Midora Kurayami's Story

Mikari blinked as he listened to Ruzik. From the ways the Incubus was speaking to Mikari, the Dark Mage found it to be quite amusing. He wondered whether Ruzik was behaving to him in such an informal manner like that was due to their little Sensei - Seito deal. Not that he minds though, despite the fact that not many people addressed him without having any sorts of formality in their words. Much on the contrary of Midora who is his best friend, but he was so uptight that the term formality was one of his top rules.

"Yeah, yeah, you're not a kid. Everyone knows that. But once you're my students, you're just a twinkling in my eyes. Problems?" Mikari couldn't help but let out a chuckle as they made their ways to the cafeteria, "You two had better keep it that way, I'm not even sure what I'm gonna do if I ever caught anyone of you messing up around. Both of you are better than those rogue demons and mages, remember? So don't make me have to treat you like them."

Once they've reached the cafeteria, Ruzik turned to Mikari and trying to be nicey-dicey, asking whether if he should be rewarded by some means. A mischievous smirk appeared on his lips. Gods might know what is on his mind right now. Dealing with his favorite Incubus never was a big problem to him, mind you. He faced things that are much worse before. Mikari put his hand on his hip casually and was about to reply, but it seemed that the Incubus was interested in something else.

"Sure, go ahead. We'll talk about this tomorrow. If I feel like it, I might reward you some." Still with a devious smirk, Mikari replied as the Incubus turned his back and went to his companies. Mikari shrugged and went to took some hot tea from the stall before sitting at a table near the window. Sipping from his cup, Mikari gazed outside of the windows. The moon was shining serenely today with thousands of stars twinkling on the far, far sky. Such a beautiful night, isn't it? Everything seems to be so peaceful as if the world has no other cares. Well, maybe not really peaceful because of the Window incident, but it won't be much of a problem if carefully dealt with.

Watching the moon and the stars reminded Mikari of his past. He was always been a carefree person ever since he was young, but what people didn't notice is that he is nothing more than a lonely Mage, at least until he met Midora. It's true that his life wasn't as stormy as his best friend's, but having to hardened his own heart, forgetting how to love a person perhaps are the prices that he has to pay for bearing the blood of a Dark Mage flowing through his vein. His kin were no longer being treated like crap as before, but will they actually find peace just because they were dwellers of darkness? He has been searching the answer for that question for so long.

Quietly shook his head, he turned his gaze to Liliane. "The Headmaster said that you only have your power sealed to the end of today, so now you're free to use your power again." Mikari said with his usual light-hearted smile then flipped as the marks of chain on her body disappeared, thus giving her power back. He held the cup and took another sip before continued, "I hope you'll learn something from this. You can't just impose your rules on the others. You might be strong, but just because the others hadn't showed much of what they're capable of doesn't mean that you can earn your victory so easily. Judging a book by its cover is always the shortest way to failure, remember that."

With that said, he stood up. But then, the blonde hair Mage who was suppose to be his group's Mage came and greeted them. It seems that she's already knew his name, that he is her Teacher and also the painfully fact that he was a Dark Mage. Did the girl really just call him 'the master of magic'? Hearing that made Mikari couldn't help but let out another chuckle. It's been a while since someone flattered him like that, but it's not that he'd mind. In the past, he would have never even dreamed of being respected like this. "So, you're Momoko, hmm?" He said as he tilted his head with his usual smile, "Well, I'm looking forward to work with you too. Hopefully you'll have a nice time at this humble Academy. If that two love-birds teammates of your ever cause trouble, don't hesitate to tell me and I'll kick them in shape." He winked then stretched his arms before spoke up to them both, "Feel free to stay up as you want, just don't be too late. I'll be seeing you two tomorrow."

With that said, Mikari bowed to them then turned his back and retreated back to his own chamber. It's been a long day and he hardly has any rest. Although he'd enjoy fighting monsters and stuff but perhaps today wasn't his day to shine yet. Landed in his own bed, he stared at the ceiling above him for a short moment then just smiled it off before turning off the light and fell into his slumber. Now he can throws today behind his back so that he can head for tomorrow.

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Midora keeps on gazing at the starry sky, feeling the night breeze blowing against his skin. He always treasures moments like these. So quiet, so peaceful. Although the rage inside his heart is yet to calmed down, he was glad that he is able to enjoys these moments, even when he wasn't alone in his own world and the fact that a battle is yet to come and things might not totally go so well under his control. But everything will sorted out. He has never failed once in his life and there are no reasons for him to worry that this time will be different.

But, the Headmaster then began to said something about Isolde and that he's clearly showed his displeasure towards the Sage of Water even when he hasn't met her yet. Midora sighed, if there was someone who is really capable of taming Demons like Memphis, no one was better than his Sensei, but the Demon had his own ideals and that is what won't faltered easily. "The Department said that Isolde was the only General that is currently in town so it is no surprise that they will send her. As I said before, Isolde is combative and somewhat freaky, but she won't cause any troubles unless someone got on her nerves. I know how you're feeling right now, but you shouldn't underestimate her. They weren't joking when they said that Isolde can literally freeze anything if she wanted to."

Then, what Midora wouldn't really expected after that is the Headmaster's little emphasis. From gazing at the sky, his gaze turned to the crowd. He couldn't remember what did his colleague said anything else besides the word threatened anymore. Threat? Threatening? Did he really say 'threatening'? That word keep spinning around his head and it felt as if he was being pushed to the brink of insanity. Midora's emotion outburst earlier is still lingering on him, and literally no one, whether if they're superior to him or not should even think of bringing up any of his painful memories while he's still in such a state.

Right after Memphis finished his sentence, something about Midora has changed. His usual calmness was now gone. An intense bloodlust that was strong enough to intimidate even a A-ranked Mage radiates from him. Fixing his eyes to his well-respected Headmaster, his eyes once again turned crimson red. His gaze were hollow and filled with nothing but all the hatred and anger Midora has tried to suppress in his life. He let out calm, yet actually cruel and merciless chuckle. But what is actually strange is that although Midora was standing alone, it feels as if another presence of someone else with powers that are far more powerful than him was felt.

"I guess... you don't know that I, too, was a monster. But I'm worse than anyone can imagine. They said I shouldn't even existed. They threatened me. They blamed me. They forced me to take responsibility for what I didn't do. Am I sound like a human to you?" Midora spoke with his usual calm tone, but one could easily felt the malice that emitted from every single words that he spoke, "Threatening you say? Sure, I don't mind it in the slightest. Keep threatening me. Keep blaming me. Because I'm nothing more than a monster."

Then, in a matter of seconds later, it snapped Midora that he's walking too close to the boundary. It certainly not a good idea to lose control now. So, he kept silent and turned his gaze away somewhere, taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself down. Then, he is back to former self and his expression has returned to its usual blank state, "Rest assure that ever since the moment you gave me that pendant, I can guarantee that I'm perfectly capable of taming that monstrous side of yours on your Master's behalf." He said as he held his own necklace in his hand, it seemed to glitter a bit under the moonlight. "And as long as I'm around, I will make sure that Isolde won't let just a small shard of her icicle touch you. I've put my trust in you, so I hope in return, you can at least believe in my abilities."

Turning his gaze to the students, it seemed that everyone has arrived. "Looks like they've all assembled. We better make of moves now." Midora said and walked pass Memphis without any disdain. Standing in front of the group, he clapped to gain their attention. "It seemed that everyone's arrived. We will begin our mission now. I will lead the way to our destination. Stay in line and follow me and don't even come up with any ideas. Got it? Remember what I've told you this afternoon and I want each one of you to strictly obey it. The opponents you will face is suitable for your strength, but if you're reckless, you might very well harming yourself and your companions badly. Remember that."

With that said, Midora turned his back and began to lead them out of the Academy's campus. He leads them went through the streets that are now deserted with not a single soul to be found. After a while, the sight of a big vortex was caught in a middle of a big field. Fortunately that this area was secluded from the residential areas so there won't be any casualty for the inhabitants of the town. As soon as they approached the Window, packs of monsters began to appear and it looks as if they were guarding the Window. Midora gave a quick glance to estimate the numbers. 15 gargoyles, 10 harpies, 10 imps, 5 ogres, 1 minotaur. Just as I thought, nothing more than a bunch of B-ranked monsters.

Just as he was still thinking, a gargoyle roared and ran towards Midora, trying to attack him with its claws by surprise. But swiftly, Midora formed a Dark Matter blade in his hand and stabbed the creature with it. As the gargoyle fallen, hordes of monster began to march towards them. "Now it's your turn. Show me what can you do." Midora spoke to the group of students as he stepped back and stood next to Memphis, anticipating the fight.

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“The ease takes away the satisfaction,” Hive raised an eyebrow at Cleo, “They could serve the nectar of gods, but the aftertaste would still be bitter.” Although he'd had to admit the food wasn't bad, Hive didn't like the dependence. Even if he'd spread bugs throughout the cafeteria to give a few mages a jump-scare.

“You were lucky.” Hive mumbled inwardly. Although Cleo's last mage had, according to her stories, been a sweet and dainty old woman, Ichiro was arrogant and ambitious. As far as mages went, Hive could foresee far too many futures where Cleo couldn't count on her luck twice... If the blond young man were to get involved in the game of power and politics, would his friendly disposition last? Hive had only served one mage, but he knew enough what power could do to a man.

When Cleo called Muse over, Hive was somewhat surprised to see the girl from that morning. “Try us.” He smirked back at Cleo. There was always fun to be had in a challenge.

“You seem familiar to us for two reasons now,” Hive grinned when Muse came up, “Though the first still escapes us.” He truly did not remember. Did she not share a name with a certain water demon? Perhaps there were three reasons after all. Hive took his teammate's hand with a firm grip. “We are Hive, welcome to our ever-rotating team.”

Hive's focus drifted a little for a second. He still had ears all around the campus, especially that near. After making note of Memphis' aversion to water, he'd been gathering information on Midora's weaknesses as well. The ex-headmaster seemed more than willing to share them with the whole team, apparently, as he monologued about being a monster.

“Tsch. The hypocrite.” Hive rolled his eyes, as he subtly gestured to Midora. Hive had disliked him from the beginning... But with every word of presumptuous self-pity he uttered, Hive started to feel like putting him out of his misery. There was nothing more pathetic than a mage wielding such power to cry about being a victim. “Like any of us have never been been called monster or made a scapegoat.” He said under his breath, but loud enough for Cleo and Muse to hear it.

