Disclaimer: I do NOT own Beelzebub! It belongs Tamura-sensei…

Dedication: This story is for all Oga & Hilda fans out there. I also want to thank you all for encouraging me to write further stories for Beelzebub, dear amazing readers.

A/N: This story has no bearing on demons! I hope that you'll like it as much as my first one… ENJOY! ^_^

A Father, A Lover

She came to me one morning,
one lonely Sunday morning,
her long hair flowing in the mid-winter wind.
I know not how she found me, for in darkness I was walking,
and destruction lay around me from a fight I could not win.

"Lady in Black" – by Uriah Heep

Chapter 1: The Lady in Black

A taxi stopped in front of the huge tower building at an isolated quarter of the town. The occupant took her small bag, got off, and wanted to leave when the driver shouted behind her. "Hey Miss, you forgot to pay the bill."

The blonde woman turned back and glanced at the taxi driver behind her. No wonder that she forgot it since it was her first time travelling a taxi. Otherwise, it would have always been her personal driver, who brought her from one place to another. She fetched her purse out of her bag but didn't find enough cash to pay. Looking briefly at her right hand, she removed the piece of jewelry from her ring finger and thrust it into the driver's hand in return. Then, she turned away and wanted to leave again when the driver called her one more time with a quivering voice. "M-Miss…"

The young woman just stood there and looked at the driver. The latter still couldn't believe what he was holding in his trembling hand. It was a pricy ring of white gold with a tiny diamond on it, a gemstone which he had only seen on TV so far. "Is she really going to pay with this small fortune?" he thought. In fact, the ring was costly enough to buy dozens of the taxi itself. The driver didn't know what to do and started to stutter.

A cold breeze let her long, golden hair take to the skies as she observed the driver. Quite unimpressed by his reaction, she took off her sunglasses and revealed her green eyes between the black hut and her bangs. She glared icily at the driver and spoke in a pissed mood. "It's enough to pay the bill, isn't it?"

Her words were like a single threat that it gave him the creeps. The driver couldn't help but staying silent and nodded stiffly. The woman didn't see any reason to stay longer and put her glasses on. After looking left and right, she hurried to the huge building and went in.

The taxi driver looked at her retreating figure covered in a dark leather coat. As soon as she was out of sight, he leaned back in his seat and gulped heavily, thinking about what happened in the last two minutes. "Who the hell was that woman with the demonic aura?" he thought. He wanted to get a grip on the steering wheel to calm down when he felt a firm object pressing against his palm. The diamond ring was still resting in his hand. Without a second thought, he decided to leave the place instantly and forget about the encounter with the mysterious woman. He turned the key and was about to put the pedal to the metal when he shot a last glance at the building wonderingly. "Was she running away from someone?"

The blonde woman stood impatiently in front of the elevator and pressed the button repeatedly. The machine seemed to be at the top floor, the fifteenth to be more precisely, and it stopped several times on its way downstairs. Since she couldn't afford it to waste more of her precious time, she decided to take the stairs even if it meant to climb up until the top floor. She seemed to have a streak of bad luck today and walked quickly to the stairs. "It couldn't get much worse than that." she thought. However, she didn't know that she was fatally wrong.

It happened in a split second and she didn't know what occurred to her until she landed on the ground. She only saw a silhouette of a man coming rapidly from outside just when she was about to enter the staircase. He punctiliously tackled the woman because he wasn't able to slow down at his rate of almost 40 kilometers per hour. Fortunately, the impact didn't blow her disguise but she could feel the pain at her backside.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw the cause of the impact. It was a young man who held the back of his head and gritting his teeth. Although his head was bowed and he tried to hide the pain, she could see the red liquid flowing down his face. The woman wondered why he was injured to the extent of bleeding whereas she seemed to be all right aside from the less pain here and there. Then, she had a rough guess on what was going on. "Don't tell me that…" When she lifted her head to look behind her, she saw the trail of blood on the wall and immediately understood what had happened. "He… tried to protect me and… banged his head against the wall?"

