seemed to be smiling pleased: "I'm glad I'm living up to the Young Master's expectations." Right behind him another figure took shape and at once the cyan glowing pattern on the ground faded while Barbatos stepped aside, turning around to face his company who got up slowly and looked around puzzled, trembling slightly; I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes with a frown. This could be no one else than –
"Welcome to the Devildom, MC ... Oh, pardon me. Feeling a bit shocked, are we?" That was Diavolo who stood up just now and welcomed the newcomer with one of his warm, cordial smiles. The human gasped and obvisously was taken by utter surprise, head and eyes turning around continuous, probably to get some orientation. Then a hand was lifted to massage temples before these puzzled but intense eyes wandered towards us – confused but curiously determined. I narrowed my eyes somewhat, most of the other humans had given away the impression of anxious lambs surrounded by a pack of wolves and this wasn't quite far-fetched, considering that most of the non-magical exchange students from the human world were facing the demonic elite of the Devildom after their arrival. This one was different. As Diavolo continued to speak, introducing himself as well as the RAD, I recognized how the human's eyes looked us over, one by one. My mien remained completely motionless, without any hint about what was going through my mind as our eyes met; at first glance the sight had reminded me of some familiar emotions. For most it was difficult to imagine how it felt to simply appear out of nowhere with the only option left to deal with it.
The difference was only if you tried to make your way out of it or indeed took the challenge. And this human facing me, despite of being clearly daunted and insecure, was obviously about to choose option number two. Just now Lucifer took the floor and continued speaking, getting little distracted by Diavolo, before smiling towards the human: "Speaking on behalf of the entire student body at this great and storied school of ours, I offer you a most heartfelt welcome, MC."
"Answer my question – why am I here?" And now I couldn't help but smirk slightly at the twinkle in MC's eyes as they met these of Lucifer. My oldest brother also seemed slightly amused before he went on to explain everything. With the dialogue between MC and Lucifer going on I twitched the corners of my mouth barely visible; this could get quite interesting ...
"You need someone to look after you." And now Lucifer turned around to me with a short nod. Without hurrying I got up and faced the human, containing a neutral mien. With that said, all of the others got up, too and were introduced by Lucifer in turn – well, almost all of my brothers; while Asmo obviously couldn't help threwing a flirty wink at the newcomer, Belphie just jerked out of his seat. Apparently he had been dozing off, next to me I heard the loud growl of Beel's insatiable stomach before Mammon gave away an uncouth salutation towards MC as he was introduced. As reaching out to me, Lucifer indeed passed on mentioning his usual warnings considering my cynical behaviour. At first I raised my eyebrows, still expecting any comments from him and was left somewhat amazed.
This was a unique day in quite several ways!
"Nice to meet you, MC. I am Satan, the Avatar of Wrath." The corners of my mouth twitched slightly though I gave my best to smile with honest intention. Still my counterpart seemed to be somewhat restless and I didn't blame them; humans usually needed some time to get used to life in the Devildom however I had the feeling that MC would accustom themselves rather quickly. I was about to ensure that. Blinking and with a tilted head MC looked me over once more after Lucifer slightly narrowed his eyes, this time confidential. Was that honest? Surely he was deluding me, even fooling me ... "Satan is going to be in charge of taking care of your needs while you're here at RAD. He's the fourth oldest of us brothers." Once again I nodded, towards our newest exchange student as well as towards my oldest brother. Just you wait, Lucifer ... I was going to be be a complete and utter success!
Eventually I was asked to take MC along the way back to the House of Lamentation. Our way back home was rather silent; since the human had just arrived, I didn't intend to blabber nonstop, plus I wasn't the person being especially fond of small talk anyway. They should take their time looking around and questioning everything that came to their minds – I surely would be able to come up with any reply to satify their curiousity. At least that was the way I thought our walk would be like; it wasn't and I didn't expect that. MC stayed close to me, remaining utterly silent, shy even. A few times I threw a glance to my left side noticing that the pretty face quickly turned away from me as if being embarrassed. As if not wanting to be here ...
With me? Was that the reason? Intuitionally I tensed and frowned slightly, stiffening my shoulders while observing MC out of the corners of my eyes. There was it again, another short gaze into my direction before my company dropped head and shoulders and exhaled. I closed my eyes for a moment; never had the walk back to the House of Lamentation taken longer than today ...