The melody of phone call was a continuous companion during Danny's entire day. He talked with many messengers, each of whom appeared at a certain prearranged moment. This safety measure was to avoid attracting too much attention from the exorcists, who were sure to notice if about fifty demons popped up in one place to convene a meeting. Phantom hated this job, hiding like a rat in a world that was supposed to be his home if only he hadn't dived into this pile of burning garbage. He managed to convince relatively few, and it was a pity, only ten ghosts agreed to accept him for at least a time being. But nobody wished to challenge him, and it was damn annoying. They were stuck in an ever present limbo, without accepting the legal leadership and without trying to change it.

He was a pioneer, and pioneers often were faced with such troubles of being misunderstood. At moments like this Danny wished he had just let his predecessor take over everything. Of all the 'mediators' one in particular still kept him interested. Something about that plant ghost was intriguing. Not just because she was pretty enough for the things to get heated if she lets him. He may have had a thing or two for girls who had the courage to slap a powerful being such as himself in the face, no masochism involved. But no amount of curiosity could redeem what she said during the meeting later that day.

"I am staying."

Phantom did not expect this, so he asked her if he had heard her correctly. Her green eyes bore into his, confirming that his ears were functioning as intended. He asked her if she was being for real and her cold look only hardened. Sam really viewed him as an idiot, it seemed. At this Phantom decided that everything around and she especially could go screw themselves. From their brief interactions he could make out one thing: she didn't know a thing about how this whole world worked beyond basic laws of not killing everyone in sight and not sticking out like a sore thumb in huge crowds. She was going to be killed by the first exorcist in sight. Oh, well, it's not like she would not reform in Gehenna soon after being taught a lesson.

"Very well. You take the expenses upon yourself."

"But I don't have any money."

"Your idea, your losses. And why would you even need those? Don't you dine hippie-style and absorb the sun or whatever?"

"It may surprise you, but I never slept out in the open. It's cold in here."

"You are correct, I am surprised," Danny didn't try to hide his mocking tone, still sore about their last meeting, "So, you are a greenhouse flower, ain't you?" He sighed, "Let us start this over. You came here out of the blue, doused me, and now demand that I pay you? That's not how it works. Unless you are a street hooker and we had a nice night. Demons don't need that much sustenance."

Sam crossed her hands, seeming to be in thought. After a couple of minutes, during which the impatient Ghost King was pacing around, she sighed and spoke again.

"Fine. I just...don't want to get killed," the girl mumbled. "It's still unpleasant, even if I'll reform in Gehenna. That is besides the inconveniences of a lost time and them being awfully nosy. You don't want that, do you, Majesty?"

Danny gave her a smirk, "Should have said so from the beginning," he said, "I think we can figure out something."

She didn't like what his face might have entailed. Suddenly he wrapped a hand around her shoulder, to which she was too stunned to react.

"You see, as long as you do a couple of things for me, I am fine with getting you a room and taking a couple of safety measures."

"Get off me, you pervert," she growled.

"Pervert? No, I am not. The things I will ask are trivial. No girl in my life was pulled into this against her will, trust me, I have standards. Unwilling partners are not fun, anyway. I mean, if you rape someone you have an output of an inanimate object, kicking you, screaming and suffering might I add, which is bad for your reputation and consciousness. You are just as well off buying a toy. So it's fine if you disagree. What I want you to do, dear, is to screw Mephisto's personal garden," Danny grinned, "Small favour, don't ya think? You ruin a couple of bonsais and we are even."

Sam's eyes widened, "You...want me to spite the Demon King of all people?"

"Yep."

"Who is more powerful than you are."

"Well, isn't that just question of the hour," Danny let go of her, "Whatever you do, I take the blame, so don't worry."

"You are insane, Phantom. To think that our entire domain has to depend on... an ever-vexing man-child!" She exclaimed with a flustered face.

"Yeah, yeah, no matter how sophisticated your insults are, repeating them ad nauseam won't do it any justice. See? I know smart words too. So, do we have a deal, Sam?"

"Fine," the ghost rolled her green eyes, "Since it is small and might end with you getting killed. I can't get inside the school, however."

