Shut Up

"You three are in so much trouble!" the middle-aged, strict looking woman scolded the haired teens sat in front of her perfectly organized desk. She removed her hands from the desktop and straightened to her full height, her spine straight and rigid. Composing herself, the woman smoothed the stray strands of her graying, black hair back into the tight bun she was never seen without. Her lips became a pencil-thin line as she scrutinized the trouble makers before her.

"I'd expect something like this from you, Dante," she said darkly, her glare shooting to the boy on the far left of the three.

The one called Dante, who was leaning back in his chair so it was only supported by two of its four legs, just smirked slightly at his headmistress's statement. Once satisfied with the even angrier expression the headmistress gave him, he shifted his gaze back to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the round office.

Knowing that would be all the reaction she would get from Dante, she turned to his blue-clad, older twin brother, Vergil. A soft sigh escaped her pursed lips, her expression softening slightly. "What I don't understand is how you could get caught up in something of this magnitude, Vergil. Top student in your class, never gotten in trouble, even for anything minor, and a prefect to top it all off."

Vergil kept his face serene, even though on the inside he was battling with intense rage and fear of the inevitable punishment. "Headmistress," he began in his usual smooth, steady voice, "these two imbeciles have been pranking me all day. I simply lost my temper."

The woman just shook her head in disappointment, not knowing how to respond. She finally turned to the third and youngest boy. "Anything you wish to say for yourself, Nero?"

Nero merely shook his head, continuing his examination of his hands, which were clasped tightly together in his lap. A soft glow was emanating through the red armor covering the blue skin of his right arm, revealing the shame written all over the youth's face.

Silence overcame them as the woman rubbed her temples in frustration, her eyes clamped shut. Finally, her eyes re-opened and she broke the silence. "So. Who wants to tell me what happened?"

"Nero," Vergil suggested tersely, eying the youngest with the tiniest bit of malice in his ice blue eyes.

Nero's head shot up quickly, his eyes wide and fearful. He opened his mouth to speak - either to begin explaining the situation or to refuse, no one was really sure - but all that came from the boy's mouth was a small, strangled cry. His cheeks turned a rosy color and he immediately clamped his mouth shut again.

The cold gaze of the headmistress returned to the teen in red. "Well Dante. Looks like it will have to be you who explains all that led up to this point. And I mean everything."

Dante returned his eyes to the older woman. Deciding it would be pointless to try and wiggle his way out of this predicament, Dante groaned and let the front legs of his chair hit the floor with a thud. "Alright, you wanna know what happened, Violet?" A grin split his face when the headmistress's glare intensified and her lips became an even thinner line at the use of her first name. Then he began his tale, the mischievous smile still on his face. "Well, it all started with a bucket..."

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"Got it up there yet, kid?" Dante grunted as he held the fourteen year old on his shoulders. He felt his knees starting to give under the younger half demon's . "You're not exactly light as a feather, ya know..."

Nero poked his tongue out in concentration as he attempted to perch the bucket full of water on the door to his, Dante's, and Vergil's dorm . He wanted so bad to kick his older companion in the head - it would have been easy, considering he was standing on Dante's shoulders. But he knew that wouldn't have ended well for either of them.

"Alright, quit your bitching. It's up there," Nero announced bitterly once he was sure the bucket wasn't going to topple unprovoked; he wouldn't hear the end of it from Dante if it had.

Dante let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure how much longer he would have been able to hold Nero. Gripping his youngest roommate's ankles, Dante tossed him onto his bed, causing Nero to yelp in surprise. "Thanks kid."

Nero glared at the older demon as he flopped down on his own bed and dug one of his porno magazines out from under his mattress. "You didn't have to fucking throw me, asshole." He pushed himself into a sitting position rather than lying down as he had landed. "And I hate it when you call me kid. You're only two years older than me."

Dante just shrugged Nero's comment off and flipped to a random page in his magazine, not really paying attention to its content. He was more interested in the sounds outside the dorm and smirked to himself when he heard footsteps ascending the stairs.

An annoyed groan escaped Vergil's lips as he climbed the last few steps up to his . He was just returning from informing the headmistress of Dante's late night adventure to the kitchen. As expected, Vergil apprehending his trouble-making twin had resulted in an argument; Dante claimed Vergil was being a royal dick for not letting his own twin brother slide for something like this, and Vergil countering by notifying his brother that he was merely doing his job as a prefect.

