~The Forever Promise~

“Ha-ha, you can’t catch me!” Child voice of two little boys filled the air and passerby watched as the pair of twins chase each other down, running along the streets as their parents strolled slowly behind them, gently smiles on their faces as they watched their young children play.

“I’m going to catch you, Dante! You just watch out!” The boy who was now chasing yelled back enthusiastically, putting on his pace faster to catch on to his younger brother.

“You can never catch me! I’m fast like the wind!”” Dante shouted in reply, spreading his arms out wide as he ran, pretending to be an airplane now.

“Look out for the people on the street, boys!” Their mother called worriedly, but their father merely put a silent assuring hand on her shoulder, that gesture telling her not to worry too much about those two.

“You know those two devils won’t be listening to you anytime soon while they’re playing.” Sparda rumbled his laughter, and though Eva was miffed at how disobedient their children had become, she had missed Sparda’s mirth and laughter. The demon she had come to marry was a man of rare laughter these days as he had begun to worry about what demonic abilities their sons would display –the demonic abilities that could potentially light a signal of Sparda’s and his family’s hideout location.

Meanwhile, Dante surged forwards, feeling as Vergil began to catch up with him. He rushed straight forwards, reached the corner and…

Both kids collided with each other around the corner and fell heavily on their butts, the girl more so than the boy. She began to get a bruise on her thigh where she had fallen, but ignored the pain as she reeled from the sock.

“Oh my! Are you alright?” A boy who looked exactly like the one she had run into extended a hand to help her up, with clear aquamarine blue eyes looking intelligently down at her.

“I… am alright. Thank you for the help.” She accepted the hand, strangely hearing curses from the same voice. Looking past the boy, she saw his twin picking from the floor with dirty curses from his lips. She giggled slightly at his mouthy expressions, before she covered her mouth with her hands. She had been taught from young to not encourage such explicit, but she thought it was really funny how the boy with the red shirt could find so many words to curse at just because he fell down.

“Dante! Watch your mouth!” A harsh woman’s voice intruded on them, and the girl turned to see the parents of the two boys catching up.

The girl thought the boys’ parents were awfully pretty and secretly wanted to see how handsome the boys would turn out when they grew old.

“But I got a sore!” The boy –now named Dante –protested, showing his mother the little wound he must have received when he fell. The girl immediately felt sorry for colliding into him.

“I’m pretty sure she has a sore too. Are you okay, young lady?” His father replied, and she watched as he approached her with kind eyes. Dante’s brother helped her brush her knees where dust had gotten on them, then retreated promptly when his father approached.

“I’m fine, sir. I am sorry for hurting your son.” She replied respectfully, bowing her head to show shame. She was surprised, instead, by a chuckle for a reply.

“Look at her, Dante. Is this really how you want to act in front of an angel such as this? Pray tell me; what is your name, little one?”

She smiled at the compliment passed to her by the handsome man.

“I am Karmen. K-A-R-M-E-N.” She spelt out proudly, but it turned to a slight frown when Dante made a face at her, presumably for the compliment that his father offered her.

“Dante, don’t you dare be rude. Apologize to Karmen.” His father ordered sternly, and the kid turned away, crossing his arms across his chest and zipping his mouth shut.

“Dante, don’t be like this. Come on, you were at the wrong too.” His mother tried to cajole him gently to an apology, but the young man shook his head adamantly. Unable to take her son to hand, she flashed Karmen an apologetic and helpless look.

She was about to tell his parents that it was all fine before his brother –who had kept obediently silent all the while –stepped up in front of her, offering a handshake.

“Let me apologize for my brother then. I’m sorry that he ran into you, and I hope the bruise on your thigh heals quickly. My name is Vergil, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He spoke cordially, and it surprised her at the difference between the twins. She didn’t know how he could have known about the bruise, but she didn’t want to ask now.

She shook his hand, his strong authoritive pumping surprising him.

“Vergil, you can’t be taking all the blame for your little brother. He has to learn to apologize.” His father frowned, but Vergil turned to face his elder.

“Dante is my little brother, and he is my responsibility. It was partly my fault that I was chasing Dante that he ran into Karmen. Besides, I am the elder brother, and it is my duty to wipe Dante’s ass.” He said proudly, and Karmen could not help but giggle when his mother exclaimed his name at the crude words her son spoke.

“You don’t have to take responsibility of everything he does, Vergil. He needs to answer for his own actions.” Their father insisted, but Karmen stepped up quickly.

“Sir, Ma’am, it’s really fine. I get the idea. No harm is done, and I need to be back home before my parents get worried. It was nice meeting you, and may you have a good day ahead.” She said intelligently, giving a respectful little bow, before she ran off.

“Wonderful little girl. Her parents should be commended by how great they’ve brought her up. Such nice manners.” Sparda commented, looking after the little girl as she ran.