Nonetheless Hive stayed in line. Figuratively of course, as he could hardly help himself to walk, or rather fly, off-beat. When they started moving, Hive decided to take a better look at the vortex they were heading towards... But he could hardly get even a glimpse from the outside. As he descended, Hive figured his plan had just become a little more difficult... Would it be possible to escape the vortex easily if entered?

“No ideas, but please work together.” Hive spoke up, right after Midora had pierced the first gargoyle. “We thought mages need better rhetorics for their incantations.” Ladybugs loosened their selves from Hive's skin, each single one flying to one of his team mates. “You can contact us through these.” He explained plainly. “Talk to them and we will know. That seems like a pretty good idea to us.”

Hive walked up to the dead monster, as his hand and forearm transformed into a stinger which he stabbed into the beast's chest. With it, he injected a paralysing venom; stiffening the monster's muscles. Even if there was no brain activity, chemical reactions were still possible with a recent corpse. The gargoyle became, quite frankly, a piece of heavy rock. Paralysis had the same effect on it as sleep. Hive picked it up by it's tail; the beast was now his personal mace.

“Not bad, Muse.” Hive complimented his teammate, as she swiftly took care of two foolishly charging monsters. “Now, if you'll excuse us..” Hive rolled his shoulders as he sank through his knees. From his back two large beetle wings unfolded and his legs turned into a grasshopper's. “We have to take care of something.” And with that, Hive sprung up in the air; using the momentum of his jump to propel his flight to meet the first line of monsters head-on. He met an astonished harpy in the air and smashed the she-monster like a bat does a baseball; flinging it straight at it's kin! It crashed straight into another harpy, causing it to shriek wildly and the causing the nearby monsters to panic; scattering the flying foes their formation with a no longer living projectile. Hive knew a simple trick to overcoming superior numbers; separate them and stay mobile. Weaving in and out of short duels was the way this was going to be. Seizing the opportunity, he charged straight towards the panicking harpy; bringing down the full weight of the petrified gargoyle onto his opponent with an overhead strike! Smacking it down straight below, disrupting the sudden and relentless charge of the ground-based monsters much like the scattered harpy formation. It would give the others a little more breathing room.

“Tsch. B-class.” Hive thought to himself. Though he might have been the least powerful in terms of raw power, Hive had still been a combat demon picked personally by Ervin Lantos. Not a man who made such choices lightly. “One slaver to another, we've been demoted to pest-control.” Hive had assassinated and fought far more powerful threats. Were they seriously thinking this was on his level?

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Memphis did little more than stand and take in what the mage had said to him, merely raising a brow with a questioning stare at the man as a visible change occurred within him. Though the demon gave little away as his poker-face was ever present at that point, but inside he couldn’t help but wonder what had set Midora off. The mage wasn’t violent or anything, but his tone had drastically changed and unnerved the demon somewhat. Memphis knew it was likely due to something he said, but what thing in particular that had upset the mage was unbeknownst to the redhead unfortunately. But he wouldn’t dwell on it.

He didn’t care if Midora was some monster. Memphis wasn’t exactly in any position to judge, and if he did so it would only make the demon a hypocrite in some way. But that didn’t mean he’d play a blind eye to the whole thing. The last thing he needed was some unbalanced wacky mage to keep watch over, let alone the one who was currently in possession of his remaining power. It was quite an unsettling feeling that the demon felt at that moment but he wouldn’t express it outwardly just yet.

Great. Looks like Memphis would have to mind himself and try to not rattle this little mage, well, at least if he could help it. However it didn’t aid matters when the mage spoke of taming. Memphis hated that word, especially when it escaped the lips of a mage. To the demon it merely meant someone else was trying to control him, own him, and take over from his master. Did this man seriously think he was up to the challenge of taming Memphis? Not that the demon was in dire need of being tamed, quite frankly Memphis believed he was beyond such a thing. But that was only his opinion, heh.

Giving a simple nod, the demon refrained from saying anything to the man and just refocused his gaze onto the students. Just like Midora had said all the students had assembled, albeit one or two were bordering on being late. But he’d suppressed the urge to snap at those individuals and let it slide for now, keeping his composure this time as he took a few steps towards the youths. Midora was the first to speak up and the demon let the mage continue, not feeling a need to interrupt. Listening as the man spoke he merely gave a nod before watching the mage lead the way, the demon opting to hold back and tagalong at the end to ensure no one fell behind.

Midora lead the small group out of the Academy’s grounds and directed them through the empty streets and lands nearby. He took the group out into some wide open field close to the town that was apparently empty, aside for the vortex, and eventually monsters that were apparently keeping guard of the vortex. Memphis didn’t appear overly bothered by it though as he just kept walking and made sure that the students arrived at the area without any difficulties. Things seemed to be going relatively well until one of the monsters attempted to attack Midora but the mage was too quick and swiftly dealt with the creature. Admittedly Memphis was a little surprised though it was short-lived as the remaining monsters quickly began approaching them.

Soon after Midora rejoined Memphis and stood with the demon, which slightly gave the redhead a moment of relief knowing that the man was not still mad at him, or whatever it was he was feeling earlier towards Memphis. However, with the oncoming approach of the monsters nearing the demon couldn’t help but wonder if this was really a good idea. Could the students handle it? He could only hope and do his best to ensure they at least were still living by the end of it.

"Fine," He spoke up promptly and looked to Midora, forcing the ends of his lips upwards in the form of a slight smile. "You can go ahead and try to tame me as you wish, but it’s only right that I get to do the same to you since you made it painfully obvious back there that you’re no better than me. As your boss it’s only right I take an interest in the behavior of my staff, so consider yourself… my mage. I’ll tame you, basically. Should be fun."

Well, it couldn’t hurt to make things interesting and maybe it’d help to get to understand the mage better, and likewise maybe the man would understand what it was like to be a demon, or at least Memphis. Besides, the redhead wasn’t just going to roll over and submit to the mage. Memphis didn’t really respect anyone who wasn’t worthy in his opinion which was quite a lot, unfortunately. A few minutes later he quietly added, "You know, I don’t care what you are. You have my pendant and that’s all that matters to me. Not just anyone gets to keep it and I have to trust whoever has it, which is you, Midora. So, I’d prefer if we got along. I need your help anyway running that academy so conflict isn’t going to help either of us."

Not long after the demon had already witnessed two students, Muse and Hive, take off and eliminate a few monsters already. It seemed his earlier worries were for nothing as the students were seemingly more capable than he thought, however his thoughts soon turned to Muse and her talisman. He had said he would try to help the girl and remove it from her, but that was proving more troublesome than he imagined. Really, just being at the academy was proving harder that he initially thought. "I want to help that girl with her talisman, but some of the staff here aren’t cooperative. They don’t like working under a demon and I can’t go to the higher-ups, clearly," He said with a quiet sigh, whilst standing closer to the mage and whispering to him. "You’re the only one who tolerates me, and I don’t want to go to my master in-case he thinks I can’t handle things. So, any help you could offer would be appreciated."

It was only then that the demon got another thought in his mind, however this one consumed him quite a bit as the redhead moved his gaze over towards the vortex more carefully. It hadn’t hit him before until now upon the realization, or rather the possibility that lay within the vortex itself. ”Mr. Kurayami, that window over there… if I’m right, and from what you’ve told me, that window can lead to the Celestial Nexus? The place I believe I… come from? Or really, where my master summoned me from. I know I do not come from this world but my master never tried to return me from where I truly come from,” Briefly he turned to look at the mage, raising a brow with a questioning stare. "If I entered that window there is a chance I could return to my origins, right? Then I wouldn’t be stuck in this world."

If there was even a slim chance of returning to anywhere then Memphis would, perhaps, take it. It wasn’t like he detested the world he was currently in but then again he didn’t exactly ever have a chance to truly explore it. His master had summoned him by accident into an unfamiliar world, though any attempts to return the demon to his proper home were never made for whatever reason. Instead the demon was kept indoors for much of his existence, granted he had been taught and educated considerably well from his master, but Memphis wished for more, secretly. For now though he kept his curiosity dulled down, just. He wasn't sure how the mage would react, and his attention was partly diverted to the students especially those from his group, Dúyè and Laurence.

Ruzik was pleased that Kou didn’t find his rambling annoying, it was almost comforting in a way to know that the girl was so understanding. Then again they did have history so it shouldn’t have been that surprising to the incubus, but he rarely noticed apparently. Smiling, he found it amusing to hear the noise that came from Kou as he played with her tail. He was happy to hear that she was ready, and naturally so was he, to which he gave a simple nod to the rabbit to assure her.

Quietly he watched as Kou discarded her shoes and dress and for a moment averted his eyes elsewhere, though the incubus frowned then and directed his gaze back onto the girl. It was weird to think of what he would do with Kou but was grateful for it all the same, perhaps even believing it would add some purpose to their relationship and give it a foundation to build upon. Once Kou was done he slid his jacket off and began to unbutton his shirt, removing it altogether shortly after.

Turning to face her fully Ruzik then remembered something, raising a hand as he took his glasses off and sat them somewhere near the bed. They always fell off at the worst of times and he’d learned to just remove them over time, though his eyesight wasn’t the best. Thankfully however he knew his way around a girl’s body so it wasn’t an issue really, despite the weird feeling that the incubus got whenever he never had his glasses on. Ignoring it, he leaned over closer to Kou and gave her a quick kiss. Normally he’d have been all over whoever his partner at the time was but since it was her, he felt inclined to control himself.

Pushing her gently, he forced the girl down against the bed and moved himself on top of her. Whatever minor anxiety the incubus had was gradually fading as a more natural feeling began to fill him. Of course, this sort of thing was natural for him. It was one of few things he could be good at and especially now, he needed to be. Ruzik didn’t want to disappoint Kou and actually live up to whatever anticipation she had. Leaning down again, he pushed his lips to hers and kissed the rabbit in a loving fashion before sliding his hands along and down her body.

