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"See you later, Kalego-sensei!"
As class ended, Iruma, Clara, and Asmodeus, were more than happy to finally have the time to hang out together. After all, the last few weeks, all three of them were extremely busy with various tasks... They had all grown a little upset that they hadn't been about to meet up for so long, after the thrill of their achievements and focus on their past tasks had settled down.
"Ah, Clara-san, I got you something while I went shopping with my grandpa!" Iruma perked up, just remembering. "Really!!! You did, Iruma-chi? What is it? What is it?" Clara bounced excitedly, leaning over Iruma's bag. Asmodeus, in sync, peeked over the same way.
"Huh?" Iruma double checked.
“What? Oh no!” Iruma frowned flusteredly as they rummaged through their backpack. “Ah, um. Sorry guys, I’ll be right back, okay? I think I left it in the Magic Tool’s room.”
“Oh? Iruma-sama, I could get it for you!” Alice had almost turned around by then when Clara grabbed his shoulder. “Stop!” She chimed loudly. “I, as the you’re ultimate activity organizer of the Love Trio—” She grinned. “Shall helpfully collect Iruma-chi’s bag!!! Azz azz, you wait here! Clara will be right back!!!”
The energetic young demon grinned at her friends before she spun on her heel and disappeared down the hallway, off to the hidden room in the school walls that Kirio-senpai had shown them during their first School Festival.
It was almost hard to believe how much time had gone by since then as second years. As Clara patted the huge walls along the hallway, she soon found the right spot as the space in the wall successfully. The bricks spun to reveal the old magic Batra room, just as how she remembered it.
Free of dust as courtesy of Iruma, who occasionally visited and dusted the place out of nostalgia, Clara looked around.
Strangely, there was a dim light coming from the table by the window, where Iruma liked to sit.
'The lights shouldn't be on?'
Just as Iruma said, there laid a small binder at the windowsill. Dark purple with colorful paperclips sticking out of it. Wanting to get back to hanging out with her friends as soon as possible, Clara reached out her hand to grab it.
Instead, a weight appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The demon held her held, and reprimanded her to the floor, something that most students wouldn't be able to do, unless they were member of the Student President Council.... But they couldn't hide their presence like this, exempt for Ameri.
Clara shuddered, overwhelmed the the murderous intent of the character holding her down. "!!!!" Her forehead slammed on the ground. "Ah!" She grit her teeth, glaring fiercely.
Face first on the ground with a large figure pressing her down, then came a now eerily familiar voice. And then face, as she peeked up, only to be met with a familiar mole of a demon. The man that had burned within all three of the Love Trio’s memories, whenever they came to this room. There in all his glory sat the long since convicted Ami Kirio, who was supposed to be locked up in jail right now after the weight of his crimes.
'A top security one, at that...'
And after all that she’d seen, Clara wasn’t naive. Kirio wouldn't come here without a purpose.
Fear ran through her body as she glared up at the man above her. Kirio’s hair was parted smoothly and ever-so neatly, brushed away from his face, as his teal eyes looked down at her in a scary way— So much different from the warmer, and more doe gaze of Iruma-kun. An indulgent presence she had bathed in for so long, along with the caring tsundere called Azz-azz.
Unlike the Kirio during the festival in the past, when he feigned innocence and played the role of their weak, silly senpai that cared for his juniors gently...... No, this was a barbarian to demon kind.
“Kirio… Senpai?” She grunted in recognition. A faint glimmer of acknowledgement briefing in her eyes as she recognized him, there: Ami Kirio.
“Ah, nice to see you again Clara-kun.” Kirio grinned. Similarly to how they'd just met, back during their first years in Babyls. Except… “Go away!” Fury filled her- A sudden burst of strength allowed Clara to shove Kirio off of her, throwing her own body upwards and quickly regaining balance on her feet.
“Ah—” Kirio grunted, as Clara took a few steps backwards, swiping Iruma’s folder.
“Now I wonder. Do your friends know what kind of person you pretend you aren't, Clara-san?”