"What do you mean?"

"Barrier, Majesty. The King of Time doesn't allow anybody in. I just hit a wall."

"Now that is interesting..."

That is how it went on that rather eventful day. No more pleasantries were exchanged, and for one night she had to stay near him. Because the bucket list was pretty full as it was and the tasks were so numerous all of a sudden. That's discarding the studies. What Danny had some time to do was buying her something to wear. Luckily apart from the eyes there was nothing giving her nature away, even the glow was near nonexistent and noticeable only in utter darkness. Just putting some goth clothes he had scooped in the nearest secondhand. He was a greedy king to some extent. He wasn't going to spend a lot on some random girl. Hot girl, but bitchy.

It was something out of "How I met your mother" show. Danny had modified the scale to the aforementioned one. As such, she was allowed to be bitchy as long as she was an eye candy. The rule was yet to fail him during multiple encounters. For example, Ember was eight in hotness and 9 in bitchiness respectively, a dating material, but with many problems. Had she toned down on her craziness, the things might have worked out. But yeah, her obsessions made it difficult. Phantom wondered just where Sam fell in this diagram. Her bitchiness so far was about five, because it was justified, and definitely hot, he would give her eight and a half. So, it was a blessed material. The problem was that she would rather kiss a skunk in her fairy meadow than him.

After getting rid of his newest acquaintance at the station close to the school, Danny went towards his dorm, suddenly feeling tired. The sun was already setting, so he had no intention of staying around for much longer. Upon remembering about the exams, though, he got thoughtful. Their very existence would be ruinous for his cover. After all, if he slacked, people would notice. If he passed, he would delve into that murky swamp even deeper. Had he left, the result would be the same as the former. Mephisto was aware of the stranglehold, Danny was too. Yet unlike Rin, he could always go wherever he wanted, even with exorcists around. He was a powerful being, strong enough to scare off the most. There was a reason even the least powerful kings were still around. As long as they stayed quiet, the exorcists stayed away.

Danny's problem was that he was not a traditional King. And thus the approach to him was bound to be unorthodox. And on top of that...he actually had people to care about. Exorcists were ruthless when it came to eradicating the spawns of Gehenna. And his sister was but a tool to them. That's what made Danny cautious. He didn't care what happened to him, but Jazz had to remain out of it.

In short, he was lost for the first time in a while, and he had to finagle his way around the issue. He would play along for now, and if Vatican pressed him against the wall, he would try to reason with them. Giving the responsibility in the hands of fate always was relaxing. When you know there is nothing you can do, just relax and wait. Danny liked that rule.

The following days were scarce in entertainment department. With a newly born sense of responsibility he actually listened to what Yukio had to say, and the first half of the lessons he didn't sleep. Albeit soon the teen succumbed to his boredom. In his defence, he was learning nothing new. The lectures had taken place beforehand at his household.

Danny's parents were exceptionally bright people, and their intelligence was only challenged by their eccentricity. They taught him more than any school for exorcists would ever do, even before the ectoplasm began to flow through the teen's veins. They theorised on the nature of demons, of their world, all the while educating their children on the matter, whether they wanted it or not. Parenting was not their strongest side, their stories made little Danny always sleep with a night lamp, shivering under the covers, but the they tried, you have to give them credit. Their magnum opus turned him the way he was, out of a simple mistake, but Phantom held no grudge. Sure, his life took the most drastic of turns, but it was not necessarily for worse. He may have become somewhat paranoid, rude, gained the traits fitting of a lowly delinquent due to his demonic part, but he finally grew a spine to stand up for himself and for others.

The latter part caught up to his mind during another lecture on Holy Scriptures. He had left his hometown to the bidding of fate. Should he have crossed that part about protecting others? Danny had long since convinced himself that it wasn't the case. It couldn't be considered protection when you physically kept someone from stepping into a bear trap after consistently telling them not to. It was fine first two times, but if they refused to listen and avoid the problem entirely — that was their problem. He was the king, nobody had the right to use him as their personal problem solver. And if the demons kept coming to that one town despite his orders — it therefore was their fault for getting caught and killed. What of the humans suffering from said demons? Well, he had no obligations before them. He was no firefighter or an ambulance driver, he was supposed to harm them, they should thank him for simple ignorance and occasional sympathy.