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Some time had passed and unsurprisingly Ruzik was sound asleep beneath the bed sheets. He always fell asleep after it and this time was no different, however whenever in a slumbering state the incubus was far less trouble. He was quite sweet in a way, as he lay cuddled up to the rabbit with an arm wrapped round her. Oddly enough, he wasn’t the cuddling type afterwards but since it was Kou the incubus didn’t even think about it. He wanted to be close to her, to hold the girl.

Ruzik couldn’t quite remember if he had bitten Kou at any point, the incubus had the bad habit of biting his partners for whatever pleasure he got from it. He didn’t really want to injure Kou but Ruzik was never quite in control of himself during these times. As he shifted on his side the demon still clung to the girl before mumbling whilst half-asleep, ”I love you.” He was probably unaware he was even speaking at that moment, or even what he had said, but after a minute or so the incubus began to stir. Opening his eyes a little he looked about the room but his vision was a bit blurred. It was then he realized he didn’t have his glasses and began to feel around for them, wherever they were.

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Cleo was happy that Muse and Hive were getting along, or at least they weren’t trying to kill each other so that could only be a good thing? Regardless, at some point the mage teacher spoke up and informed that students that the mission was beginning. As the man took the lead Cleo followed on with the other mages and demons as they made their way over to an open field where the vortex was located. Once there, a monster tried to attack Midora but the teacher was too quick and in no time at all finished the creature off.

However such a thing sparked something within the other monsters as they soon began to march towards the group, which by witnessing prompted Cleo to lower her ears and take a deep breath. She was nervous but excited, raring to go by all accounts not so long ago. Before the feline moved though she saw Muse and Hive both taking the lead and heading for the monsters, finishing a few off and quickly targeting more. In a way the girl was inspired to follow in their path and unsurprisingly that was what she did next, as a smile adorned her face and she bore her fangs.

But before the girl did anything she quickly turned to her mage and said, ”Stay safe Ichi.” The last thing she wanted was for the boy to get hurt, but Ichiro seemed capable of keeping himself safe and Cleo didn’t want to get in the mages way. But, she’d certainly keep an eye on him just in case. With that said the feline turned back around and progressed towards the battlefield. Muse had already taken care of a few monsters and Hive was dealing with the air-based creatures, so Cleo figured she’d stick to where she was best, the ground.

As she ran across the ground the feline quickly enclosed the gap between her and the monsters, ducking and diving in between the horde before soon crashing directly into one and knocking the poor gargoyle to the ground. Though perhaps not looking like it Cleo was actually pretty strong, and with enough speed behind her she could be a tough force to withstand, clearly. As the creature tried to scramble back up right the cat spun on one foot and quickly brought her other leg round to collide with the monsters head, giving a side-ways kick and knocking the thing down face-first against the ground once more. However all of a sudden another monster crept up behind the girl and grabbed her from behind, lifting her up and over before tossing her to the ground hard. Getting to her feet Cleo rubbed her head a little, before dodging an oncoming strike from the creature.

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At the utterance of the nickname 'Venny' Dúyè's neutral expression rather suddenly twisted into one of annoyance and disgust. Her expression of distaste only amplifying as Hive chimed in. She gave a steely glare in his direction before Laurence's words redirected her immediate ire back upon the poor young mage. She spoke not a word as the mage dug himself a deeper and deeper grave before he finally found some of his sense and shut his mouth. Only once he had quieted himself did she finally speak, "Why yes, that would be for the best. I was beginning to get the sense that you -wanted- me to smack you." She leaned in close, face to face with the boy before she continued, "I don't want to ever hear you call me Venny again. I don't 'fancy' you, my concern with you is only a matter of the fact that we happen to be on the same team, and that I don't like to lose. Got it?"

She pulls away and shakes her head, her glare leaving the mage and looking up to Midora as he addressed the group, apparently everyone had arrived, it was time to head out. Not wishing to speak another word Dúyè simply turned and followed silently. Their destination was apparently the middle of no where, the place this so called 'window' was located. Around the portal a whole host of beasts awaited them, 41 in count, in various sizes and shapes. She didn't know exactly what they were nor did she really care. It didn't take long for the monsters to take notice and begin their attack, the others around her were similarly eager to fight. Dúyè however was not so interested. She stood towards the rear of the rear of the group, hands pocketed away as she cast a sidelong glance at Laurence, "Remember what we talked about yeah? Let them handle the dangerous stuff and watch your ass as you try and close that thing."

She straightens her back as she watches the fighting commence from a distance, not looking at all interested in joining in, not that it seemed her help was even needed at this point regardless. "Well, I'll follow you for now Laurence, let's get a move on." Her gaze turns back to the mage lazily, expectantly waiting for his course of action.

Laurence flinched a little as Venom spoke, even taking a step back as the demon moved in closer to the mage and was soon face to face with him. Apparently she didn’t appreciate the nickname and going by appearances, and by what the girl said, Laurence didn’t feel a need to ever call her ‘Venny’ ever again. Not unless he had a death wish, perhaps. ”Yeah sure, Venom. I got it.” He quietly responded with a nod of his head in agreement to the demon, ”W-Whatever you say.”

Just then Midora spoke up and told everyone that it was time to move. Their mission was beginning and shortly after the group was lead by the older mage, who escorted the youths out into a wide field of some kind not too far from the neighbouring town. Laurence followed and kept close with the other students, keeping his eyes focused on the path ahead as they arrived near to where the vortex was situated. The window was guarded by monsters, and after taking one out himself, Midora told the students to show him what they could do. With a nod, Laurence was about to aimlessly run right into the conflict, until a familiar voice caught his attention.

It was Venom, reminding the boy of their earlier chat in the classroom. It took him a minute or two to fully grasp what she was referring to, but one he did the mage had already stopped in his tracks and faced the girl. ”Yeah, I remember,” He assured her, though it didn’t help ease Laurence as he stood and appeared slightly unsure of himself. He wanted to fight, but whether or not that would involve being reckless was another matter. Really, his priority was closing the window once the monsters were gone. So was he required to fight? He wasn’t sure. ”But I want to be helpful… so I’ll just have to make sure I don’t get hit, but that’s alright. Whatever comes my way I’ll knock it down!”

Baring a smile, the mage seemed confident as ever as he stood and eyed up the monsters. Three of the students were already out and taking on the beasts, and Laurence figured he could at least help them before doing his official part. ”Fine, you can tagalong with me. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna need you to save me every five minutes, I can handle myself, just you watch!” With that said the mage eagerly ran off along the field as he followed on after the others. The girl with the horns had dealt with two monsters, whilst the cat-girl was contending with some gargoyles and up above Hive was dealing with the foes in mid-air. Feeling pretty confident, Laurence soon found himself tempting to take on one of the ogres. It was a tall, muscular creature. Having big arms and teeth, and about twice, if not three times the size of the boy. Laurence was already having second thoughts but he knew he couldn’t back down in front of everyone.

Using his power he propelled himself upward as the mage sprang into the air and quickly flipped over the monster. Twisting his body round he twirled the wand in his hand quickly, readjusting it’s tilt towards the ogre as he then stabbed the tip into the nape of the creature. As he began to descend back down onto the ground his grip on the weapon tightened, as he brought it down with him through the monsters back, it's blood spurting everywhere and staining his hands and sleeves. Upon landing firmly on the ground Laurence pulled the end of the wand out and gave a brief quiet sigh. However, his quick breather was cut short as the now angry beast swung an arm round furiously and knocked the boy flat to the ground. Raising a fist high above, the ogre then brought its clenched hand down hard upon the mage suddenly. Narrowly missing however, Laurence quickly rolled and jumped to his feet.

As the creature reattempted to squash the boy, Laurence spun the wand round and projected it forward into the ogre’s fist as it came down towards him. Halting the motion, the monster roared in visible pain, before retreating its limb and glaring down at the mage. Taking his chance Laurence brought the wand round and slashed at the beast, taking a moment to catch his breath before cutting at it again. He wounded its stomach, but for some reason didn’t stop there. Raising his hand up and gripping tightly onto the wand, he repeatedly swung at the creature, its blood splashing everywhere and dripping onto the boy and ground surrounding them. In all truth, it was the first proper battle Laurence had found himself in. He wasn't accustomed to seeing blood and witnessing pain, but seemingly he was adjusting to it well?

Staring at the monster, the mage could feel his eyes burning brightly with an unnatural crimson tint. A dark aura began to radiate from his being as the boy held out his weapon, preparing to end the ogre’s life. Or, at least he hoped. He couldn't truly tell how the monster was fairing. However, without his light element, Laurence was still adjusting to being a complete dark mage. His expression was slightly tired, and his hold on his weapon steady enough, though loosening a little. And despite this he still wouldn't call for help, despite maybe needing it.

Ruzik felt incredibly uncomfortable in that moment as Kou rose up from the bed, something was off about her and it only caused his heart some minor discomfort and brief tingles of panic. Maybe he was too use to feeling nothing, she suggested and the demon could sense her hopefulness. He wanted to reassure her hopes and embrace the girl but things would not be playing out in that way it seemed. Maybe she was right. Was he to use to it? She hissed his name then at that moment, her eyes practically glowing with rage that was aimed squarely for the incubus. He couldn’t deny it, knowing this caused him to fidget a little and squirm under her hateful gaze. What unnerved him further was how Kou never raised her voice – not even once. A verbal bashing may have eased him, finding it oddly comforting but then again it was hardly anything new. He was so use to it that Ruzik expected it, but for once he never got it.

In truth Ruzik didn’t see what was so wrong for the most part. The latter of his distasteful words were a bit too much but he had apologized for those, he didn’t mean them not at all! Besides it wasn’t as if he had said he didn’t love her. It was quite the opposite, he did love her, but even he didn’t fully understand why he did some of the things he had done. He just wanted to be honest with her, express himself openly but clearly that was his mistake. Why even bother. Was he that bad? Maybe he was a monster, only in a different sense. By that point Kou had called him a wimp, that he only cared about himself, and now that he’d had his fill he was dumping the rabbit just like that.