Vergil pushed the door open. Less than a second after he had, ice cold water plummeted down onto his head, drenching his hair and the blue t-shirt he was wearing. Before Vergil could even think to yell at the two boys in the room, the bucket that had held the water struck him in the head. The eldest half demon cursed loudly and kicked the wooden container into the wall, shattering it.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Dante began laughing loudly at his twin's misfortune. "That's what you get for being such a twat, Verg."

The blue clad teen glared at his sibling through his now limp, dripping hair. Realizing that he now looked like his twin more than ever (which in his mind was unacceptable), Vergil took a deep, calming breath and flipped his hair back to its original, spiky state. "Real mature Dante."

Dante pouted slightly, not getting the reaction he had wanted from Vergil. He had half hoped his twin would at least throw a punch his way.

Vergil opened his dresser and pulled a dry shirt from its depths. He slipped the the wet garment off and quickly replaced it with the dry one. Without a second glance back at his roommates, Vergil said, "I'll be in the library. Try not to need me."

Once Vergil had left the room and was out of earshot, Dante closed his magazine and theatrically launched himself off the end of his bed.

Nero, who had watched Vergil in silent fear after the bucket had fallen and had remained that way until the devil boy had exited the dorm, raised an eyebrow at Dante as he wiggled underneath his bed. "What the hell are you up to now?"

Turning his head to the left, Dante spotted his special duffel bad which held all of his practical jokes. "Aha!" He quickly seized the bag and slid out from the dark, dusty underbelly of his bed. After brushing the dust from his red shirt, Dante unzipped the bag and pulled out two air horns, tossing one to Nero.

Nero caught the item with his devil bringer, even more confused than he was a few seconds ago. He always figured Dante had a screw loose somewhere but this just seemed to confirm his theories. "Why the fuck do you have these?"

"Because." Dante bounded to the door with his air horn in hand. "Now put your sling on and let's go. I'll explain the plan when we get there."

The younger teen glared at Dante. He hated it when he ordered him around like some kind of side kick. Plus, he sure as hell didn't want to be part of one of Dante's hare-brained schemes. "Maybe I don't want to be part of this plan of yours."

Shrugging, Dante threw the door open, causing it to hit the wall with a bang, and took a step out. "Alright kid. But I might just have to tell that girl you seem to be so fond of that you moaned my name in your sleep the other night." He turned back to smirk at his young companion, knowing he wouldn't be able to resist participating in his latest plot now.

Nero's mouth fell open slightly and a blush crept into his pale cheeks. Fully aware of the fact that Dante wouldn't hesitate to divulge that secret, Nero shot one last death glare in Dante's direction and slipped the sling on, concealing his devil bringer from the rest of the student body.

The devil in red chuckled as Nero sulked passed him and flipped him the bird. "You made the right choice. Well, unless you want that chick thinking you're ," said Dante as he hurried down the stairs after Nero.

"Just shut the fuck up and lead me to where ever the hell you plan on taking me," Nero snarled. He stopped in his tracks and allowed the older boy to take the lead.

The two white haired half demons descended the many staircases and wound through the seemingly endless hallways of their school until they reached the library. Dante stopped a few yards in front of the wide archway of the library and surveyed his surroundings for a place he and Nero could hide until their prey showed himself. All that occupied the hallway were the lights hanging from the ceiling and suits of armor and a few paintings lining the walls. Dante stroked his chin thoughtfully, then stated, "I guess that will have to do."

Nero glanced down at the air horn clutched in his human hand, then at the entrance to the library. Putting two and two together, the younger face palmed. "We're using these on Vergil, aren't we?"

With a grin, Dante ruffled Nero's hair with his free hand. "You're smarter than you let on kid." Ignoring the scowl Nero gave him, Dante strode over to the nearest suit of armor and pressed himself to the stone wall next to it, out of sight to anyone leaving the library. "Now, you hide over there next to that hunk of junk and when Vergil comes out, we'll jump out and blow the air horns in his ears. Easy enough, right?"

Even though Nero wanted to argue and throw insults at Dante, he held his tongue and mirrored Dante's actions. The youngest half devil occupied himself with reading the warning label on the air horn several times as they waited for Dante's twin to exit the library. In the middle of his sixth read through, footsteps echoed through the hallway. Nero averted his gaze back to Dante, who smirked evilly and nodded to him.