"Daniel-kun, would you kindly keep your eyes up front?"

"Huh?" Danny asked, looking at the plump lady teaching the subject. The amount of jewellery on her must have been doubling her weight.

"Please, refrain from zoning out during the class. Now, would you please read aloud what's written on the board?"

Phantom blinked and skimmed through the writing and his heart skipped a beat. Why of all things did it have to be that excerpt? Sighing internally, he braced himself. He was only a half-demon, he would manage. It was an experience one hardly forgets. Nothing too serious, but the discomfort was palpable. As he read through the lines, his legs turned completely stiff (since he was sitting, nobody noticed), the heat washed over him, but it soon was gone, as he was not a weakling to be incapacitated by a simple prayer. As he was done, the teacher nodded, but she wasn't totally pleased.

"Well, you can read at the very least. Can you tell me what exactly this was?"

"This is from the Prayer of Azariah," Danny said in a half-bored, half-tired tone. "Should I have sung it?"

"No, that's unnecessary. Yes, as Daniel here has mentioned..."

Phantom immediately zoned out again. He sometimes snapped out of it, for instance when Kamiki was unable to recite another psalm. Danny did make a mental note of how unfocused she was. It meant that there was something pressing on her mind. His instinct of finding weak spots was acting up. It was useful in case he did suddenly wish to help her, though, he had a keen eye. But that's the extent of it.

"Memorising things like that is just plain showing off."

It is strange that Danny decided to pay attention to his surroundings at this exact moment. The lesson was already over, so no wonder everyone was talking so lively, and him being between the arguing parties made sure that he heard everything correctly.

"Did you just say something?" Bon asked Kamiki in his usual pissed tone.

"I said that memorisation has absolutely nothing to do with academic ability!"

"Big talk for a girl who couldn't remember four lines."

"Come on, Bon, Kamiki-san is the best student in this class. She's just having a bad day, that's all."

"It's not that I can't memorise those line, I just choose not to! Who even wants to be an aria?!" Kamiki shouted, "They are completely defenceless while reciting. They are nothing but a useless baggage!"

"What the hell was that?! I'll have you know I am studying to become an aria!" Bon yelled in response.

Danny sighed and got up from his desk. This argument was going to give him headache.

"Alright, you two. Knock it off," he said, still sounding disinterested, "Save it for later."

"I don't recall asking you!" Both students raised their voice at him, yet Danny only smirked.

"See? Now you both hate me."

"Are ya asking to get punched, you ghost whisperer?" Bon readied his fist.

"Excuse me?" Danny asked, bewildered at the yet unheard title of his.

"An expected behaviour from a gorilla such as yourself," Kamiki crossed her hands.

"Ya know what?! I can't stand you, you know that?! Don't go laughing at other people's dreams!"

"Ah, yes, defeating Satan, wasn't it? Do you expect me to do anything but laugh at this joke?"

"Well, what about you, huh? What's your goal?!"

"G-goal?" Kamiki deflated, coming up with a response seconds after, "I have never told anything like this to others. Not that I would expect a show-off like you to understand!"

Danny noticed Yukio entering through the door and took this as a cue to disappear, for he wished to be no part of what would transpire. Nobody paid him attention, so it wasn't hard for him to turn invisible. The young teacher walked in at the right time to see the two arguing teens grabbing each other, moments before doing something regrettable. Yukio decided that they were going to regret the situation already. He decided to punish everyone present. Phantom, who exited the room, was grinning from one ear to another.

"See ya," he whispered and waved, not that they would see.

Exiting the school to get a breath of fresh air, the young half-ghost dropped on the grass, away from most people's eyes. Phantom knew that Yukio would be glad to punish him too, so he'd rather avoid the power-drunk kid for a while.