He didn’t deny it nor put up much in the way of a protest. She was right he was disposing of her though not for the reasons she thought – his body was betraying his heart, his love for Kou was always being tested by the wanting of his own flesh. It wasn’t fair. No one else went through this suffering and yet they were all quick to blame him for it, even when he tried to talk about it! But his silence wasn’t to be taken as an agreement to her words, however hateful and emotional they were as really Ruzik thought the opposite. But now wasn’t the time to argue such things out as the girl was already in such a state as it was and the incubus didn’t wish to add to it, surprisingly enough. He knew when enough was enough and going by what Kou had said, were they over? She said that she was tired of the game, presumably their relationship he guessed. But what did that mean exactly? Had he messed up again for a second time in one day? Even Ruzik could only handle so much, what with their constant bickering and making-up, no wonder he preferred no-emotions to this.

Maybe Kou was right – was he so use to feeling nothing that he just couldn’t feel anything at all, even when it was with the he beloved? Perhaps, maybe. He hadn’t thought about it before though that could have been because he never noticed before, his lack of care and feeling never seemed to bother him. Shaking his head he pushed the thoughts aside for now, noticing Kou redressing. However all of a sudden there was a puff of smoke and then a rabbit appeared in sight, was that her? For a single moment the redhead forgot everything and just stared at the creature from where he sat, until the rabbit scampered beneath the bed and kept out of sight. Great, was that his fault to? It felt as if every little thing he did was problematic, so maybe it was? With that thought in mind he climbed out the bed and got dressed, pulling his clothes on one piece at a time and all in an awkward silence that filled the room at that point. It was almost funny in a way how something so great could turn so badly, maybe he should had just kept his mouth shut?

He immediately walked over to the door to make his abrupt departure, perhaps the only good thing he could have done at the moment. He clearly wasn’t wanted around not even by Kou now, and as he sat a hand against the handle he merely quietly said, ”I’m sorry for everything, I won’t come back. You can finally be free.” Short, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say beyond that. It was quite sad to realize that the one he hurt the most was his beloved, and that was enough reason to force Ruzik to remove himself from the dorm, perhaps even permanently. Kou didn’t want him around or at least that was the only logical thing he could assume, and their mage was already freaked out by him.

Quietly he left the room and closed the door behind him. Looking about he didn’t see a single body around which was preferable just then as he felt a sudden cold dampness trail along down the outline of his cheek. When raising a hand to inspect it Ruzik realized he had shed a tear and quickly wiped it away with the end of his sleeve. Crying was for wimps and he definitely wasn’t one! Despite what Kou had said. Walking down the hallway Ruzik aimlessly wandered, he didn’t know where else to go and actually, he had no place to go. He really blew it this time and even he didn’t not know how the pair would come back from this. Would Kou stay mad at him? It wasn’t a pleasant thought to have, to think the rabbit genuinely didn’t love him anymore. It was his own fault, he knew that. Now.

A few minutes had passed and he found himself at the end of the hallway before coming to a sudden halt. A shriek of pain left his lips at that moment as his fist was slammed hard against the wall beside him. His body shook lightly as the pain seeped in, his fingers and knuckles aching a little. If he could, he would have tried to rip his own heart out however with no powers causing any form of pain onto himself was made more difficult. It was almost depressing, as he stood with his cheeks flushed with a crimson colour and dampened from evident crying. His lip began to quiver and instinctively he bit down on it, quickly looking round to check he was alone. Stepping back Ruzik turned round before sliding down against the wall and dropped to the ground, his back flat against the wall as he brought is knees up to his chest.

A sudden pain filled his chest, a heavy burdening feeling that weighted his body down. Despite his efforts to suppress it Ruzik knew it was pointless to even try, his heart was in minor chaos and nothing would settle it. Biting deeper on his lip in frustration he flung his head back against the wall without thinking, earning himself a nasty smack to the back of his skull. All of a sudden tears formed in his eyes and dripped down all over his face, the realization that he was truly alone and unloved hitting him all at once.

Ruzik had never really known what it felt like to love and beloved, he didn’t really notice it before until now, having lost it. He bit down on his arm and sank his teeth into his flesh, venting out his inner conflict as he wept against the wall. His cries echoed down the hallways a little though he tried to muffle his pathetic whimpering with his sleeve. Why was he so pathetic all of a sudden?

---

Cleo ducked and dived over and under the oncoming attacks of the gargoyle. The creature was surprisingly quick and kept the girl on her toes at all times. As it swung its arm the feline twisted her body round and back to narrowly escape the impact, before throwing herself forward as she clashed heads with the monster. Its skull was thick and solid and sent Cleo flying back against the ground, but the girl was persistent enough and scrambled onto her feet before lunging at the creature again.

Though her vision was a little shaken from the earlier hit to the head, causing the feline to stagger slightly as she threw herself at the monster again. This time however she clung to its arm and spun herself round it, dragging it with her as she ran behind its back and twisted the stone limb in her grasp. The gargoyle cried in discomfort and shook about furiously, trying to fend the girl off it. Wasting little time Cleo grabbed the arm hard and gave it a forceful pull, its body cracking and crumbling apart as the arm was ripped from its body. Spinning on her heel the feline brought the arm round and struck the monsters head, knocking the it clean off before leaping up and swinging a leg round as she sent the remaining pieces falling to the ground.

Quickly Cleo dropped her focus on the monster as it was done with and just as eagerly flipped her eyes over onto the Minotaur. Maybe she was being over confident? With a shrug and stretching her arms the feline ran at the big beast at incredible speed for leaping to the air and pouncing on it. However, the beast turned round quickly and slammed its fist into the girl and sent her dropping hard onto the ground. Baring given time to raise her head the monster grabbed Cleo and flung her into the air, quickly twisting its body round as it nabbed the feline by the leg and spun her round, slamming her headfirst into the ground once more. But stubbornly enough the girl rose back to her feet, despite not being a born fighter the demon would still give it her all and overcome all odds. Once upright Cleo wobbled a little before getting her balance.

Throwing herself forward she sunk her fangs into the monsters arm and held her hold on it, despite the Minotaur repeatedly striking her back to force the girl off, Cleo refused to let go. She closed her eyes and bared the pain, hoping the monster would ease up and give in soon. And if not, she could only hope someone or thing would take pity on her.

Ruzik visibly frowned when being called a poorly taught child by the other demon, evidently disliking the comparison to a greedy brat with no sense of self-restraint. Was he really that bad? Why did so many view him as some little toddler! Pouting a little the demon merely raised above it and held his tongue for the moment as he digested her words. Oh how he envied Etelka in a way, despite feeling the same thing she actually held some power over her urges whereas he merely gave into them the second he felt them! And despite forever indulging himself the incubus was never relaxed either, making his efforts one big pointless cycle.

Rolling his eyes quietly he vaguely noticed the girl retreated to the desk and picking up a book. He cared little for whatever its contents was, and it was only when Etelka returned that he cast a bored gaze over the thing that she showed off to him. ”Of course we are, I wouldn’t lie about a thing such as that – it’d be pointless. Besides, as if I’d willingly want to be of relation to you.” He remarked and glanced away for a moment. Despite having little experience with the succubus type Ruzik wasn’t overly in dire need to rectify that fact, having a slight preference for incubus’s more. Not that he had met many of them either.

Suddenly Etelka dropped the book and aimed the end of a needle to his throat – the very tip of it lightly grazing his flesh just a tad. He was very surprised, almost angered by her sudden course of action. However despite appearances the girl had actually been nicer to him entirely due to their kinship of all things. Perhaps he should have been more grateful, his life spared only for such a small fact, seemingly. One thing in particular she said caught his attention, her goal to fix his behavior more precisely. ”Excuse me?” He frowned somewhat childishly and looked to her, watching as she lowered the needle away from him and gave an odd smile in return. After cheekily calling him a pathetic mess, Etelka then told the demon that she’d accompany him and improve things with Kou. Yeah right.

”Whatever, she doesn’t want to see me and quite frankly it’s not a good idea for me to go back there,” He said before walking over and sitting down on the nearby bed. Crossing his eyes he looked away from Etelka and quickly pouted. ”In your d--” A thought hit him suddenly that caused him to lose his voice mid-way for a moment; realizing that Kou was locked in their dorm. Any other time wouldn’t have mattered but she was a rabbit last time he saw her, meaning she was stuck in the room? Oh crap! What if something happened to her? Was that possible! ”Crap, crap, crap! Hurry up, let’s go Etelka! We need to go now!”

He practically flew out the room as the redhead madly dashed all the way up the hallway and towards his room. He wasn’t sure if Etelka had caught up before reaching the room door – which was opened slightly, and once entering Ruzik frantically went about searching the dorm for the fluffy white rabbit. ”Kou! Where are you?” He called repeatedly, after having looked under the bed, wardrobe and even in the drawers! But there was no sign of Kou much to his sadness. Her clothes were still where she had left them so it was obvious she didn’t leave as her usual self, but then where could she have gone?

”Somebody stole my rabbit!” Ruzik looked as if he were about to cry all over again similar to a child who had lost their favorite toy, though clearly Kou was not a simple toy. She could not be replaced and not knowing where she was struck worry into the incubus. To the side near the bed he noticed a familiar bottle and quickly scooped it up, recognizing it to be the same bottle that contained his pills. Seriously? It was beginning to feel that wherever he went those pills would follow as quite frankly they had been popping up everywhere even after throwing them away! With a shrug, he opened the bottle and peeked inside of it. The only known sources to have such things were either Mikari, Kou or the nurses at the infirmary. So either their teacher or nurse had taken Kou?

Within a moment of whirling emotions and poor logic, the incubus flung his head back and popped five of the pills into his mouth. Thinking that one was bad enough the taste was almost sickening when consuming five, the demon feeling as if he would be sick at that moment. He figured, well, that they were supposed to help him in some way so why not up the dose? He was out of other options anyway so it couldn’t hurt? Maybe it’d calm him a little, or not, but whatever the side effects he didn’t know nor care.

---

Cleo felt the sudden touch from Muse as the other girl pulled the feline from the Minotaur, thankfully the horned-demon had came to her aid and Cleo gladly did as instructed and released the monster and moved a short distance from where it fell. ”Wow, you hit that thing pretty hard!” She complimented the girl and gave a light hint of laughter, seemingly impressed. The feline watched as Muse struck the creature again and sure enough the Minotaur was down for the count. A moment later she looked to the other demon and gave a nod and quick thumbs-up, ”Sure, you bet! Consider your back watch.”

