Futari Mariko had heard all the rumors about her Japanese Literature professor Kamijou-sensei. People said he wasn't human, that he had once killed a man (or an entire village, as one rumor went), that the only reason he kept his job was that he was blackmailing the dean, Miyagi-sensei, or both, and even that he sexually prayed on teenage girls. She didn't believe any of them. As the one student in his entry-level class that actually seemed to be interested in literature, she could sympathize with him every time he flung a piece of chalk across the room.

Of course, no one would believe her.

"Mariko-san, I don't see why this is such a big deal for you," her friend, Tadashi, whispered as Kamijou rambled on about the significance of their latest book. Mariko kept looking to the front to make sure he couldn't hear them. "Don't tell me you have a crush on Kamijou the Devil."

"I'm too old for a crush, Tada-kun," she said in an admonishing tone, even though he had hit the nail on the head. The boy winced at the nickname, but Mariko had called him that since they met at orientation some months ago; it didn't look like it was changing. "And anyway, I have a way to figure out just who he is."

Tadashi rolled his eyes and put his chin in his hands, staring at the kana scrawled across the board. "What, you're gonna follow him after his last class?" He didn't expect Mariko to be nodding when he looked back at her. "Are you insane?"

"Quiet up there!" Kamijou yelled, and before Tadashi could duck like most students did, an eraser hit him square on the forehead. It even still had chalk dust, and Tadashi and Mariko coughed and spluttered.

Kamijou went back to his lecture, and Mariko looked at the clock, ignoring Tadashi's whines. Just five more minutes.

When Kamijou finally ended the lecture and told them all to go the hell home, Mariko was hesitant. She didn't want a lot of people see her rush down to talk with Kamijou the Devil or she'd become part of the rumor mill. But this was something she had to do.

"Ah, Kamijou-sensei," she said when she got down there. Tadashi was still up at their table, and if Mariko had turned, she'd have known he was looking at her incredulously. "I wanted to apologize for Tada-kun. He isn't stupid on purpose." She bowed, and Tadashi yelled something about her being a traitor.

Kamijou looked like he wanted to say something sarcastic, but he stopped himself. Mariko was his best student, and he actually kind of liked her. Not that he would admit it in a court of law after swearing on a copy of Bashou's poems.

"Yes, well," he said instead, adjusting his glasses. "Just keep him under control. Have a good weekend, Futari-san." He picked up his materials at that and muttered something about making Miyagi do all the work because dammit, he had a life, too.

Mariko followed him, though. "Kamijou-sensei!" she said when he continued down the hall, ignoring her. "Do you have any more classes after this?"

He finally stopped outside the door to the office he shared with his senior professor, Miyagi, looking only slightly annoyed. "No," he said. "I need to go home, Futari-san. If you need help with something, I'm sure Miyagi-sensei can talk to you about it." Then he turned and opened the office door. Mariko couldn't see inside, but Kamijou took two steps, swore loudly, and backed right back out. "On second thought, walk with me, Futari-san."

"What's the matter?" she said, staring at the door curiously.

"Something unfit for innocent, virgin eyes." Kamijou's eye twitched as he took off his glasses and stored them in a case he took out of his briefcase. Without them, Mariko thought he actually looked more human.

"Are you a virgin, Kamijou-sensei?" Mariko asked before she could stop herself. It would make sense: he was sexually frustrated because he was a healthy man in his twenties and didn't have any kind of release.

Kamijou's eye twitched at that, and he actually threw his glasses case at Mariko. It hit her square on the shoulder. "That is not something appropriate to discuss with my students," he said.

"So then…" Mariko picked up the case and gave it back to her professor, none the worse for wear. "Do you have a wife?"

"Do I look like a married man?" Kamijou snapped, stuffing his glasses back into his briefcase. "I will see you on Monday, Futari-san." And then he left her where they had been talking a few feet away from his office.

Mariko had to follow Kamijou, but she was curious about what was going on in that office that could shock the great Kamijou the Devil. So, keeping one eye on her retreating professor, she snuck up to the door and pressed her ear to it.