The dark-haired man slowly lifted his head and revealed his bay-colored eyes. He caught a glimpse of the woman in front of him and looked around then. It seemed that he was as surprised as she was and tried to sum up the situation. The woman wanted to ask whether he was fine, but it was the young man with his loud yelling who broke the silence first. "Whaaaaaaaaat the hell…!"

The woman didn't know why he was freaking out all of a sudden and followed his gaze to the ground. She lost her poise when she saw that important documents fell out of her bag, lying on the ground now and soaked with milk. "No way…" She glared at the downfallen person in front of her and shouted at him. "Just look what you have done!"

The man couldn't believe what he just heard. "ME? You are the one not looking where you go!" he replied as loudly as her.

"How would I know that a maniac was about to crash into me like a bugged out ogre?"

"Ogre…?" A vein popped out of his head. "Put that damn glasses of yours down and perhaps, you'd be able to distinguish a human from an ogre!"

"No, thanks! I'd rather spare my eyes your nasty sight!" She tried to pick her wet documents up but all in vain. The officials of her new school wouldn't accept them in their current state anyway. "It's not that I have already enough to do and must go to the copy shop additionally now!" she added sarcastically.

"Who cares about your fucking documents and that bloody copy shop round the corner? Do you have any idea how many miles I had to walk to get that damn milk?"

"Milk?" The woman was stunned. "All this tantrum is just about milk?"

"It's not 'just milk'!" the young man snorted. "It's special and expensive Alpine milk that you can only find in a single shop at the other end of the town!"

She couldn't believe her eyes. "That fool really cries over leak milk?" Five minutes ago, she had a very different impression of him: some kind of a knight in shining armor who endangered his own life and got hurt to safe her. However, beauty was only skin-deep! In her eyes, he seemed to be just a crybaby bellyaching about milk! "How deep has manhood sunken…?" she murmured to herself.

Hearing her last words clearly, the proud man in front of her couldn't just ignore that. "What was that you little…"

Before he could finish his words of protest, the woman pulled the green silk scarf around her neck with a fitful movement and pressed it on his face. "Stop bawling around and clean the mess up! Your body fluid dirties the place even more than it already is!" The woman stood up, picked up her bag and went to the elevator.

The young man, who nearly choked on the intense scent of vanilla, removed the scarf harshly and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that the woman was already gone. However, the loud sound of her high heels clanged through the whole hallway. He felt the urge to go after her but thought better of it. His gaze wandered to his hand with the green scarf stained in a dark color in parts. It was just then that the man noticed his light injury on his temple.

"Tsk, that stuck-up bitch…" Adjusting himself to a kneeling position, he began to gather the soaked papers but they were past remedy now. Only the left top corners of the sheets were still dry and the writing there wasn't as washy as somewhere else, revealing one part of her name. "Hilda…" he read out. Furthermore, there was a small case which probably flew a few meters away due to the vehemence of the clash and landed behind a plant pot. The man lifted the object and opened it. After seeing its content, he pocketed it with an evil smirk forming on his face.

The young man entered his apartment and closed the door behind. "I'm baaack." he said in a monotonous tone, like a tired father coming home from his job.

Another person came running from the living room and signed to him to be quiet. "Oga, where have you been? Do you have an idea how long I've been waiting for you?" he asked in a low voice.

"What kind of greeting is that? Are you my wife or my mother?" hissed the annoyed Oga.

"Don't give me that shit! You know that I have a date today and you promised me to come back half an hour ago!"

"Oi, oi! Calm down, Furuichi. You know that the busses don't drive regularly on Sundays. I had to hoof it."

Furuichi arched a brow and looked at Oga with a skeptical expression. The latter, who didn't know what was going on on his friend's mind for the moment, looked back questioningly. "Oga… are you alright? You seem somehow… different. What's with that content expression?"