“Then go make one with Mum!” Dante yelled, suddenly exploding. The two adults and his older brother turned to see him boiling with jealousy, brimming with jealous rage.

“You hate that I’m a guy, right? Because Vergil’s always Mum’s little angel, and I’m always the devil that you can’t take to hand! You want a daughter, Dad, I’m sorry I can’t become one! But can you just see me for just one day, and not try to scold me or blame me for the way I am? I am yours, your blood! How I am is because of you!” Dante yelled explosively, stomping his feet in his tantrum.

Then, before they could react, he turned around and ran as fast as he could away from his family, tears in his eyes.

“Dante!” Eva called out worriedly for her son, but her husband stopped her with a slight smile, as if he were amused by his son’s reaction.

“Leave him to me. It’s alright.” Sparda assured, and he started after his son with no questions asked.

Eva sighed, taking Vergil’s hand in hers.

“Come on, my darling, let’s go home.”

Off the two walked towards the setting sun, towards home.

*********************************

When Karmen bumped into someone on the road at high speed, with her heavy backpack slinging at her side and notes in her hands, it was natural for her to get flustered when her bag dragged her down to the floor, her papers flying all around.

“My notes!” She exclaimed as she scrambled for it, despite the fact that the impact of her falling must have caused a big bruise on the side of her thigh. She had been rushing to classes, and this colliding was no help.

“No problem, babe.” She saw a muscular hand reach and snatch the flying papers from the air with speed and grave that she had never seen before.

“Here you go, hotness.” The cocky voice said again, and she saw her notes offered to her with one gloved hand that didn’t quite cover the fingers.

“Thanks. I’m sorry for running into you like that. I’m rushing for classes…” Karmen climbed to her feet quickly, dragging up her bag from the floor before turning to receive the papers.

“Do I know you? You seem familiar.” The man who held on to her papers asked when she faced him, and air left her. She had never forgotten about the striking white hair, the mesmerizing blue eyes. She never forgot those handsome features, and true to her imagination while she was young, he was really handsome.

“Dante? Vergil?” She chanced a guess, unsure entirely how to differentiate them at all.

The names made his eyes narrow dangerously on her, and she started for a moment, hand frozen halfway in the act of retrieving the papers from his hands.

“What do you want from me? Vergil’s gone.” He threatened –snarled, actually –and she flinched a little. His flirty tone was gone, and this was one filled with extreme apprehension. She wondered vaguely if she had really changed so much from young.

“Nothing… I’m Karmen. Remember me? The kid who bumped into you when we were young and your brother helped me up?” She explained flusteredly, despite the fact that she very much wanted to ask why Vergil was gone. What did he mean by that? Was his brother dead? By the minutes’ worth of interaction she had with him and his family when they were young, she had –undoubtedly –gotten a better impression of Vergil than him.

“Karmen, as in the K-A-R-M-E-N girl?” He asked, spelling out her name in a singsong manner that she had done when she was just a child, and she flushed up. He made it sound stupid –on top of it being childish as hell.

“Yeah, that…” She admitted embarrassedly, but at least Dante’s stern and I-want-to-kill-you expression faded away quickly, turning on a charming mile that she remembered his father having.

“What are you doing around here? Waiting to run into more hot guys like me?” Dante smirked, and she repressed the urge to smack him. Apparently years had not given him anymore manners than he already had when she first bumped into him.

“No,” She said, frowning, “I study here.”

Then she realized. She studied here. And she was freaking late for class!

She grabbed the papers from his hands and began to run.

“I’m so sorry, but I gotta run! I would love to talk to you over a cup of coffee next time! I hope we bump into each other again, and you gotta tell me everything that happened to you, you cocky bastard!” She yelled behind her as she ran, and though she was almost out of hearing range, she heard his melodious chuckle.

“I’m not running into you again! It hurts!” He yelled back before she disappeared around the corner.

In his mind, he made a silent promise to run into her again, as he walked away, forgetting the demon he had been hunting.

*************************************

Karmen was so preoccupied by her career and how she was about to get fired today that she didn’t even look where she was walking. Her hands were clenched on her suitcase, and in it were the notes and contract that held her latest case –which had failed. She knew, with the pit-fall feeling deep in her stomach that she was going to get the sack today, and she would officially be homeless.

“Being a lawyer sucks shit.” She muttered silently beneath her breath. It had not even been her fault that the case was lost! Her client didn’t even want to tell her the truth, to let her defend him! How could she win with someone as uncooperative as that? She had already gotten a dressing down from the client’s family from dooming him five years worth of jail, and here she was, walking back to the firm where she worked –soon to be the ex-firm where she used to work.