Silence. And then…

"Ah, Shinobu-chin!" Wasn't that the voice of Miyagi? Mariko blushed furiously and ran for it.

xxx

Mariko wasn't familiar with this part of town. She had crept up behind Kamijou when he wasn't looking to see what station he was buying a subway ticket for and had done the same. She then proceeded to take a seat on the other side of the car from him. She had brought a hat and pair of large sunglasses, but one look at her reflection in the recently-cleaned window made her realize how conspicuous she actually looked.

That, of course, didn't mean she was taking them off when she sat down at a table in the café Kamijou stopped in. She ordered a cup of tea and stared at Kamijou over the top of it. He was grading papers, from what she could tell, but he kept glancing across the street. All she could see was a flower shop. What was so interesting about it?

At one point, a tall man with black hair and a kind smile came out to water some of the front displays, and his eyes locked with Mariko. He eyed her baseball hat and reflective sunglasses, an amused smile playing at his lips. She blushed and hunched down, putting her full attention on her tea until he went back inside. When she looked up, Kamijou was looking behind him, trying to figure out what the man had been so amused about. Thankfully, he paid her no attention.

It was getting dark, and Mariko was almost ready to give up when her cell phone rang. It was Tadashi.

"I'm kind of busy, Tada-kun," she said, keeping her eyes on her professor. He was glancing at his watch and eying the flower shop, as if expecting something to happen.

"Your mom called me to ask why you weren't home, you know," Tadashi said.

Mariko wasn't paying attention, though. That same man from before was leaving the flower shop now and walking towards the café. "I'll call you back, Tada-kun." She hung up without waiting for a response, and she quickly opened a newspaper so she could inconspicuously watch what was unfolding before her.

"Hiro-san!" the man called, and Mariko looked around, trying to figure out who he was talking to.

Then she remembered. Her class schedule had listed Kamijou as Kamijou Hiroki.

"You didn't have to wait for me, you know," the man said, approaching Kamijou's table with a warm smile. The professor looked flustered as he put away the papers he had been looking at.

"Well, we haven't seen each other for three days, because of your day shifts at the hospital," he said. Mariko's eyes went wide. Was he blushing? "A-and anyway, I had to get out of the office early because of… extenuating circumstances."

"I'm not complaining, Hiro-san," he said, which just made Kamijou blush more. "I got paid today. Would you like to go out to eat?"

"Stupid brat, I told you to save your money." Kamijou started walking at that, but he didn't get far. The tall man wrapped him in a hug from behind. When Kamijou turned to tell him off, he kissed him. "Nowaki!"

"I'm just happy to see my Hiro-san," he said, letting the man go.

Kamijou looked like literally the only thing going through his mind was "…". "We can get takeout," he said, ducking his head. "I've been sitting in this stupid café for three hours."

Mariko was speechless as her professor and the tall man he had called Nowaki left the café, hand-in-hand. When she had decided to tail him, that was not even remotely close to what she expected to see.

xxx

Futari Mariko had heard all the rumors about her Japanese Literature professor, Kamijou-sensei. He wasn't human, he was a pedophile, he blackmailed people. But, she mused as she sat there in his class Monday afternoon, none of them involved him having a tall, male lover who stopped to get him flowers from the shop he worked at, or that Kamijou the Devil could actually smile, given the right circumstances.

Tadashi wouldn't believe her when she told him, so she had one final trap to catch him in.

"Ah, Kamijou-sensei!" she said as she approached his desk after class. She had a distinct feeling of déjà vu, only this time, Tada-kun was beside her to make sure he had no way of denying what their professor said.

Kamijou looked up, probably getting that same feeling. "What is it this time, Futari-san?"

"How's Nowaki doing?"

"Just fine," he said, evening out his papers. Then he realized what he had said, and he froze in his place. That terrible glare that Miyagi said would give him permanent wrinkles crossed his face, and Mariko had the sense to take Tadashi by the arm and run for it.

"I'll see you in class, professor!"