Chapter 4: School and You

My eyes snapped open and I could practically feel the exhaustion clinging to me like some sort of anchor. With as much determination as I could, I rolled out of bed and fumbled my way to the window.

The bright, rising sun blinded me for my efforts.

What time was it? Ugh… I did not like soft beds. They were like a swamp that wanted to swallow me. Sure, they were comfortable, but I couldn't catch any damned sleep on them! I guess that was just one consequence of sleeping on crappy beds for a good portion of my life.

"I still can't believe this is all real," I whispered and stared out at the horizon. My new "home" was like something out of one of Iruma's fairy tales. The mansion was massive and that was just the house. There was a sea of green not far from my new home. The forest stretched out as far as I could see.

A distant howl echoed from within it, washing over me. Yeah… what the hell was in that forest?

I shook my head and took a look in the mirror. The "pyjamas" I was wearing made me cringe. They weren't the worst things I'd ever worn but they definitely were not my style. The blue penguin-like monsters printed onto the blue hoody and pants were "cute" but cute just wasn't something I liked to show off. At the very least they were comfortable and warm.

I really could have done without the "ears" on the hoody. God, it made me look like a damned toddler! It sucked, but what could I really do about it? That demon had looked so excited when he gave it to me.

…

I wasn't about to piss him off and have him go ballistic. There were no two ways about it. He could kill me and Iruma with a flick of his wrist. I didn't have much pride, but the bit I did would have to be buried deep within me so Iruma would be safe. If that meant wearing ridiculous clothes, then so be it. That was just one of the many sacrifices I'd have to make.

There was a knock at the door.

"Lee? Breakfast is ready," A familiar voice said from the other side. Great, it was the cat-boy suck-up. To be honest, he hadn't done anything to make me personally hate him, but he worked for the old, perverted demon. That was more than enough reason to be annoyed.

"Alright," I said with a sigh. "Give me a few minutes and I'll be down there. Also, Is Iruma up yet?"

"Not yet," he replied. "I'll be checking up on him in an hour or so."

This was one of the things I didn't mind. I woke up early and got to eat breakfast twice. Once right now and then again when Iruma woke up.

It was a shame that all this "delicious" food didn't taste all that good. Iruma's home cooking was way better!

I rolled my shoulder and opened up the nearby dresser. There were a bunch of different clothes inside, but all of them were "carefully" handpicked by the damned old man. Thankfully, there was one piece that didn't make me want to sigh.

It was a simple pair of red shorts and a plain white t-shirt. This was nothing fancy, but that was how I liked it.

My stomach let out a growl.

Time to go grab some grub.

——————————————

"Good morning Lee-ke~" the old bastard greeted me with a sugary grin as I made my way to the dinner table. A huge plater of varying kinds of food and deserts had already been laid out.

I sighed.

"I told you not to call me that," I growled out and took a seat on the opposite end of the table.

"But why?!" he exclaimed with a hurt look. "Iruma-kun loves his nickname so much!"

Love? I tried not to laugh. He'd only accepted that stupid thing to keep this old demon from killing us.

"I guess I'm not like Iruma then," I said with a shrug and picked up my fork.

The old demon snorted, though it was this creep kind of thing that almost sounded cute.

He was all sorts of wrong.

"I know, you're the kind that wants to look cool in front of his brother, right? Don't worry, it's just you and I, Lee-ke! You can go ahead and pour out your heart to your grandfather!"

Why did he have to keep this act up? There was no way he was actually this deranged, right? I sure hoped that was true because as much as he scared the shit out of me, it would be way scarier if he was actually like this.

A cunning, deceptive monster with a kind facade was easy to understand. This? This was a wild card that could literally do anything at any time. That was something truly scary.

"Why are you sitting all the way over there?" the old man said with a pout. He stood up and pulled out the chair next to him, giving the cushion a few pats. "Come and sit next to your grandfather!"

Yep. I really hoped this was just some elaborate plan of his. A plan for what? Now that was the golden question.

I hesitantly stood up and grabbed my plate, moving next to him.

"So, Lee-ke! How have you liked your stay at my home so far?"

…

To be honest, it hadn't been so bad aside from the constant fear of death.

I glared at the demon, letting that be my answer.

"You're so adorable when you try to look angry~" he mused and gave my cheek a gentle pinch. "The girls always like a bad boy! Tell me all about any friends you make in school, ok?"

School huh? We were supposed to be starting that tomorrow. Maybe I could try and get some answers out of him now?

"What should we expect there?" I asked and started spearing some of my food with a fork.

"Right! Iruma said you never went to school, huh? Well, he didn't have much experience with school either!"

Damn it, Iruma! The first rule when dealing with kidnappers is to not tell them about our lives! Don't let him stockholm you! The last thing we needed was to look at this guy like an actual grandfather!