"Hm? Is that what you dream of at night?" was Oga's response, as if he wouldn't know what his perverted friend was dreaming of at night. He went to a random drawer and stored the scarf and the small case there, but not before Furuichi caught a glimpse of the green cloth. He just wanted to ask Oga where he found it but another thing caught his interest.

"There you got another injury. The people from the other school again? Do I need to worry about it?" Furuichi asked although he already knew his answer.

"Hell no! It's nothing like that this time…" Oga smirked at the thought of the blonde woman again. He sensed that Furuichi opened his mouth for another question so he acted faster and went on. "How about you? Did everything go well during my absence?"

"Yeah yeah, he's still asleep but that aside, where did you get that scarf from, Oga?" Furuichi asked the question that Oga tried hard to avoid for the last couple of minutes.

"What's with that interrogation, idiot? Weren't you in a hurry a moment ago?" Oga reminded.

The scales fell from Furuichi's eyes. "Oh no, my daaaaate!" He ran past Oga to put on his shoes. Before he left the apartment, Oga stopped him on his way.

"Furuichi…" he called out for his friend, who almost tripped, coming to a stop. When the rushing Furuichi turned back, he had a 'What now!' expression on his face. His feature changed when he saw Oga's mouth curving to a rare but honest smile. "Thanks, dude. I owe you one."

Furuichi appreciated his gratitude. Of course, he would help his best friend. After all, it was a chance for Furuichi to pay back for Oga's countless helps during middle schooldays, when Oga had beaten up several wretches who had troubled Furuichi back then. Nevertheless, the current kind side of Oga was so out-of-the-way, that it even scared Furuichi. He really wondered what caused the sudden change in his attitude. It might have something to do with that mysterious green scarf. Instead of asking him directly, Furuichi tried to look cool himself and asked. "What's with this sudden softness, Oga? Your opponent must have landed a big strike directly on your head."

"Get going already, you moron!" Oga shut the door so that Furuichi would finally disappear. Before entering the living room, he threw a glance at the drawer and murmured. "Yeah, a big strike."

Hilda entered her new home which was even in a better state than she thought. It was empty, just like she wanted. There wasn't a single thing that reminded her of her old, wealthy life in luxury. Nevertheless, it might be this void and a calm atmosphere that she always longed.

A new life.

She put her bag aside and went to open one of the windows. The view wasn't one of the best she had ever seen but as long as it was far away from the town center, it was fine. She inhaled the fresh air and enjoyed the peacefulness and silence for almost half an hour.

"BUWAAAAAAH!"

A noise made her wince and brought back the woman absorbed in thought. Assuming that the noise came from outside, she closed the window to make it stop.

But it didn't.

It was so close… probably next door. She went outside to assure herself that she didn't hear wrong. On the hallway, she could clearly hear it again.

It was a baby.

A baby was crying next door but why didn't anybody rock him to sleep again? Hilda got curious and drew nearer to the only other apartment on the top floor. She noticed that the door wasn't closed so she entered after a moment of hesitation.

Even if her own apartment wasn't endowed with furniture yet, it looked more habitable than her neighbors' did. It seemed as if nobody tidied up there for ages! The kitchen was the worst since there was not a single clean plate therein. The dirty dishes were dammed on the table or in the sink, waiting for a person to wash. She saw that much by only looking for a few seconds and didn't dare to get any further in the kitchen. Ignoring its state for the moment, she went straight to the room ahead that was probably the living room. On her way, she tried hard not to step on the clothes on the floor.

When she finally reached her destination, she was taken aback. This part of the apartment was neat as if it belonged to a totally different house. And there he was, the baby struggling in the small bed next to the sofa. Hilda ran to the bed right away and hugged the baby.

"There, there. Why are you crying here alone?" she patted his head. In fact, why was the baby all alone? And why was he lying there naked? As she considered the open door and the chaotic state of the apartment, she thought that it was the handiwork of a thief or a kidnapper. Yet, the door didn't seem to be forced open.