It was a relief to know someone was watching out for her, especially when not knowing that person well. Muse seemed rather nice and kind though Cleo hadn’t expected anything else from her, simply settling with giving the horned-female a friendly smile. ”Thanks for that you really helped me, I appreciate it.” Pulling her attention away for a few minutes Cleo looked to see how the others were getting on, her eyes glancing over the two teachers as well wondering how well her performance was being viewed. They were getting judged, right? At least she thought so, in some way. Anyway it wasn’t as if mattered as the feline was determined to do her best regardless.

Switching her gaze back to Muse the girl added. ”Let’s go, the sooner we do this the quicker we can get this whole thing dealt with. I’m game if you are!” Grinning, the girl sprang into action as she led the way towards another group of monsters. Of course they ran right at her but Cleo was ready, as she skipped and ducked, and weaved through a handful of gargoyles that came her way. Targeting the smallest one the cat pounced upon her prey and tackled it to the ground with force, causing cracks in his back and limbs. As she raised both hands up and clenched them into firsts, Cleo hammered her hands down into the monster and broke its body apart. It took little effort to do so considering her strength, but her attention was immediately diverted to the other monsters as she leaped to her feet.

Springing onto one of them Cleo twisted her arms round the neck of one of the gargoyles and spun her body round side-ways, turning its skull all the way round and rotating its neck. Landing her feet to the ground behind it, she inhaled and puffed out her chest before heaving the thing over her shoulder and threw it to the ground with a loud thud. The gargoyle wailed a bit and scrambled about before her, its body breaking apart. As it lunged up with whatever energy it had Cleo spun on her heel and brought a fist forward as she slammed it into the monster and knocked it to the ground again.

Ruzik was about to run off or at least attempt to when feeling his arm being pulled and wrapped over the nurse’s shoulder. He looked to her with a slight frown on his lips, clearly unappreciative of her assistance. However it wasn't like he was in any place to resist and so the incubus went along with it for now, especially when it was made clear that Kou was at the infirmary. If he was planning on getting there then his goal would only be achieved through the nurse aiding him to walk. As they began making their way towards the medical area Ruzik looked about and saw Etelka ahead of the pair a little, which weirdly made him feel slightly relieved. However, the demon-girl wasn't necessarily his friend either, so it wasn't a totally relief per say.

As they arrived at the infirmary the nurse left the two demons and walked over to check on the rabbit that lay in a basket. Almost immediately Ruzik knew it was Kou and wanted to run over to her, but he got the feeling that neither the nurse nor Etelka would allow him to until he coughed up the pills. As the woman wandered over and rummaged around in one of the cupboards Ruzik sat himself down on a nearby bed and waited for her. The incubus didn't wish to anger either of the girls in fear of what they may do, and so in the meantime he simply sat without uttering a single word. Though that didn't stop his gaze obsessively watching over at the rabbit that lay.

"Kou." He sighed, though before his impulsiveness could take over the nurse reappeared with a cup filled with a green liquid of some sort and placed it in his hands. Bringing over a trashcan and placing it next to him the woman then sat nearby, making Ruzik feel a little uncomfortable for a moment as if felt as if everyone was staring at him. Plus, the green stuff in the cup didn't look too tempting either and the incubus knew he had to drink it much to his displeasure - mainly as it would allow for him to go to Kou finally, and nothing else. It was hardly surprising to figure out that he'd suffer it just to get to the rabbit.

Not wishing to drag it out any longer Ruzik prepared himself and took a deep breath, before raising the end of the cup to his lips and forcing the drink down his throat as he swallowed it whole. After a moment he set the cup aside and sat on the bed in brief silence as he allowed the liquid to pass into his stomach and to see what would happen. Luckily it didn't take long for things to take effect as his gut was rapidly becoming unsettled and soon enough the incubus hopped off the bed and dropped to the floor, as he hunched over the trashcan that was near him. An odd colored substance of red and green left his mouth and stained the bin as his insides were up heaved and poured out of the demon. Ruzik evidently was not happy and looked quite unwell as he leaned against the bin for support, a few uncomfortable noises escaping him as he stuck his head down inside of the trashcan. Needless to say it wasn’t pleasant and whatever the nurse had given him was quite vile to say the least! Once he was sure that he was done the redhead sat up and raised his head high, feeling a little lightheaded for a moment though he stubbornly pushed it aside before gradually getting to his feet.

”H-Happy? That was… disgusting.” Wiping his mouth with the end of his sleeve the demon slowly regained his bearings and shot his gaze over towards the rabbit once again. Kou was still in the basket, and without giving another thought for Etelka or the nurse Ruzik hurried over to the bed where the basket was place on. Staggering over ever so slightly he sat his hands onto the bed to support himself upright as the boy peered over at the small creature.

Kou looked dead, that was the first thought to occur in his mind. Despite seeing the normal rhythm of her chest the incubus could not suppress nor ignore the fact that the rabbit was injured and in pain. All because of him as well which only piled on the guilt, as Ruzik cautious placed a hand over and onto the white rabbit to stroke the soft bundle that lay within the basket. ”Kou? Are you alright?” Genuinely he was concerned for the girl and his voice gave that away, perhaps due to his earlier crying and how he could not truly hide his emotions as well as he wished. ”Please wake up, bounce around and hop. Please do… something.”

Sparing a moment he looked back over towards the nurse and Etelka, giving a rather confused expression as the incubus was a little unsure of himself. Ruzik wasn’t entirely sure of what to do or how to approach Kou, the only thing he knew was that he wanted her to be alright and well as she was before. ”Kou, we’re all here. The nurse, Etelka… and especially me, I’m here for you.” He ran his fingers beneath her belly and stroked the rabbit softly, hoping to comfort her and raise the rabbit’s spirits. ”I shouldn’t have left you but I didn’t want to hurt you anymore, clearly that was wrong. We need to be together Kou, we can’t function without each other. I… need you, I was just being stupid as I always am.” Suddenly he slid his hand around the rabbit and moved his other hand on the opposite side before lifting the small animal up and over against his chest. His heart was beating just a little bit quicker than normal, but the incubus wasn’t feeling a hundred percent after having spilled his guts up earlier thanks to the nurse. His body felt weaker too though that was most likely caused by his tiredness and overworked emotions. ”I-I’m sorry for what I said… I didn’t mean it. You’re not used, you’re mine! It was a hurtful thing to say, everything I said was. I didn’t mean it. I-I was just scared and lashed out at you.”

Plopping down in the chair next to the bed Ruzik made sure he held the rabbit carefully, hoping that somehow Kou would wake up and return to her former self. A few tears welled up in his eyes just at that moment, no matter how hard he tried to suppress them as damp tears began to trail down his face. ”You were right I am a wimp, I can’t handle things and get scared. I do cruel things without thinking to hide it! B-But we can fix that, sort out our problems together. No matter what we’ll always be with each other... as a couple, I swear it.”

---

Cleo swept the hair out of her face as a cool breeze blew, her gaze fixed on Muse as the feline watched the other demon fight. A little in awe, Cleo remained standing and observing for a few minutes longer. It wasn’t until an approaching noise distracted her that the cat sprang back into action and resumed her course of actions that was defeating the monsters. ”You alright Muse?” Cleo called whilst running across the ground, giving the horned-girl another quick glance before refocusing her eyes onto the monsters close by.

For a moment however her attention was then placed to the sky, more precisely her old companion who was busy tending to the monsters in the air. There was a moment that Hive looked to be in trouble but Cleo wasn’t too worried, not that there was much she could have done anyway unless they came to the ground. But either way. Hive was back to action before she knew it and a wide smile filled her lips at the sight. Snatching the chance she also gaze about to check on her other peers and their progress.

Baring her fangs she ran towards one of the ogres that was accompanied by three imps, quickly dispatching the smaller monsters with a few kicks and punches, and bites! Wiping her sleeve across her lips Cleo looked up to the bigger monster and assessed its structure, her ears lowering a little when comparing herself to the ogre. Shaking her head Cleo took a breath and regained her confidence, before hurrying to the monster and dodging its oncoming strikes. The monster furiously swung its fists at the cat though with her speed and agility Cleo easily sidestepped the danger and leaped onto the ogre and crawled behind its back. Throwing itself around it clearly was trying to shake her off but Cleo held on strong, keeping her hold on the monster.

As it rose its hand to grab at the feline Cleo was quick to snap back at the beast and sink her fangs into its fist, the ogre letting out a roar of frustration and pain as the cat pierced through its flesh. Retreating its hurt hand the monster swung its other fist at the girl, prompting Cleo to leap into the air and flip round as she soared, before crashing back down and striking the ogre in the back of the head. The impact sent the thing stumbling forward before falling to its knees, and then its face as it dropped to the ground in mild confusion. It wasn’t dead but Cleo couldn’t help but start to feel a bit bad for attacking the monsters – she wasn’t a natural killer and had only recently began to just around the time she had been captured and forced into the academy.

A frown filled her features for a moment, noticing how easy both Hive and Muse made such an act seem. When she didn’t think about it Cleo was capable of murder, but now she wasn’t sure. When casting a gaze at Ichiro to see how he was doing the feline was then reminded of her purpose, she couldn’t let her mage down and for him she’d keep fighting. Yes, that would be what she would do. Grabbing the leg of one of the imps Cleo swung the lifeless body above her head before bringing it down hard against the back of the skull of the ogre. A muffled cry could be heard but that didn’t stop the feline from repeatedly striking the beast. With a heavy breath she continued until a sharp crack was heard, possibly its skull caving in she guessed, which caused the girl to give a sigh of relief.

Mikari was definitely not happy at all.

Having that talisman tapped on Ruzik means that Mikari can keep in touch with how the Incubus' emotions all the time, which allows him to know whether if his favorite red-head is up to no good or not, or if he has any problems during the time he's here at the Academy. However, there's a small, little nuisance side effect that come along with this bond. Anytime the Demon felt negative or expressed his emotions at a strong rate, it will pinch Mikari like a bee's sting. Although this is just an illusion to alert Mikari in his mind and his body wasn't really affected by this, it was a painful annoyance to him. Though he had to admitted that he was reluctant to do this with Ruzik at first since it was too much of a bother for him, but to keep the Demon in his bidding, he has to.