Vergil walked down the hallway with a few books tucked under his right arm, feeling much calmer than he had when he left the dorm earlier that afternoon. Considering the library was the only place he could get away from Dante, it was his usual hideaway when his twin was being irritating. He laughed softly to himself as he recalled the first time he had tried to get Dante to read a book; Dante had read through a single page before chucking the reading material at the wall and vowing to never pick up a book again. That, of course, didn't last. Even he has to read sometime.

The demon in blue was harshly forced out of his reverie as Dante and Nero sprang from their hiding place and pressed the buttons on their air horns next to his face. The loud blare filled the hallway, the sound bouncing off the walls. Vergil let out a short yell and threw his books into the air, which landed a few feet behind him.

The blasts from the air horns rang through Vergil's ears and remained there for at least thirty seconds. When his hearing returned, the hyena-like laughter of his brother filled his ears. Vergil's normal calm demeanor was instantly shattered, being replaced by blinding rage at the sound. Without a second thought, he wrenched a sword from one of the suits of armor's grip. By now, Dante had calmed down a bit and was watching his brother curiously.

Before Dante could even register what was happening, Vergil shot toward him, sword held out in front and aimed directly for Dante's torso. The younger twin's eyes widened and he moved to get out of the way of Vergil's charge. But he wasn't swift enough, and the blade pierced Dante in the left side of his stomach. He felt the sword pass through his back as if he were made of butter and let out a cry of pain. Blood began to seep out of the wound, dripping to the floor.

Vergil yanked his weapon free from his brother's flesh and watched him sink to the floor, his face a mask of cold fury. He turned to Nero, who was staring at the eldest of the three half demons in pure horror. With a smirk, Vergil lunged at Nero and slashed his blade through the air, narrowly missing the boy's chest.

Nero watched his sling fall to the floor, his devil bringer now on display for anyone to see. But, he couldn't be concerned with this minor detail now, for Vergil was preparing to bring the sword down on his shoulder. In that split second of realization, he reached out with his deformed hand and caught Vergil's weapon. In Vergil's moment of shock, Nero jerked the blade out of his hand and kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him flying backward to land on top of his twin.

"What is the meaning of this?!" The three looked in the direction of the stern and all too familiar voice to find their headmistress staring at the scene completely stricken with a mixture of terror and anger. Dante, whose laceration had healed up by now, shoved Vergil off of him and the two stood up simultaneously. Nero instinctively hid his devil bringer behind his back. None of them answered their headmistress's inquiry.

The woman's hawk-like gaze darted between each of the teenagers, and when it finally encountered the thick, red liquid staining the tiled floor, all the horror that had been on her face was gone and only vexation remained. "To my office all of you! Now!" she demanded, fighting to keep her tone level. The white haired demons scrambled to comply with her wishes, marching in single file to their headmistress's office.

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"And here we are," Dante finished. He stared at the woman stood behind her desk through his silver hair, waiting for her reaction.

The circular office fell into silence again. Finally, the boys' headmistress spoke again. "Do you three have any idea what would have happened if that little scene had been witnessed by another student?" No one replied, so she continued in her usual authoritarian voice. "Chaos. Absolute chaos. The terms to me bringing you into this school from the kindness of my heart was that you keep the fact that you three are half demons a secret by any means necessary."

"Well, technically it's still a secret, Vi," Dante pointed out with a smirk. "So in all fairness, you can't kick us out." Vergil punched his twin in the shoulder.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," the headmistress replied stiffly, almost as if it were painful to admit something as inane as Dante being correct. "But, you will all be receiving detentions of cleaning the classrooms for the next two months."

Dante and Nero both groaned, earning them glares from Vergil and the headmistress. "You two should be grateful," Vergil growled menacingly. "She could be expelling us right now. Then where would we be?"

Nero just crossed his arms and stared into his lap, pouting slightly. Dante rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Suck up" under his breath.

The headmistress sat back down in her chair. "Your detentions will start tomorrow after classes let out. You will begin on the bottom floor and work your way up." She sighed softly and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Now go back to your dormitory. I don't want to see or hear any of you until dinner."

The three half devils left the office quietly and remained uncommunicative until they reached their room. "Well, I think we've all learned a valuable lesson today," said Dante as he laid down on his bed. Nero and Vergil raised an eyebrow at him as they too flopped down on their beds. "Vergil shouldn't try to stop me from getting a midnight snack. It will only get all three of us in trouble."

Nero chuckled softly, but Vergil was nowhere near amused. With an annoyed expression, Vergil said, "Dante, for once in your life, just shut the hell up."

The red devil smiled slyly at his brother and mock saluted him without a . I guess it won't hurt to do what my brother wants just this once.