It was about two hours after our first encounter, and I was just stuck watching Killua as he did his homework.
I had insisted on trying to figure out just what kind of ambition or want that he had, but he insisted on doing it later, saying, "I'd rather be stuck with the devil than have the parents up my ass." His usage of words left little to the imagination and we were already off to a rocky start, so I decided to let him do what he needed to.
Once this is over, it'd be over. That's all I really want.
I watched him walk, and started to think about what could be his possible thing that bonds us. I had earlier ruled out wanting wealth and power because he already has that stuff. That much is obvious. He doesn't seem to be concerned with how he looks because he dresses like he doesn't give a shit and he has enough money to ever possibly give a shit. So, wanting looks is out.
This is where things get hard. Most people who summon the devil have a materialistic value that they want. These are the easier ones to figure out because they have a physical form, but nearly all other wants or deep desires don't come in any form you can tangibly touch. That's where the 'interview' comes in handy.
But I can't ask him anything, because he's been doing homework forever, and he won't stop.
"Do you ever do anything but study?" I asked, putting down the book I had been reading and lolling my head backward.
Killua seemed to jump a bit, obviously forgetting that I had been there. After recovering a bit, he glanced over at me, before returning to his work. "Not really. But this is what it takes to stay at the top of the class."
I frowned at that, but then my senses tingled and I found an inkling to what could be his innermost desire. "So, pretty boring life, I'm assuming. Just studying and hiding from your parents for privacy. You probably want to go out with your friends and party and do that teenager shit. Right?"
Killua bit into his bottom lip, eyebrows scrunching up, his nose following closely behind. His face was one that depicted complete distaste with an underlying sadness to it before a soft hum resonated from his mouth.
"I don't like parties or anything. I'm content with not being outside and stuff. I enjoy reading and studying," Killua whispered in reply, but he had completely stopped writing as if really thinking about his answer.
"I see. An introvert, that makes sense, but you probably still want to go out and see your friends." Standing up, I moved so that I was in front of him, looking at him watching his expression with more interest than before.
That seemed to strike a nerve because he glared up at me and set his book to the side. "No, I actually don't. And that's mainly because I don't have any friends — and I don't need them."
Now, this struck me as odd, but I didn't try to think of it too much, but it was definitely a clue to what he'd need from me. "Are you done now?" I asked whilst changing the subject. "Can I ask you questions?"
"What if I say no?" He quipped, stretching before standing up and walking towards the attic exit.
"I'll just bug you more," I responded, feeling the need to stick my tongue out at him, but I repressed it because I'm a king and better than that.
He shrugged and then moved the panel, dropping down to the level below gracefully, landing without a sound. I followed quickly behind because this was not a conversation that he could just get out of.
Sparing me one glance, he raised an eyebrow as we walked into his room, and a few things seemed to settle when I went in there. The first thing was that he really like cold colors, like blue and purples, because they were the only colors against the many shades of white and black. The last thing that I noticed was just how barren his room was. The room only had a singular king sized bed right in the middle — a large desk with a huge monitor and slick keyboard sitting on top — and it was centered right underneath the large window that appeared out over the town. It looked like those typical magazine bedrooms and was so blank of any personality. There was no evidence that anyone lived within the room, and it sort of struck a chord with me... but he was still super annoying.
He turned around, tugging at the end of his sleeves. "I have to go down for dinner, so you should... I don't know. Do whatever it is you do."
And he left without another word. Cold and completely distant to me.
I looked around the room for a little while longer, actually taking an interest in the three bookcases that all stood tall within the room. Like, the height where you needed a ladder in order to reach the top of them, and there was one. Each was completely filled with books and were categorized into fiction, non-fiction, academic, etc. I took an interest in the lowest level of the self which seemed to have the schools yearbooks.
I ran my hands over them, not overlooking just how pimped out they all looked, each year from what could be assumed as a private school.
What interested me most was the most recent yearbook, which I pulled out and took over to a couch that sat in the room, in front of a large television. I opened up the first page, seeing that it was in fact from the last year, and it was from a Hunter Academy. I smiled at the name, and even more at the prestigious looking logo on the front. It was essentially a coat of arms, but I honestly have seen better.
Getting back on track, I flipped the page and searched through the book. I was just casually flipping through and enjoying the pictures of all the smiley teens in their friend groups. All participating in group activities and enjoying themselves. I couldn't help but notice the absence of Killua from any of these pictures.
When I finally came to the page that had Killua's year in it, I was shocked to see that the first page was a ranking of the whole year, and at the top sat Killua's name and — if the points had anything to say — he sat on a throne above them all. His average was 102.9%, meaning he obviously got extra credit from somewhere, but it trumped the next highest average, which was 96.5%. Now all the studying was beginning to make sense.
The last page of the grade elevens was what I flipped to the next, looking in the Zs and seeing Killua's picture, which was a photo of him studying a language. All the pictures were something of this manner, most of them being Instagram like shots of the student, but Killua was the only notable one that wasn't looking at the camera and was barely obvious in the shot. But, that wasn't to say he didn't look good. There was a small smile on his face as he looked at what he was reading, which made him seem ethereal with all the white that was exploding in a blur around him. There was no quote to go along with the picture, and only a signature, which was an elegant zipping of a K and Z together.