It took him a long while to finally being able to get his golden sleep, until he heard someone was calling outside of the door. For God's sake, didn't they know that it is almost 12:00 AM already?! Mikari tried to pretend as if he wasn't listening as he crawled into his blanket. Finally, the person outside of the door - which he realized to be Nurse Julie, said that he should meet her at the infirmary later as something has happened with the two love birds of his group. This could only added his annoyance even more. He decided that he should tried to get his sleep and deal with whatever bullshit that are happening tomorrow, or he could just leave them for the other two to take care of when they've been back from their missions.

A while later, after all the efforts trying to get back to his slumber, despite how exhausting he is right now, Mikari couldn't manage to sleep at all. Even if he uses his Sleeping Dust on himself right now. "Alright! I'm getting up, for Pete's sake. Stop bothering me already!" Mikari sat up and yelled into the darkness with annoyance. He got off his bed then grabbed a shirt nearby and put it on. Finding it too much of a burden, he just left those buttons without closing them, which leaves a part of his chest and abdomen still being revealed.

Mikari then made his way to the infirmary, full of disdain. Upon getting there, he saw Etelka and Ruzik was walking together towards the dorm's direction, in which he ignored and walked into the office. "So, where's the rabbit? What happened to her?" Mikari asked Julie as he wrapped his arm. But it seemed that he has got his answer when he saw the fluffy little bunny on the bed. Okay, seriously, he's going to get real mad. They dragged him out of his bed just because of this? Mikari can be carefree and helpful at times, but only if people didn't bother him with simple stuffs during the little time for himself that he had.

Right now, Mikari is showing clear signs of annoyance on his face. But still, he didn't let his own emotions to cloud his judgements, feeling that he shouldn't complaining about it right now, he tries to speak as calmly as he could. "Kou-san has just happened to turned into this form not very long ago, right? Okay, I hope you don't mind if I take her away somewhere for a short moment. And don't worry, I'll make sure she came back in one piece."

With that said, Mikari knelt down and wrapped the bunny on the bed inside the white sheet on the bed and held it inside his arms as if he was holding a baby. As he walked towards the door, he turned to the nurse, "Feel free to follow if you want, but I think you should stay here since the group will be back from their mission soon." He said calmly then made his way towards the garden, holding Kou as gently as he could.

Upon getting outside, Mikari can feel the midnight's breeze against his skin as the moon is still shining serenely. He took a deep breath and then sat down at the bench, putting Kou by his side. He let out a quiet sigh as he wrapped his arms and crossed his legs before spoke to Kou. "Kono keishikide wa, anata dakenode, anata no kokoro o watashi ni hanashite mite terepashī o tsūjite nihongo o hanashi, rikai suru koto ga dekimasu." [Translate: In this form, you can only speak and understand Japanese through telepathy so try talking to me through your mind.]

(For easier comprehension, dialogues that were in Japenese will still be typed in English, but in italics.)

He leaned against the chair as he looked up to the sky, "So, before I tell you the reason why you're like this and calling the hentai-kami Yomi-ojiisama over, care to tell me the full details of what happened between you and a-certain-red-head-that-everyone-knows?"

---

Midora sighed at what he heard from his boss. It is true that during the times that he wasn't right in his mind, he will say things that he will later regretted for saying later, like now. But this wasn't entirely his fault though. The last thing that he wanted would be someone trying to get on his nerves when he's still in the middle of the chaos of the stirring emotions inside him. But luckily that he has got used to this enough for him not to go utterly berserk and destroy everything in a heartbeat. Still focusing on the fights, he spoke calmly, "Just ignore what I said earlier and my apology should I speak anything that displeased you. No matter how powerful you might be, sometimes it's not a good thing to meddle with things that are beyond your comprehension."

They stayed silent for a short while until Memphis brought up a topic about the Window in front of them right now and wondering if he can go back to his world through it. Again, Midora let out another sign. His Sensei has always been a man of few words but Midora doesn't think that he wouldn't tell someone who is so close to him like Memphis about things like these. I wonder why...

He still keep his eyes on the students as the monsters were taken down by them one by one then spoke up, "I already said earlier this afternoon, right? Absolutely nothing can get too close to a Window. If you stand closer than 10 meters in range with a Window, it will immediately sucks up your life force at an incredibly fast pace. Within less than 5 seconds, you will passed out. Being near it for more than a minute can kill you before you can even getting close to it. That is the reason why so far not a single Mage or Demon has managed to travel through a Window, despite how powerful they are. It is true that Celestial Mages can summon them, but they can't go through them either."

Midora paused for a moment before continued, "Although you're not a being in this world, you're no exception. Because you didn't directly go through a Window but you were summoned here by your Master as you somehow was drifted inside the Nexus. You're not the only Demon who came from another dimension in this world, you know and in the record, no one who are like you can managed to, either. Moreover, as I said, the Celestial Nexus is simply an alternative dimension that connects all dimensions together. That place is not where you came from as only monsters as we're seeing right here were born in the Nexus. Even if you somehow succeeded in going through a Window, who knows what will you find inside it? Will you be able to make your way back to your real world or you will just continue to drifted with no direction in that void? That's the reason why your Master has never tried to send you back through it. I hope you understand."

And then, they continued to watch for a while later, until the number of monsters has dropped dramatically. "We probably should jump in and deal with the rest of the work from now." Midora said calmly as his eyes glowed red again and the dual blades were formed on his hands. Suddenly, three harpies appeared from behind his back and planned to attack them by surprise. But just as they seemingly were about to hit them, they were impaled by spears of ice. As the corpses of the monsters laying dead besides Midora, someone spoke up from behind and gained all of their attentions, "Am I too late?"

With a light smile, Midora turned his back and face the owner of that voice without showing any surprises. It was a slender woman with long, blue hair wearing high-ranked apparel and wielding a long rapier who was standing on a giant pillar made of ice.

The woman, still with her confident smile, greeted Midora, "Long time no see, Midora-senpai."

"It's been a while, Isolde. Looks like you're still doing a fine job, aren't you?" Midora replied. He hasn't seen his companions for quite some while now so it was nice to meet one of them although he has been informed about her coming.

"Well, I suppose we could leave all the introduction later?" Isolde spoke with confidence, as if she isn't afraid of anyone who is standing underneath her. The woman gave Memphis a quick glance with a smirk before turning to the group of students. "Now listen up, you kiddos lot. Your playtime's over and now is the time for the grown-ups to do their jobs. You better stay back, watch and learn and don't be stupid enough to get in my way or I'll freeze your asses up." Isolde gave them a friendly warning before dashes from the ice pillar towards the remaining horde of monsters while unsheathed her rapier. The Sage of Water then slashes them so fast that it felt like all the monsters were dismembered and mutilated only in a blink of eye.

Spraying the blood that still dripped on the thirst of the blade on the ground, Isolde sheathed her rapier back to its' cover as she looked at the remains of the monsters, "Tch. Such a bunch of worthless scumbags. Not even worth to raise a pinky finger. You should be proud of being able to stand on the same ground with us before I end your miserable lives." She said with a tone that almost showed arrogance. Watching her little performance, Midora could only shook his head. Looks like someone never change. Isolde then casually moved her hand to her hip as she turned to Laurence, "You, black-haired kid, you were tasked to close that annoying Window, right? Do the job before more of those pesky vermin show up."

Laurence jumped a little as the unfamiliar woman addressed him, giving her a brief look of worry, before the boy got his thoughts together. ”Y-Yes, that is right,” He confirmed, before giving a slight nod of his head. ”I-I’ll get onto it right away!” There was no point in delaying things any longer than what was required, and Laurence took a quick moment to take a deep breath as he tried to calm his nerves before doing anything. Really, he didn’t need to worry as much. The monsters had been taken care of thanks to the mage woman and all that was left was to close the Window, surely he could handle that?

Taking another calming breath the boy gave the blue-haired woman one last look, as well as shooting a glance over towards Midora and Memphis, and even Venom. The youth didn’t wish to appear incapable in front of his teachers and teammate, and with that in mind Laurence was motivated to try his best and get the vortex sealed as quickly as possible. The mage then moved himself closer to the Window though was mindful to keep himself at a safe distance from the vortex to avoid any injury. The last thing he needed was to be foolish now when things mattered the most, though thankfully he managed to keep out of the Windows reach just enough.

”Alright, here I go!” Once he was positioned directly in front of the Window, Laurence moved his arms and swung them in a circular motion out in front of him at a steady pace. With his breathing kept slow and easy, the mage ensured his mind was clear and all but focused on the task at hand. A moment after, he then began to say the chant that accompanied the act, and soon his words fell into rhythm with his movements. Closing his eyes, a soft violet glow began to radiate from his hands and fingertips. Swinging his hands round continuously, elsewhere above and below the Window, two magical circles formed and lingered at either end of the vortex. In reaction to this, quickly after, the Window began to reduce in size and gradually became smaller over the course of time. Despite appearing easy enough, the force of the vortex was still putting up a bit of a struggle which only delayed the inevitable. But, determined enough, the mage refused to let it overcome him and Laurence used all the energy he could muster to put an end to the Window. Once the vortex was small enough it then slowly disappeared and faded from sight, eventually becoming nothing altogether.

With the Window finally closed and remains of the vortex ceasing to exist, Laurence gave a tired sigh before falling to the ground as he sat on the grass for a moment. The spell had been rather energy-consuming though nothing that he couldn’t recuperate back shortly, he figured. Shaking his head a little the boy looked back to the adults and gave a quick thumbs-up to signify that his task was completed.

However, a sudden burst of shockwaves erupted from the space of air where the Window had died out and shot across the ground, sweeping over the land though not quite reaching the students. Laurence though, out of surprise, had to get to his feet and move to safety as the waves traveled on past him. Whether they were dangerous or not was hard to tell, unless you made contact with one.

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Momoko shook her head lightly and gave a soft giggle towards the other mage as she was shown the room of the pony-tailed girl. ”It is alright, my room isn’t that much different since I only arrived today, and I believe my two demons are also still settling in.” She assured Liliane and offered a smile, before the other girl spoke up again and told the mage that she was welcome to hang around with both Liliane and a girl known as Muse, should her own teammates become too annoying. ”That sounds very nice, I will be sure to take you up on that offer at some point. Whether Muse has horns or any other features, I bet she is a lovely girl all the same.”

