Chapter 6

"Good afternoon, Celestia!"

It had been a week since Zerro had left to his unknown destination and normally, Celestia would feel anxious since she was used to his presence around her but now that Han was in the picture, she oddly felt calm.

Just like for the last few days, she met with Han after class and ate their lunch together since the blue haired boy would always mention that friends would always do this during lunch hours.

Coming out of her daze as she heard Han greet her, the shorter girl ceased in her footsteps and tilted her head back to look into his eyes.

"What do you want?" Her blunt words should have put him off but he simply brushed them to the side, a smile adorning his handsome features.

"What do you mean? We're eating lunch together like usual!" Hooking his arm with hers, the female grew startled by the sudden contact and tried to get away but his hook around her arm was too strong for her to break.

Han then led (more like dragged) Celestia away, exposing themselves to the usual scene in the hallways. The students, who were walking by or standing around and talking to their friends took notice of the duo and stared as if they were aliens.

"Stop looking so blue."

Celestia had kept her focus on the ground as they walked through, her action revealing she was falling under the pressure of their stares but when Han had lightly nudged her side to grab her attention, she looked up at him and saw the kind smile he directed her.

"You shouldn't care for their actions nor words and be strong. If you keep falling, they will continue to attack so you can never get out."

His advice was net with tiny amounts of awe from Celestia and she nodded in understanding. Taking a deep breath, the black haired female straightened up her slumped shoulders and held her head up high as she controlled her focus on what was ahead of her, ignoring the whispers of each student she passed by.

"There you go." Han grinned at his friend and the corner of Celestia's mouth twitched up as a sign that she was happy by his praise.

The two soon arrived by the empty classroom they chose to enjoy their lunch in and Han seated himself followed by Celestia.

Han took a simple lunch box that contained a sandwich and a few snacks but when Celestia pulled out her huge box onto the table, Han almost choked on a piece of his sandwich in the process.

"Whoa! You never bring in such a big lunch...oh, is that white pasta? Can I have some, please? Pleaseeee?"

At this point, Celestia couldn't refuse since Han was only going to annoy her further so she pulled out her spare utensils and hand handed them over to him.

"It's delicious! You're an amazing cook, Celestia! How did you make this?" He asked, his eyes twinkling with wonder and Celestia inched back, overwhelmed by his set of questions.

She couldn't really answer him since she wasn't the one who made it but a part of her felt joy over his reaction.

"I'll make you some tomorrow." She told before she began eating her food and the taller boy was too happy that he ended up trying to give Celestia a hug.

He failed though when he earned himself a punch in his abdoman.

"You're so mean..." He sulked as he slumped over the table with his arms clutching his aching stomach.

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"Sir, someone is here to see you."

Xander released a frustrated sigh and swivelled his chair around to confront his assistant who seemed quite nervous.

"You know I'm too stressed to deal with anyone at the moment. Tell them to come another time." He waved his hand to send them away but his assistant refused to move, glancing behind for a second to look at their guest who was standing by the door with a smirk.

"That's not how you used to welcome me, Xander."

Xander's eyes widened and he snapped his head to take in the sight of Zerro who chuckled over his reaction.

"Prince Zerro? What-how-wait, I-I thought you were..." The scientist trailed off due to how shocked he felt.

"Don't address me like that. You know that piece of crap took my title away from me." Zerro grumbled as he approached the older male.

Xander's assistant left the room, knowing they were no longer needed and quietly shut the door behind them.

"I'm supposed to be banished from the demon realm, I know but I needed to see you." Zerro mentioned, crossing his arms as he leaned back on the plain grey chair.

"It's an honour sir that you would think of me." Xander placed a hand over his chest and bowed lightly.

"I need more power." Zerro's request wasn't odd to hear since Xander was in fact very good at achieving this sort of job.

"How much, sir?" The older male stood from his seat and went up to his cabinet which held many sorts of liquids in glass beakers.

"Give me the strongest dose."

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"Thank you!"

It was the next day and Han had just been given a box of pasta that Celestia herself had made.

The day earlier, she had confronted the maid who had made her lunch after school ended and at first the maid had grown afraid, worried that she had screwed up her job but what she recieved instead took her into a state of shock. Celestia had praised her and wished to learn how to make it.

"We should hang out at a shopping mall or something on the weekend." Han mentioned before nibbling on his delicious lunch.

Celestia blinked, wondering what the definition of 'hanging out' was and Han could tell that she was confused.

"Friends can also be with each other outside of school too."

"We aren't friends," She mumbled as she moved her attention onto anything that wasn't Han.

That caused him to tilt his head in puzzlement.

"Why?"

That caused her to grow quiet and Han spoke up after a moment or two of silence, his tone more soft.

"No one is stopping you from becoming my friend, right?"

Celestia was thinking about Zerro which was why she couldn't accept being Han's accomplice. If the demon found out she had befriended the angel, she knew she would either go through a ton of torture or worse, Han would end up getting hurt.

But, if she had even the slightest chance of beating Zerro together with Han and ending her misery for good, then this was her moment to start working on it. She had her opportunity right in front of her and she was hesitating. Why was she? Zerro wasn't here to stop her. She could make her own choices now.

"No." Celestia finally answered his question and Han smiled, focusing back on his lunch once again.

It was silent as they ate until an unexpected pressure pressed into their bodies causing the two to glance up at the same time.

"Did you feel it too, Celestia?"

She nodded and Han quickly put the lunch box in his bag, taking a hold of the strap. Han knew a way out of the school without being caught and Celestia wanted to question how on earth he knew that but they were too busy trying to get to where the demons were currently at.

Releasing her sword as soon as they arrived by the scene, Han activated his barrier also, the two gaining each other's powers.

The two easily killed the demons but one had managed to withstand death, using the remaining energy it had to attack Han who had removed his barrier. Turning around when he detected Celestia zoom past him, his eyes widened when she saved him from the attack, slicing the demons head off to end the small battle between them. Noticing his look of surprise, Celestia spoke up in a lighter tone.

"We are friends so we have to help each other out."

When she attempted to make her lips form into a smile, Han couldn't help but shiver in fright due to how scary she looked.

"C-Celestia?"

"Yeah?"

"Practice smiling before you-"

Unable to finish his sentence due to the seemingly light smack he received on the back of his head, he grimaced in pain and glanced at Celestia who looked to be bothered over his comment. His lips formed into a smile and he intended to laugh if only he hadn't sensed more demons.

Taking a hold of her hand, the two ran towards the location, only to feel confused as they saw the demons they intended to fight, now dead.

"A stronger demon killed them." Han's eyes were shut as he revealed this and luckily they were otherwise he would have caught the flash of recognition on Celestia's features.

'It must have been Zerro.'

But she felt uncertain also since the stronger demons aura was more fearsome than her masters.

"Somethings not right here."

Celestia called out to her friend, him turning to her in question.

"If this happens again, then we need to find out who this demon is. If not, then we'll drop this."

He couldn't help but agree to her words and soon the two turned, leaving the scene, Celestia glanced back once more to check the scene once more before facing the front, shadows of suspicion appearing in her eyes for a moment as she thought of her master.

'He's up to something.'