I came to the last page and shook my head at the contents, then moving to put it down on the coffee table, only to have a brilliant plan to strike my mind. I reached over and flipped the yearbook open to the front page, where all the contact information was, and then snapped my fingers, a phone appearing before me. I punched in the number and cockily brought it to my face, waiting for the dial tone to cut.
"Hello, this is Hunter Academy. How may I help you?" A woman asked in a chipper voice.
"et caput meam audire mandatum," I whispered into the phone, waiting for the soft hum of a mind controlled puppet. "I want you to register me into your school, oh, and I'll be starting there tomorrow."
——————————
It was three hours I made the phone call and Killua was getting ready to 'hit-the-hay' as he had said. I just watched from the couch as he went about his business, trying to visualize what my human form would look like and act like in this day and age.
I snapped my fingers and waited for my form to change and then pouted at the stunting of my growth. I stood up and walked over to the larger mirror in the room, testing out my balance in my new form — as it takes some getting used to when your normal legs are goat legs.
I was about six foot four in this form, and I still retained most of my features but decided to change my eyes up a bit and rid myself of the demonic pieces of my being. I thought it was a pretty convincing disguise, and when Kilua came out of his bathroom, he jumped at the sight of me in my human form.
He stared at me for a while before looking away and throwing to covers to the side. "So fucking thankful I didn't have to see that demonic change."
Now, a lot of things had shocked me about Killua, but the fact he was so willing to accept some of the weirder things was one of those. I mean, sure, a demon can do a lot of things — especially when you're the king of all demons — but wouldn't it be a little unsettling to see a normal in your home?
"Not bad, eh?" I asked while walking over to stand beside Killua, who was currently sitting on his bed and looking at me.
He raised an eyebrow and gave me a look of disbelief. "What do you want me to say? I don't see any difference besides the fact that you got short and don't look so much like a goat bat mix."
My face screwed in this measure at the remark, but I calmed myself down quickly. "And you're just as amusing as before."
"Why do you even need a human form?" He asked while looking down at his phone, before reaching down to plug it into a charger.
"Because I'm going to school with you, and I need to be able to fit in,"
He froze where he sat and frowned at me. He opened and closed his mouth for a bit before mumbling inaudibly and slipping into his sheets. "I suppose you look convincing enough. But you look a little old to be a high schooler."
"Well, I can only turn into the age I last was as a human, which was 21," I answered moving away from Killua as he shut off the lights.
"That seems like a weird restriction to have. What if you died when you were eighty or something?" Killua asked, seeming to be much more interested now that I had mentioned a restriction. It's probably because he has such an investment into learning that something new — such as this — was something that he must learn.
"Well, then I would only be able to transform into an eighty-year-old man, but that's lucky for me. Besides, humans now have such older looking faces, I'm sure I'll fit in just fine."
"So," Killua began to speak will roll over to his back, the only light in the room the light from the moon through the window. "How do you know so much about human customs? If you were in another realm, or whatever you want to call it, how do you know how we act and speak and our newer customs?"
"Now you're interested in talking to me." I teased him, which only earned a huff in reply before he turned over onto his side, facing away from me. "It's because there are souls in Hell, and I have to listen to every one of them and deal with every problem they had. I am the all-seeing eye of Hell, after all."
I only received a hum in response and I rolled my eyes at the lack of response, then settled myself onto the couch, choosing to go through my newly spawned phone, deciding to set up social media and whatnot so that I could act the part in the school.
As things went, this was going to be an interesting while. I wasn't going to mention this to Killua, as he was already acting stand-offish to me since I arrived, but I did need some things to survive. It either fell into one of the four categories.
There's blood. Kind of like a vampire sucks, but it's one of the more primitive ways of receiving the essentials to survive.
The next was sex. I mean, this is obvious. I don't plan on telling Killua this, but this was my major sin -- besides pride -- was lust. Not only is it because I took pride in the way that I was able to make people go crazy with my looks and personalities, but it was also because I was lusted after by many in my time. So, I often obtain my energy from sexual interactions.
The third is through acts of delinquency. If I'm near or I cause havoc to be made by somebody, then I will obtain energy.
Lastly, and the most lasting source of energy, was through consuming souls. If I were to eat a soul, then I would have enough energy to last me a hundred years. The only problem with eating a soul is that there needs to be a written form of consent. They actually need to fill out a contract that not only do I need to walk them through, but I can only obtain it through hell. This option is completely void in my current situation.
Because of my need to restore my energy, I decided to join the school. Not only would it help me get out of my situation, but it would also allow me to obtain energy from at least two ways — sex and delinquency.
After an hour, I had all the essential social media platforms set off, and decided to make my way back into the attic. I shifted back into my demon form, before glancing back at Killua, who was curled up super tight underneath his duvet. It was just his form at the visible, none of his features were distinguishable under the moon, especially because he blended into the white sheets underneath him.
This was going to be an interesting while, so long as I was stuck under his spell.