Chapter 3 - Poolside Taboo (1/6)

Angels were weak against humans, humans against demons, and demons against angels.

That three-way deadlock seemed to create an extremely decisive gap between them.

A swing of Prominence sliced a screeching black amoeba in two. A bloody smell was scattered around even as the blue flames coming from the sword burnt it down to ashes.

It was a type of demon servant known as a Succubus and Mutsuki had seen them before.

They were muddy black liquid creatures that could appear from even the smallest gap. Mutsuki himself had no way of fighting them, but he did not fear them. Demons were weak against angels, so they could not even get close while Ange was protecting him.

"Let's go."

After blowing away the scorched remains of the Succubus with the blue wings growing from her back, the girl returned her sword to its pendant form and began walking like nothing had happened.

Mutsuki quickly followed. It was not even eight in the morning and they were on their way to school.

"Th-thanks, Ange. Like always."

"It's my job."

Not only did she show no hint of joy at her victory, but she gave an indifferent response and put on a lopsided frown.

Mutsuki sighed as he caught up with her fairly fast pace.

She still seemed to be in a bad mood.

"Looks like the Succubi are attacking on their own, but were you okay, Mutsuki-kun?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Really? You aren't hurt anywhere? Let me see, let me see."

"I'm not hurt. …And quit pulling off my clothes."

It was before morning homeroom and Lucia was sitting on his lap again.

This happened every morning and it could be a bit of a problem, so Mutsuki looked back toward Ange in hope of some help.

She was resting her head on her hand and sullenly staring out the window.

Three days had passed since Machina had beaten her so soundly. Ever since, she had been apathetic to almost everything except her bodyguard job. She would not glare at him even when he was getting along with a demon like Lucia. The defeat must have really hurt her pride.

"Sorry about that. I want to do something about it, but demons generally only act out of their own self-interest. The Succubi have no intelligence and they only listen to what their master says."

Lucia gave an exaggerated shrug while sitting on the edge of the desk.

Mutsuki did not know how much he could trust the demon boy, but this was how he explained it:

The demons other than him had been quiet for the past month because they feared Mutsuki's angel bodyguard, but they were growing more and more restless and less and less able to resist interfering with Mutsuki. That had grown especially true in the past three days due to FeTUS's actions. (Which according to Machina was the incident concerning Black Cat.)

The Succubi had been staying away before, but now they were attacking much more often. That was not much of a problem since Ange could slaughter them instantly, but this confirmed what Micha had said about dangerous elements existing in both FeTUS and the demons. He trembled with his newfound awareness that he was a target.

But at the same time…

"Mutsuki-kun? Muutsuukii-kun."

"Hm? Oh, sorry."

He looked up as Lucia waved a hand in front of his face.

"Are you tired? …Maybe it's because of us demons."

"N-no, I just zoned out for a second there. I'm not tired."

In truth, one of the reasons for his mental weariness really was the sudden increase in demon attacks, but he shook his head to deny it.

The boy frowned in anguish, but his friendly smile returned when Mutsuki smiled. It was a lovely smile that made Mutsuki grin all the more.

Meanwhile…

"…"

"Oh, Ibekusa-san."

As always, Ibekusa Machina arrived a few minutes before homeroom.

Three days had passed, but the Black Cat she had warned them about had yet to show up and Machina herself had not contacted them again since.

She had gone back to being a normal classmate. She was her usual quiet self.

"Good morning."

"…Good morning."

She had gone back to being a classmate who would coolly reply when he greeted her.

Once the teacher arrived, Lucia returned to his own seat.

With Serpent's Eye Holder Fujita Mutsuki at the center, FeTUS Witches Ibekusa Machina sat to the left, High Level Demon Satowa Lucia sat to the back, and Strongest Modern Angel Jiyuuni Ange sat diagonally back.

It had been almost two weeks since that arrangement had been established.

All four were getting along just fine as members of the class. Ange could be irritable, but she was not a bad girl. Both Machina and Lucia had blended into the school nearly perfectly.

(At the very least, all of us are fine.)

Afterschool, Mutsuki sat alone in the empty classroom lit by the setting sun.

No one else was there. Sakae and his other friends had club activities and committee meetings, Machina had quickly left school, and Lucia had vanished at some point too.

Ange was at the pool. She was so bad at swimming that she was receiving a special afterschool lesson from the PE teacher and the swim team.

Mutsuki could not leave without her, so he had to kill some time at school.

His current situation naturally came to mind.

"…"

When he sorted through his thoughts, it was a simple matter.

He had the power of the Serpent's Eye and both FeTUS and the demons were after it. Both groups were gradually taking more drastic measures.

Also, Lucia and Machina were opposed to those violent methods.

(Even Micha-san said I could get along with those two.)

He had reached the same conclusion over the past two weeks living surrounded by angels, a demon, and humans.

(It can be hard to tell what Lucia-kun is thinking at times, but I know I can with Ibekusa-san. After all…)

He was confident he could be friends with her.

(She told me about that Black Cat person.)

At that point…

"…?"

He heard the clear sound of a bell.

The tone passed pleasantly through his ears and cut off his thoughts.

"Wah!!"

"Fweh!? What, what!?"