“Watch out!” Someone yelled, but it was too late as someone crashed heavily into her. She fell to the floor like a rag doll, and for a moment, she didn’t feel like getting up from the floor.

“This must be what it feels like to sleep on the streets like a hobo. If I don’t get a job soon, I’ll be like this.” She thought morosely internally before she finally made a move to get up, ignoring the ache in her thigh where she had fallen.

“Have you got ears? I said ‘watch out!’” The person who had run into her exclaimed, and she felt her indignation rise up, along with her anger that she was about to get fired for a job that wasn’t even her fault.

“Then have you not got eyes? Can you not see where you were running? Watch out for what? Bombs falling from the sky? A car about to hit me? Be more specific next time if you want people to run from you!” She yelled back, climbing back indignantly to her high-heeled feet and grabbing her suitcase.

“Well, maybe if you were actually looking in front of you, maybe you could actually do something like get out of my fucking way!” The man with a strangely familiar voice shouted back in reply, and she felt her blood surge. Oh, this was so on.

 “What so happens if I just happened to be visually impaired or blind, Mister. Get-out-of-my-way? Watch out for when the person can’t see? You need to install a brain in that empty shell of yours.”

“Oh? Then you need to install a silencer to that prattle mouth of yours! Besides, don’t you know that an empty vessel makes the most noise?” He snapped back in reply, and she couldn’t believe her luck. This was the worse day ever in her entire life. She was going to get fired, and here she was, arguing with some stupid man that she bumped into?

“Well, at least I’m a vessel then! What are you, some dense monster who has no brain, no manners and a bloody dirty mouth?” She replied snidely, strangely being reminded of Dante –the man whom fit everything save the dirty mouth.

That was when she truly saw the man she was arguing with. White hair and red trench coat covered him. He had the same muscular arm she saw five years ago. He had the same physique, the same cockiness around him. Oh, hell.

“Hell. Dante.” She sighed his name like it was the worst thing that had happened to her today, and he raised his brows.

“I know you?”

She sighed again. “K-A-R-“

He grinned, interrupting her. “-M-E-N. Karmen, you’re beautiful now, aren’t you, sweet girl?”

“You’re pretty good at forgetting our previous argument.”

“You are pretty good at running into me.” He countered.

“Well, it has always been you running into me.”

“Because you keep looking for me to run into.”

She made an exasperated noise at his counter. Apparently he was still that stupid flirty idiot that met her five years ago.

“You wish. How are you doing?”

“Getting on with life. You?” He replied vaguely, and she got the idea that he didn’t exactly want to talk about it.

“I’m going to get fired today. Ten years down the road, you see a homeless hobo arguing with someone that walked into her –that’s going to be me.” She said sarcastically, tapping her briefcase.

“Fired from what?”

“From my firm, duh. I’m a lawyer.”

He whistled. “Clever girl. Why are you getting fired?”

The thought of it enraged her again. “Some stupid client didn’t want to tell me details of his crime, and we lost. Like it’s my stupid fault.”

Dante shrugged, as if he thought he could help her at all. “You wanna continue being a lawyer after this?”

She rolled her eyes. “As if I can find more. I got in that firm since I excelled as an intern. It’s virtually impossible to go in a veteran unless you’ve got famous cases under your arms.”

“Freelance?”

“I’m not a famous lawyer, douche. No one would think to hire a lawyer with no backing.”

“Someone would. I know someone who needs a lawyer to defend his shop. He always gets into trouble, you see, and he’s pretty poor. The shop’s his only way to earn money, but the police keep pissing him off and trying to fault him for things.”

“Sounds horrible. I don’t exactly deal with police, but if your friend is willing, I can try.”

“He needs a secretary too. Are you willing to couple as one? He’ll pay a handsome price.”

“Are you sure? You said he’s pretty poor.”

“Look, you want the job or not?”

She thought for a moment. Someone was offering her a job, and she was going to get fired from her existing one. There were two choices now. Be a hobo, or work for Dante’s friend, or whoever the person that was willing to employ her was.

“Fine. I’m in. When can I meet this person?”

“You are meeting him already.”

She choked, and stifled giggles. Dante had a shop? She couldn’t believe it. Of course, the idea of him being pissed off with the police could easily be put in her mind –seeing his colorful language that started even from young.

“What’s so shocking about that?”

“The fact that you actually have a shop.”

“Look, do you want the job or not?”

She bit her lips. Hobo or Dante. Right now, hobo sounded like a better option to her.

But what the hell.

“Fine. But on one condition.”

He made an irritated grunt. Karmen wasn’t supposed to set the conditions as an employee.

“Never. Ever. Run. Into. Me. Ever. Again.”

He grinned. “That’s a promise.”

“Forever?”

“I swear. A forever promise.”

Karmen snorted. “That’s lousy grammar, dude.”

“Fuck you. A promise forever then.”