The rest of the day went by in a breeze. But, in the evening, the entire class was preoccupied with a very unusual punishment. Sitting in semi-circle on their knees, they had rocks placed on their legs. Those were Baryons — demons possessing inanimate objects that got heavier the longer you held them. Giving the students a lecture on collective responsibility and on how it was reasonable to punish even those uninvolved in the brewing fight, Yukio then proceeded to explain that the teamwork was essential for exorcists, because all specialties had their weaknesses, possible to be nullified by their teammates. Then, he declared that he would be leaving the dorm after locking the doors. And thus, for the next three hours, those rocks on the students' knees would not go anywhere. Just as the teens themselves.

"Three hours," Renzo moaned, "What is he, a monster?"

"Are you and teach seriously related!?" Bon asked incredulously.

"He is a good guy...I think..." responded Rin, sounding unsure, "Gee, I envy Danny."

"That bastard ditched us! And now he is probably laughing his ass off."

"Someone called for me?"

Everyone looked at the window, on which sill the named teen was sitting, his leg hanging down and him being busy drinking apple juice.

"And ye, I am laughing on the inside," Phantom smirked.

"How the hell did you get here?!"

"I climbed," Danny shrugged, "And the teach hasn't locked the windows. Reminds me of my earlier days."

"Why are you here? You have not been punished," Konekomaru asked timidly. He still got shivers from the guy. Those eyes looked so dead and too lively to be comfortable.

"As the four-eyes said. Teamwork is important. And I am here to cheer you on," the juice box began emitting slurping noises.

"Ain't ya a noble spirit," Bon grumbled loudly. "Why are you really here?"

"Fine. I may gloat just a bit. But I arranged a meeting at seven right here. I didn't know that the punishment was going to happen here."

Danny looked around, "Although the wards may just make it difficult. Guess I'll just postpone it...damn it, she doesn't have a phone..."

"What are you rambling about?" Rin raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing that concerns you guys. I would be more worried about being locked up while a dangerous demon lurks somewhere."

"Hey, Danny. You said you can sense 'em," the raven haired half-demon peaked up enthusiastically, "You will warn us when there is one nearby, right?"

Phantom shrugged, tossing the juice box out of the window, "Shouldn't be so hard."

The next hour was spent in relative silence. Everyone was keeping to their thoughts, while Danny went out and returned bearing gifts. Namely snacks. Nobody forbade the students from eating, especially since the dinner was out of the picture for a while.

"You ain't going to demand the return of the debt, aren't you?" Inquired Bon suspiciously.

"Keep your lunch money to yourself, Bonbon. I have my own allowance."

So much, in fact, that Jazz was able to study at the university without any care in the world. Azazel's coffers were seemingly endless.

"What I am wondering about, tho," Danny began eating chips. "Are these two."

He pointed at the two members of the class that did not interact with the rest at all. Furthermore, nobody heard them say a word during the studies. One was a kid with a sock puppet over his hand, another was a person dressed in a dark cloak. And here Phantom thought that he was the edgiest around here.

"You guys ain't the most sociable. Should we do what they call team building?"

"Being in the same team as the yellow gorilla is an opportunity I will pass on."

"Here we go again," Phantom sighed.

"What was that?! You got us into this mess, Kamiki!"

"Well, you are the one who was manhandling me by the chest."

"Guys...would you STOP ARGUING WITH ME IN THE MIDDLE?!" Rin asked, earning a snicker from the local ghostly resident.

"You really are one nasty piece of work," Bon ignored his classmate.

"Hah, I'm perfectly aware of that, and?"

"You will have every person around you runnin' for the hills acting like that."

Kamiki did not respond. Suddenly the silence was interrupted by Danny gasping. Everyone saw a gust of blue air escape his mouth.

"Is that..."

"We got company, everyone."

As he said this, the lights went out. Phantom, being the only one with easy access to it, took out the phone and activated the flashlight.

"Hm...it feels familiar..."

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, Danny slowly approached the door. He slowly opened it, staring into the dark corridor. Raising the phone, he met face to face with the demon whose face was sewn together piece by piece. Before the creature could do anything, Danny shut the door.

"Yep. The Naberius from the other day."