Bowing to the girl, Momoko straightened herself upright before hearing a familiar voice not too far off. Moving her gaze over she noticed Ruzik with a girl, though by it looks of it he was trying to make a quick escape and seemingly failed to do so after the girl pushed the redhead towards his room. Sighing a little, the mage turned back to Liliane and gave her a brief wave. ”Yes, my room is just down there so I guess I best take my leave now and see what Ruzik is up to. It was nice meeting you, and I wish you good-night Liliane. See you tomorrow!”

Walking off down the hallway at that moment, Momoko passed the girl who had been with Ruzik earlier though was seemingly returning to her own room by that point. Merely giving a smile towards the female, the mage kept on walking until reaching her dorm-room that was accompanied by the familiar redhead. ”Are you coming in?” She asked, pushing the door open and heading inside. As she did so the mage noticed the rabbit demon was not present with the boy, causing the girl to grow curious as well as concerned. ”Is Kou not with you?”

Once inside Momoko moved over to the drawers and dug out a pair of pajamas that she would wear to bed, since it was quite late now and sleep seemed like a tempting offer at that moment. Saying little else to the demon, the mage retreated to the bathroom and quickly got changed into her chosen bed-wear. Some minutes later, Momoko reappeared in the room and put away her old clothes. Now that she was ready for bed her attention could be focused back onto the redhead once more, as she waited for his presence to join her. ”Um, Ruzik… what bunk is yours? I don’t want to get them messed up, but since you were here before me it is only right you have the first choice of bed.”

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Memphis narrowed his eyes a little as he quietly listened to Midora, the demon awkwardly refraining from speaking though his face could have spoke a thousand words in place of his silence. Hunching his shoulders up a little the male tried to upkeep a professional look about him if it was at all possible, though such a thing wasn’t quite natural to Memphis. Even if he didn’t voice it the demon was struggling to understand his colleague next to him, with great effort having to bite his tongue in order to stop himself from saying anything he’d regret – if that was possible.

What had unsettled the Headmaster mainly, was towards the end of the man’s sentence. The way Midora had stated things were beyond the demons comprehension, a word that basically meant that the redhead was stupid. Whatever the mage had truly meant by his words was ironically, beyond the demons understanding. However, Memphis had the unfortunate habit of misinterpreting things said to him and more times than not took spoken words direct at him as an attack on his person, more or less.

His train of thought was interrupted when the mage spoke up again in response to his question regarding the Window, and much to his displeasure Midora had pointed out the fact that nothing could even get close to the vortex let alone enter it. But that he could handle, he guessed. If it was a fact then the demon would live with it and accept it as it was, however, the latter of his words only proved to irk the redhead somewhat. Suddenly Memphis didn’t feel as special, apparently there were others like him out there, and yet his Master had always deluded the demon into believing he was some unique creature. Or was that just fatherly love and idolizing on the old man’s part?

"No, I don’t understand." He remarked simply and gave a side-ways glare to the black-haired man, as despite his words the demon did understand though maybe he was just trying to be bothersome. Memphis wasn’t sure and just shrugged, frowning even more before tucking his hands into his jacket pockets, puffing away on his cigarette as the demon spared a moment to look over at the students. Things seemed to have turned out rather well and injuries were kept to a minimum much to his surprise. The Headmaster vaguely heard Midora when the man suggested they should jump in and deal with the rest, though the demon just stood idly and watched the mage.

Midora had practically only took a few steps before some woman came to his rescue. Right away Memphis knew this was the water mage and even more immediately his loathing of her was ever present by that point, visible mostly through his expression, which was as sulky as it ever was. The mysterious figure had long blue hair and carried a weapon, not to mention the presence of ice made it obvious who she was. Their pleasant friendliness with one another didn’t amuse him in the slightest, though he didn’t intrude either. The bigger the distance between him and the woman the better, quite frankly.

Once all the monsters had been taken care of the woman beckoned for Laurence to perform the spell required to close the Window, which the boy did quite skillfully in the Headmasters opinion, not that he’d admit it openly mind you. Once the vortex was out of sight Memphis believed that was it, until the presence of a few shockwaves flew over the ground close to the group. Seemingly forgetting, the realization then hit the demon that the possibility of a high-class monster arriving could soon happen. Great.

"Right listen up," The Headmaster spoke up just then and parted with his cigarette as he held the thing balanced between two fingers. His gaze was focused on the students that were scattered about the field slightly. "Students, you’ve done your part. You’re done. Follow me and we’ll head back to the academy, in the meantime Mr. Kurayami and his associate will deal with any further conflicts."

Whilst waiting for the students to group before heading off, Memphis took the time to walk over to Midora and the woman – her name forever escaping his mind, deliberately. The demon kept his eyes on the man who stood before him and ignored the ice-woman completely. "If that monster does turn up then deal with it. Kill it, before it kills you. Otherwise do whatever you want, Mr. Kurayami. But she is not allowed inside of the academy. Do you comprehend that?" His tone was a little sarcastic, though not wishing for his assistant to die Memphis could not hide his slight displeasure towards him for that moment. As despite appearances the Headmaster was quite a sensitive demon, the slightest thing setting his emotions off. "See you tomorrow, I’m done here."

Turning on his heel Memphis rejoined the now-grouped students and began to lead the way from the field and out back to the academy. Once there the students could do as they wished, though perhaps some would sleep given what they had gone through. "Let’s go, the sooner we get back the sooner you can get some rest for tonight. Tomorrow is a new day after all, so you’ll need it."

Ruzik simply frowned at the demon-girl as she wriggled out his grasp and pushed the demon back in the direction towards his dorm. Perhaps feeling a little too tired then the redhead held his tongue for once, taking in her words and whatnot, before forcing a smile towards her as Etelka turned and began to walk away. ”Sleep tight my little kin.”

Waving the demon off his gaze was then met with that of Momoko who appeared up from the hallway, who asked if he was going into the room. Saying nothing and simply giving a tilt of his head, Ruzik watched as the blonde mage entered the room and went about getting ready for bed. Earlier, she had pointed out the absence of Kou and already another hit to his heart was felt, albeit perhaps not as hurtful to that of his rabbit who was suffering, but clearly enough to force the incubus to give a fed-up sigh in response. He didn’t answer her at first, instead entering the room some point after once the girl was ready and had entered the room again.

”No, Kou isn’t here… she’s somewhere else, so I wouldn’t expect to see her anytime soon tonight. But don’t worry she’ll be fine in no time, just wait and see.” Ruzik didn’t feel a need to go into further detail over the whereabouts of the rabbit, hoping that it was enough from what he said that the mage would not persist to pester him over it. ”Anyway, it’s late so you better sleep since you’re probably tired. Don’t worry, I won’t bother you, promise!”

He still felt awkward around the girl though clearly was trying to make some effort to break the ice, maybe not by much, though so long as he didn’t do anything troublesome tonight towards her then things shouldn’t be too bad he figured. Walking over, the incubus fell down onto the bottom bunk and claimed it as his own – answering the mages earlier question. Though it wasn’t due to wanting the bed but rather the pillows and sheets still held the scent of Kou, and that was what the incubus really desired. As he lay on the beg hugging one of the pillows the demon didn’t even change his clothes, fatigue overwhelming him a little as he rested properly for once today.

”Good night.” He said to the girl before rolling onto his other side to face the wall, his hold on the pillow tightening as the male curled up atop the sheets. Closing his eyes the incubus tried to get some sleep, his mind however flooding with ideas of what would come of tomorrow, especially when it came to Kou and the troubles surrounding the girl of his desire.

---

Cleo took a quick breather for a moment as the groups of monsters were soon dwindling over time, and not long after she noticed one of the teachers stepping into the battle, that teacher of course being Midora. However suddenly a woman appeared with ice surrounding her and all Cleo could do was stand and watch in awe slightly. The blue-haired woman then proceeded to take out the remaining monsters with apparent ease, before telling Laurence to close the Window. The boy got to work and began the spell that was needed, the young mage appearing quite confident which reassured Cleo a bit. Since she had known how nervous he was before the mission began, and yet now, Laurence didn’t seem that scared at all.

Once the window had been closed the feline gave a sigh of relief, believing their task was done with. The students had kept up their part of the mission and when thinking it over, Cleo was rather proud of all the students most of all herself! However, suddenly there was a shockwave that seemed to activate upon the passing of the Window, causing Cleo to be on her guard after believing their troubles were over. When the cat was about to retaliate the Headmaster then spoke up and grabbed everyone’s attention, stating that the students had done their part and were now free to return to the academy.

Cleo smiled and let out another sigh as she waited for the students to regroup again before leaving. With this in mind the feline walked over a bit and gave a smile to Muse, who she was standing beside by that point, and even purred a little. "Nice work back there, you really helped me out and I appreciate it." Sparing a moment to look away Cleo turned her vision onto Hive and the other remaining students. "Come on guys let’s go!" Once everyone had eventually regrouped, the headmaster rejoined the students before leading the way out of the field and back to the academy. On the way there Cleo couldn’t help but yawn tiredly and appear half-asleep, it was hardly surprising that her first course of action once back at the academy would be to take a cat-nap!

Midora watched on as Laurence do his job and managed to seal the Window. For someone who has only done it for the first time, it is remarkable enough. Though he wasn't sure if the young Mage could concentrated like that if Midora didn't sink his Light. But still, Laurence has done a good job and he can praise about it later. From what he has watched during the fights, it seemed that a few of them had really tried their best, while some didn't have much chance to show their power, again.

After the shockwaves were sent, because they were so intense that directly contacting them might be harmful, Midora has secretly set up a barrier to prevent them reaching the ones who are still standing there. After the shockwaves had stopped, Isolde walked to the Dark Mage and cheerfully remarked, "Well, it's about time we have some real fun, right? It's been a while since the last time we had a chance to fight together like this." She smiled gently as Midora also nodded back in return.

Then, Midora turned to Memphis, "Hey, boss. We're about to..." But just as Midora was talking, he saw the red-head Demon said that he will take the students back to the Academy. Midora sighed. "And here I thought he'd be anticipating this fight..." He spoke quietly enough so that only he and Isolde can hear. The Water Mage shrugged, "Oh well. Fire demons. For some reason I'm just a bitch in their eyes and they make it sounds like a bad thing. That must be the reason why, I suppose. I'm not in the mood to quarrel with him though so you don't have to worry, Senpai." She said sarcastically in which Midora just quietly shook his head unconvincingly.