"Yeah," I shrugged. "Are the other students going to be as strong as you?"

"Sullivan" let out a laugh.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise," he said cheerfully and started slicing his pie. "But it's a place full of children just like you! Just be yourself and I'm sure everything will be fine."

…

Like me, huh?

"Something wrong, Lee-ke?"

Jesus. If I ever needed a reminder that this guy was supernaturally perceptive, then that was it. I considered just brushing him off, but he was the only real source of answers I could get.

"It's about what I am," I said with a sigh. "Demon, right?"

His face perked up instantly.

"Why, yes!" he exclaimed with a grin. "Color me surprised! To think there was a demon just living in the human world. I doubt anyone just dropped you over there, so It makes me wonder…"

I shrugged.

"Not much to it. Obviously, my mom screwed some guy and then I popped out of her." Even I knew how babies were made.

"Well that's obvious," Sullivan answered with a huff. "But then that begs the question of who your mother was. Perhaps she was a demon that somehow found herself in the human world? Maybe she's from a line of demons that have always lived with humans? I frankly don't have any clue."

Huh. That was a surprising amount of normal talk from this guy.

"But that doesn't really matter~" he said and gave me a big, affectionate huh. "I have a human and a demon grandchild! I must be the luckiest demon in the whole realm!"

Son of a bitch!

I shook my head and ground my teeth.

He wasn't going to make this easy, was he? Fine. It wasn't like I really cared.

Looking after Iruma was my priority, after all.

I'd get stronger- strong enough to get us out of this place.

That was a promise.

————————

"H-Hey… d-do you really think we'll be fine?" Iruma stuttered out. He nervously peered out of the nearby window, eyes glued to the road.

"Yeah," I answered with a nod. "It's just school, right? If anyone tries to bother you I'll kick their ass."

I said that, but even I was a bit nervous. It wouldn't be long before we arrived at the school. The path was treacherous, yet our driver navigated the steep cliffs as if he were just going for a casual walk.

Seriously! One wrong step and we'd all fall to our deaths! Well, not me. I could fly, but It had been a long time since I actually tried. There were just too many cameras and the like back home.

…

Actually, what was stopping me from doing it now? No one cared If I had wings, right? That bastard old man also had wings! It was something to look into later.

"I-I hope so," Iruma whispered and then busied himself looking down at the floor. There was only so much I could say to cheer him up. This was something he'd have to overcome himself, but I'd be right next to him.

I reached out and gave him a gentle pat on the back. My smile didn't do much, but I hoped it at least made him feel a bit better.

School, huh? How hard could it be?

—————

Demons came in all shapes and sizes. There was a girl who only had a single, giant eye. She had a few horns sticking out of her head too.

There was a big lizard guy with green, scaly skin. His fingers were sharp claws that could probably easily shred metal.

Hell, there was even a big furry guy who was some sort of sheep demon. Iruma and I were probably some of the least "demonic' look people here! That did make a bit of sense, I guess.

So there we sat inside some sort of gymnasium. All the students were packed together and stared up at a podium.

When one of the idiots tried to sniff Iruma, I grabbed the bastard's furry beard and told him to keep away. Did he smell delicious? What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

…

Ah. Iruma did say Sullivan doused him in some sort of perfume to trick the noses of the other Demons. I didn't really smell anything different, but Iruma wasn't exactly "delicious" to me. Maybe it was a cultural thing?

Iruma was shaking in his boots. Being surrounded by such demonic people probably wasn't helping. Thankfully, I was sitting right next to him.

Eventually, the "principle" came up and declared that humans were just something to be eaten. Seriously? Trust that old man to make things worse.

"Oh! And I want you all to know that both of my lovely grandsons will be attending school starting today!"

Wait, what?

"Here's a picture of them both! They're right over there, so please be nice to them! Iruma! Lee! Hey! I hope you're both having a great day!"

Oh. My. God.

Thankfully there were too many students to really point us out in the crowd, but still!

Iruma paled and I tried my hardest not to palm my face. There were very few things that could embarrass me, but this had just jumped up to the top.

The people around us started whispering about this and that.

"Iruma and Lee?"

"Who the hell are they?

"I bet I could take 'em..."

Just when I thought things couldn't get even worse, some prim and proper-looking guy walked onto the stage. He looked like one of those k-pop actors or something with all that white he was wearing.

"Oh, don't worry about that Asmodeus-kun. You can leave-" the old bastard stopped. His eyes jumped from me to Iruma. He looked like he was about to have a stroke! Eventually, he pulled a coin from his pocket and flipped it.

"Let Iruma-kun do the speech!"

Ha… and here I thought school couldn't be that bad.

I had completely underestimated Sullivan's meddling.

This was going to be a long school year.