At this a rotting hand burst through the wooden obstacle, with Danny narrowly dodging it. Soon after the demon burst inside, and the teens quickly discarded the rocks from their knees, standing up. The demon then spewed black liquid all around the room, and the dark miasmas fell on everyone. Shiemi acted quickly, summoning her own creature. The blonde ordered the little plant to put up a barrier, and the wooden roots blocked half of the room, with Naberius at the other side.

"Where did those grow from?" Danny asked in bewilderment, scratching his chin. Demons worked in mysterious ways. "Good job, but it won't hold him forever. And there is also the second one, I see."

"Ye, you did great, Shiemi," Rin grinned, surprised himself.

At this moment the demon roared, and the sound of the wood cracking filled the air. Everyone but Danny and Rin started coughing.

"I feel hot all of a sudden..." Konekomaru mumbled.

"What's wrong guys?" Asked Rin in panic.

"Miasmas," Danny responded as if it explained everything. That secreted black liquid had this effect. "Don't treat it, you die."

"Why...are you two not affected?"

"Ugh...we drink milk?" Danny suggested weakly, before shaking his head, "Anyways. The second Shiemi passes out, you'll become someone's dinner. Any ideas?"

"I cannot reach Yukio," Rin muttered, putting away his phone, "That four-eye idiot."

Naberiuses began pounding at the roots with all they had.

"They're really going at it!" Bon shouted.

"Ghouls are more active in dark, eh," the half-demon said.

"Power shield," Danny smirked, continuing the line of thought.

"If we turn on the lights..."

"They will get weaker..."

"They will definitely follow after us..."

"Which is the best option."

Everyone blinked at the two teens talking in such perfect synch. They really were similar in more than their nearly identical appearance. Two half-demons fist pumped enthusiastically.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you two crazy?!" Exclaimed Bon.

"Don't ya worry, Bonnie!" Danny waved, approaching the roots. "We'll be back safe and sound."

"Yeah, I'm pretty strong," Rin smirked too, but then something dawned upon him. Was it a good idea to let Danny tag along with him?

Both teens jumped inside. The distraction worked only half-hazardly, though. As the two jumped out of the room, only one of the demons burst through, smashing through a part of the wall, and ran after the kids. The next problem arose pretty quickly — none of them knew where the power shield was. The Naberius not much as ran but clumsily lunged one time after another, trying to descend the staircase. The teens ran to the basement, where they simply assumed the shield would be. Before going forward, Danny shut the metal door of the underground corridor.

"It won't hold him off for long," Rin said.

"Enough time for us. Jeez, so much ruckus because of some wimp."

"You...did obliterate one pretty easily last time..."

They kept running, turning around the corner.

"Yep. But if my idea is correct, I am not supposed to do it again."

"But why!?"

"Later!"

The room they entered was for maintenance. Encased in metal, cold and spacious. It was odd that this room was located right under the dorm. Rin immediately went to the power shield.

"Which tumbler should I switch?"

"Just flip them all, we don't pay bills...look out!"

Rin spun around, facing the approaching demon, but it was blasted aside by a green beam. The beast fell over the railing, onto the floor below. The half demon growled, his teeth clenching.

"I've had enough of this!" He yelled, putting his hand on the blade, but hesitating. Danny was still here. And Phantom did notice the problem.

"What's wrong? It was about to get good!" Danny said, approaching the shield himself.

"I...he is down there, just switch the lights! I'll get him, you go help the others after this!" Rin exclaimed, jumping down.

"I'm sure they will be fine," Danny mumbled.

Everything was just too convenient. Naberiuses were too stupid to shut off the lights by themselves. Precisely shut off, not just smash the power shield or cut off the wires. It meant that there was probably a human around here, a summoner most probably. And he also needed to somehow get inside the dorm, which was impossible even for teachers other than Yukio. The locks could have been picked, but there was little point in that. The guy didn't want stealth by itself, otherwise a different demon would have been summoned. And judging from the power of Naberiuses, the summoner was no amateur, thus, there could be sneakier demons in their arsenal. All in all, Phantom reached his conclusion. The summoner had the key to the dorm.

Suddenly Danny heard especially loud noises from below, accompanied by blue light.