The short, gremlin-like demon paid no heed to her ex-senpai’s words as she frowned. Her forehead and cheek still scuffed up from the messy encounter. Her knees… Still stung from then she was thrown head down on the floor. She would be lying if she said her body did ache even a little bit .
She needed to be her best self, for her friends, after all. But for an evil like Kirio, she had no reason to show courtesy.
Something was wrong.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in prison?”
Standing before her was a demon she could not recognize. He was strong and weak at the same time. Her thoughts were cut off as unease overran her, when Kirio stepped closer to her.
Caring for her five other younger siblings, as the second oldest amongst the six children of her parents, was easy as breathing itself. For Clara, her eccentric mother and warm family was the perfect environment to allow her to happily get along with her siblings. In a similar sense, Clara was stubborn. She had her weak spots as she was strong. She read people like second nature, just as well as she cared for them: charismatically dragging her peers in with her energetic and bright nature, creating a comfortable and easy air around herself.
She hadn't been treated well, until she met Iruma, but since then... Her life was a lot brighter.
But as she looked closer into Kirio’s intention, there her heart skipped a beat. Bloodlust.
To remind her that there were still things to worry about.
As the moonlight’s rays a few feet away shone down, hitting the side angles of her face as they also played a part in illuminating the attic-like dark room. Clara clutched the dark binder in her hands, a bead of sweat threatening to fall off her cheek. That murderous glint in his eyes was unmistakable.
It was… terrifying.
“I’ll tell the teachers you were here.” She glowered. “And they’ll catch me?” Kirio hummed. A punch slammed on the teal haired teens face. It wasn't unexpected, but Kirio was never the kind who had much physical strength alone. If the air was already cold, it was frigid now, like time had stopped for a moment. Kirio’s expression was still stuck into a smile, but now his eyes were slightly widened.
The short demon girl had dashed up to him, jumped up, and flung her fist to the side of his cheek—
And then bolted out of the room, as Clara ran faster than she ever had before: Through the turnable wall and past the other students, despite the way her legs felt as though they’d give out any second as she ran, stubbornly and profusely not allowing the other, older demon’s suffocating presence to drag her down any further.
Even though cold sweat stuck to her head like a curse, and hairs rose at the back of her neck just by how unsettled she was, and her legs marginally and just enough not to notice. Just as Clara blinked, took a deep breath, and slowly smiled as she regained her composure. Two familiar ahoges’ bouncing up at the far end of the room as two familiar welcome faces spotted her from across the room. Clara glanced at the grand, golden framed clock that was hung up on the side of the cafeteria’s wall.
Just as the clock's hands changed.
Five minutes , she hadn’t been gone too long.
“Azz-azz! Iruma-chi!!!” She called out, singing. “Ah, Clara-kun!!!” Iruma perked up, running over to quickly open his arms and landing in one, big sincere hug as he smiled. “Stupid Valac, what took you so long?” Asmodeus huffed from the side, a casual skip in his voice until it didn’t. He didn't miss the way goosebumps clearly ran along Clara’s arms, or the several strands of her hair that clung to the sides of her cheek.
Clara's heart slowly relaxed.
Clara had, after all, been very attentive to her appearance ever since that seduction class. Clara’s smooth, neat locks were a thing of the past, to Clara's dismay.
But before Alice could ask further, Iruma ran over.
“Oh no, Clara, what happened to your face? Ah! You're bleeding!!!” Iruma held her face, shocked, cupping her cheeks in his palms. Inspecting her carefully. Bruises here, scratch there.... And then, it wasn’t a lot, but crimson red blood dribbled down Clara’s chin. As the green haired demon patted the underside of her nose between her nostrils and her lips, indeed, there it was.
The blood that had Clara halt in her tracks. But before she could say anything more, Asmodeus had already scooped both Iruma and herself, Iruma— Who had been hugging Clara— And Clara, who was clearly injured: up in the air and already well on their way to the nurse’s office.