What annoyed her most was how somebody would leave a baby careless on its own at home. "So you also haven't got much luck with your parents, have you?" she stroked his head, engrossed in thought. She was eager to wait for them and scold them for their irresponsible act. Damn, she was so steamed up about it to such an extent that she would punch the next person she met in the kisser!

"Ungh!"

"Hmm?" Hilda almost forgot about the baby resting in her arms. She didn't even notice that he wasn't crying anymore and snuggled against her. Then, he opened his small eyes, which were as green as his short hair but a little bit more light-colored than her eyes. He looked at her with an expectant gaze, happy about her attendance. That view made Hilda forget about her anger from earlier and warmed her heart. As she smiled at him, the baby let out a sound of enjoyment and jiggled his hands.

"GOHAN-KUN!"

Hilda was startled by the third voice in the room. She looked around to see that the TV went on automatically and there was an anime on air. Apparently, the timer of the machine was set so that it would turn on as soon as the current program started.

"DAAA!"

Suddenly, the baby got very excited and watched enthusiastically with sparkling eyes. He clenched his tiny hands to fists and cheered for that 'Gohan-kun', who seemed to be the protagonist in the series. Hilda was glad that the little boy had so much fun. She placed him on the sofa and decided to put him a diaper and some clothes at least. However, he fought it tooth and nail to wear something so that he only ended up wearing the diaper.

After the show ended, Hilda turned off the TV and rocked the baby to sleep. Each time when she tried to bring him to his bed, the baby woke up and started crying. But as soon as she picked him up again, he was silent and fell asleep again.

She looked at her watch. It had been almost an hour now and the landlord didn't show up yet. Although she had repressed her anger from earlier and delayed telling the parents off, it was time for her to go now because she still had a great deal to do. On the other hand, she didn't want to leave the baby alone. She watched him as he rested peacefully in her lap. Her eyes started to close more and more by any minute. So many things had happened today and she really wanted to get her well-deserved sleep now. Before she knew it, her eyes shut and she forgot about everything else around.

Oga entered the tower building and went to the elevator. It was on one of the top floors as usual and he didn't fancy waiting there so long. As he looked at the plastic bag with the milk bottles in his hand, he changed his mind and went to the staircase.

He was still in a bad mood because of the incident that morning. Finally, he had to go twice to the far away shop to get the Alpine milk. And all that due to a crazy woman who looked like a boss of the Mafia. Anyway, it was no use to get in a lather because of her now. Presumably, she was only temporarily there to visit a friend. Therefore, he would never see her again.

Unconsciously, he stopped on a specific spot and looked around. It exactly was the place where he bumped into the blonde woman. An image of her crossed his mind and reminded him of what had happened in the morning. It didn't take him long to come back to reality though as another inhabitant passed. He shook his head and started sprinting upstairs, wondering why her thought still haunted his mind.

For a normal human, it would take almost an hour to go upstairs up to the fifteenth floor. But Oga Tatsumi only needed a fractional amount of that time. Additionally, he always ran upstairs to train his speed and stamina. After all, he wasn't his own school's best fighter for nothing.

Arriving on the top, he was sure that he broke his own record again. Drenched in sweat and fully out of breath, he went to his apartment. He was surprised to find the door closed since he remembered leaving it unclosed on purpose. "Is Furuichi back already?" he wondered.

"I'm baaack." He entered as usual. He already expected his friend running out of the living room and scolding him for his tardiness.

But Furuichi didn't come.

Oga got wary. Something was wrong there. Momentarily, he let the bag in his hand fall on the floor and rushed straight to the living room. "BEELZE!" he shouted.

Many scenarios came to his mind but what he founded in the room let him dumbfounded and rooted to the spot. There she was, the blonde beauty from the morning, who he never expected to see again. She was sleeping placid on the sofa with the baby in her lap. Seemingly, haunting his mind wasn't enough so that she even turned up at his home.

So far for now. Feel free to leave a review, please... :)