"Oh, showing the true colours, aren't we?" Danny mumbled. "Guess there is no point in playing dumb anymore."

He then vanished from sight, but did not go anywhere. Instead, he jumped down as well, landing soundlessly, now faced with an interesting scene. Rin's appearance was different, more demonic, if one was to put it bluntly, and Danny was blunt. The teen had longer pointed ears, his tail was hanging out...and there were blue flames everywhere, even on his head there were two small spots where the tongues were intense. The flames that used to belong to only one demon in existence. But Phantom was not baffled by this, his attention was solely on the main perpetrator, and now he was even less surprised. It was Igor Neuhaus, that Polish teacher that taught summoning at school.

"...I deduced that you would not use your flames in front of everyone, so I lured you in here, Rin Okumura, Son of Satan."

"You are...one of our teachers...It has been you all this time?"

"It seems so," Danny said, emerging out of thin air in front of everyone, "This makes awfully much sense."

"You! Where the hell did you come from?"

"I jumped," Danny shrugged, before looking at his petrified companion, "Sup, Rin. Gonna kick his ass or what?"

"Are you...fine with..."

"Hey, we both are freaks of nature."

Rin gave a smile of appreciation, before glaring daggers at the teacher and gripping the blade tighter. The momentary silence, during which Danny noticed the approaching Naberius. Seeing where his hotheaded friend was looking, namely Neuhaus himself, he decided to focus on the beast. The silence was broken by Rin, who, with a loud yell lunged at the older man. But Neuhaus was swift, and his longsword blocked the hits of the amateur' blade. Phantom turned his head towards the demon. As it was about to swing its arm, a European sword, different from Rin's katana, appeared in Danny's hand. At the last moment he swung the weapon, piercing the demon, whilst getting an odd sense of deja vu. To finish it off, he decided to add a little fire of his own, utilising the demon's weakness. While still inside the body of the creature, the sword ignited in now emerald flames. With a yell, Danny moved the sword upwards.

The black blood gushed at him, but the teen ignored it, continuing to cut the beast. It roared, hitting Danny and launching him into the blue fire.

"Danny!" Rin exclaimed, before being knocked away as well.

"Pathetic! I expected more from you two, but it seems..."

"Good Lord, tune down the hamminess, teach."

Phantom stood up, seemingly ignoring the flames around him. In the darkness both the teacher and Rin saw the green eyes, glowing as bright as a neon sign. His ears had grown pointier too, and the hair seemed paler somewhat.

"You would make a shitty actor."

Neuhaus glared at him, seeing his demon churned inside out. Then, all of a sudden, he smirked. Before jumping off into the shadows.

"Hey! Get back here!" Rin yelled, jumping to his feet. But there was nobody there. "Damn it!"

Danny fully regained his human appearance, the disappeared flames allowed him to approach his friend and pat him on the shoulder.

"Come now, we should turn on the lights."

"Yeah, right! But...are you really fine with my secret? I am the Son of Satan!"

"So what? And I am an upstart King of Spirits. We both would be unwelcome if something gets out. And Satan doesn't like me either. So I was fine with showing you."

"You what?"

"Come on, the rest is dying up there and I don't need more subjects."

When they turned on the lights, the teens ran upwards, and Rin had a shit ton of thoughts circulating through his head, as he did not divert his eyes from Danny once. On the required floor they heard the noises of fighting, the cracking sounds, the yells. However, when they entered the room, it was all over, the demon evaporated before their very eyes.

"Oh," Danny smiled, "You got it covered."

"You are alright..." Bon mumbled in surprise, exhausted to the core.

"Yeah," Rin's boasting side prevailed, "We took care of that..."

"YOU IDIOTS!" Bon only punched the nearest half-demon, "WERE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?!"

"Why..." Rin moaned, lying on the floor.

Danny smirked, "Believe me, this game was rigged from the start."

"What do you mean?" Renzo asked.

"May I borrow your K'rik for a second?"

The pink-haired boy handed him the metal staff. The next second Danny swung it, hitting the ceiling with all he had. The planks broke, and then Mephisto Pheles of all people fell down, landing on his legs nonetheless.

"Well...that was unexpected," he said.