After remarking with the students, Memphis walked towards Midora and remarked to him in a rather sarcastic fashion while completely ignored Isolde. Well, he knows how the red-head feels right now and he isn't that petty to bother such insults like that so he found no points to reply back. After all, Memphis has turned out to be just as the same as any other Demons he had come across in his life. Sometimes he wonders if only the only people who can truly understand him are Mikari and the Sages - his companions.

Meanwhile, as the Headmaster turned his heel to rejoin the group, Isolde just merely chuckles in a rather cocky way, showing that she isn't afraid the Demon in the slightest despite how intimidating he made it seems. "Oh my, it's that really how you were taught to address someone you've just met who even didn't do anything to you yet? I thought they were just exaggerating when saying things like that about you but it seemed you were worse. Kill it before it kills us, you say? You really underestimate us Sages, Demon. Not to worry though, I have no interest to make any steps into your stuffy Academy."

"Isolde, that's enough. I've had enough troubles for one day already." Midora silently snapped to his companion. The tall woman just shrugged but still with her usual confident smile on her face, feeling no trouble at all in which the Dark Mage let out yet another depressing sigh. As the group of students along with their teacher had just left, suddenly the ground where the Window used to situated cracked as the whole ground were shaken. As the crack began to widen, a gigantic creature began to climbed out of the crack and howled hungrily.

Isolde let out a sigh, "Tch. Seriously? An S-class Archgolem? And they said as if it was something worse than this." She said as she rolls her eyes. "Oh well, at least I got a chance to stretched my muscle a bit rather than just toying with those B-class scumbags."

Midora replied, "Still as combative as ever, huh? Looks like you're still the same as ever. This is just a medium-sized Window so do you expect anything else?" Midora remarked as he held the pair of dual blades firmly in his hands. "So, ready?"

"You bet we are, let's rock this." Isolde said confidently as she conjured thousands of ice spears surrounding the monster. The two of them then charged towards it as it tried to attacked them with its tentacles.

---

"Itadakimasu." Isolde clasped her hands as she held the wooden chopsticks in her hands before enjoying the bowl of ramen in front of her. "Hehe, feels so good to have your stomach filled after a warm-up fight."

Well, as expected, they've finished the monster without much effort and now they're having supper in a ramen stall. Although Midora said that he wanted to go back since it is already more than 12:00 AM already, it was quite some while since the last time he had a meal with someone else rather than Mikari. He usually hang out with the other Sages like this too in the past though not now since he don't have many chances to see them. As he slowly swallowed up the noodles, he turned to Isolde, "So, how did you were here anyway? Isn't you one of those high-ranked General already? Did you get in touch with the other five?"

"Hmm?" The Water Sage turned to Midora as she took a sip from her cup of sake, "Well, since they didn't have any big problems or conflicts with other nations, they decided to sent me along with my group to stay in this town and work as police of some sorts. Couldn't say that I'm totally happy with it though. It was so boring that I've got nothing better to do than patrolling around town while kicking some asses of those rogue Mages." She sighed. "And about the others, well Estello is being sent to other countries as an ambassador of some sort while Milliane-chan still working as a bounty hunter like usual. Arden and Mei Feng are still living like long-life hermits in their own places. And our kid leader, Raiden, is currently with Sensei to be an assistant of sort, if I remember correctly. Heh, how funny to see that we now have followed our own paths."

"I guess Estello is still doing fine, huh?" Midora smiled lightly as he asked.

"You have no idea. He is even more annoying than that red-head." Isolde grinned, "Oh well, having nothing to do with the world seems to have make people underrated us too much. I wish there'd be some chances for us to finally being able to show our true strength. I mean, just look as us, you're the "Bringer of Desolation" while I'm the "Ace in Ice" after all."

"So that's what you think, huh?" Midora finished up his own bowl before turning his back and gazed at the starry sky, "I wish I could still have enough enthusiasm like that."

"Well, we ought to have our own opinions, right?" Isolde grinned as she drank up her cup. [color=#30acd1]"Well, since I'm going to hang around this town for quite some while, this won't be the last chance for us to work together, Senpai."

The two Sages chatting with each other for a bit longer before departed into different directions, only for now. Being able to work with one of his old companions really did light up something that has always been sleeping inside Midora for a long time and it wasn't bad at all, he must admit. And secretly, he's looking forward to work with them in the near future.

As Midora teleported back to the Academy, he made his way back to his room. Everything is so quiet now because when he walked on the hall he didn't bump into anyone. Although he wasn't really tired, he should settled for the day now and waited if anything else interesting would happen tomorrow.

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Mikari listened attentively to Kou and was able to figured out what is happening to her. He sighed. Although he wasn't someone who like to poke his nose into other's love lives, he should do something about the two of his beloved students if he wants to have some peace of mind from now on. It was just in one day and everything is already a big mess.

"I understand. Well, this isn't totally Ruzik's fault though. He was an Incubus after all and you know how they are. But trust me, if you can managed to capture his heart, he will be yours and yours only, despite how unfaithfully he might seemed." Mikari smiled a bit as he regarded to his favorite red-head. Then after that, Kou asked if Mikari brought her outside here just to talk to her or is he planning something else, and if he can do anything to ease her pain.

"You don't have to worry much. This is the first time you've been reduced to this form so the effect of Yomi-ojiisama's power is stirred a bit, which is why it can be a little sore but it'll be over soon. And there can be two reasons that explained your current state: it is either you've just had sexual contact with another for the first time or you had to experienced emotions that are too strong, or both. You may not notice, but the way your hair change color itself it is the similar fashion, though to a lesser extent. This is so far what I've managed to know. You should probably talk to Yomi-ojiisama about this. Which is why, I will summon him here..."

After finishing the last sentence, Mikari couldn't help but let out the most depressing sigh a person could have ever seen as he made a facepalm. "...Although I really don't want to see him though. He is so troublesome anytime we met." Mikari leaned his back against the bench.

Mikari paused for a bit moment as he looked up to the starry sky, "I don't know if he ever told you about this but my family has a strong bonds with his bloodline. Although no one in my family is able to see or physically contact with him except for me. Well, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I was the only Dark Mage in the middle of a White Mages' family. I started to see him after sometimes when my family was killed during a massacre. I don't know how he acted in front of you or any of his followers but to me, he was the most pervert God ever in existence." Mikari let out another sigh, "For some reason that I couldn't understand at all, he has been trying to hit on me ever since I met him. It is true that although we're blood-related in some ways, but he said that human's rules no longer matter to him so there's nothing incest about him flirting me. Don't get me wrong, he might looked young thanks to his immortality but I'm absolutely not interested in dating with a God."

He then stood up, "But hey, although reluctant as I was, I will call him here for you and you could know more details about what has happened to you, okay? And thanks for listening for my whole ordeal with your owner." Mikari said with a grin as he stretched his arms while yawning tiredly. "Well, I don't really know how long are you going to stay at this form but we should leave it for tomorrow. I'm too tired to summon that pervy old man here so let's call it a day."

With that said, Mikari stood up and hold Kou inside his arm, "Do you wanna go back to your room or you want to stay in the infirmary for the night?"

Laurence stood and looked to the Headmaster as the demon announced that the students would be returning to the academy, a look of relief spreading across his face as the boy felt more at ease knowing his part was over. Looking about, he watched the other students before moving himself over to the forming group as they waited to be led back to the academy. However, the mage didn’t really say much to anyone as he opted to stand quietly and save whatever energy he had, merely giving a smile to whoever looked to him, though he did at least spare a moment to focus his gaze onto Venom. She was his teammate after all so it made sense to care for her, and offer a smile to the girl especially.

As soon as the Headmaster had rejoined the students everyone began to make their return to the school, the walk not taking that long overall as before he knew it they were back within the academy grounds soon enough. Although Laurence wasn’t paying any particular attention to those around him throughout the short journey, and without really giving much of a farewell he immediately headed for the dormitories and departed from the group. Whatever Venom chose to do after that point he didn't know, half expecting the girl to either catch up with him in the dorm, or wander off elsewhere in the academy.

By the time he had made it up the stairs the mage quickly clasped his eyes on a familiar demon that was currently making her way towards their room. Refraining from disturbing her for now, Laurence hurried into the dorm ahead of Etelka and closed the door behind him. Setting the wand on top of the desk the boy retreated to the bathroom to quickly clean up, mostly washing away bits of dirt and slight blood, and whatever else he happened to gather whilst out in the field. His clothes were also a bit dirtied and ripped but nothing majorly noticeable, thankfully. After drying his face and hands Laurence returned to the room and began to get himself dressed for bed, as he discarded his dirtied attire and slipped on something more cleaner and comfortable.

Yawning a little, his eyes fell half-shut as the mage was visibly tired from the mission. The spell had been quite tiring to perform, maybe more so than he originally thought, but it wasn't anything that a good-nights sleep couldn't mend. Despite desperate for his bed, the boy forced himself to remain awake until Etelka returned, and perhaps Venom if the demon did appear. Laurence wanted to at least make sure his demons were alright, especially Etelka since he had to leave the girl earlier and had no clue what she had got up to. For now though he'd stand and wait for as long as he was able to, and fend of his fatigue as best he could.

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Momoko watched the demon enter the room and listened to what he said, raising a slight eyebrow when Ruzik explained that Kou wasn’t going to return to the dorm any time soon. Naturally she wanted to investigate the matter further though soon got the feeling that the demon didn’t wish to speak of the topic for much longer. ”I understand.” The girl said and gave a smile to the boy, after he promised to not bother her tonight. At least he seemed to get the message to not overstep the mark, though for how long it would last she couldn’t tell.

”Yeah, it is pretty late… some sleep sounds good about now.” Momoko agreed before letting out a quiet yawn, her eyes trailing on after the redhead as he dropped onto the bottom bed, to which the mage presumed meant that he would be sleeping in the lower bunk. ”I have always loved sleeping in high places, so I guess I will take the highest bed for tonight.” With that said Momoko climbed up the ladder and settled into the top bunk, getting in beneath the covers before lying down on her back.

Before she could say the words Ruzik had already wished her ‘good night’ before falling silent, to which the girl simply replied back, ”Yeah, sleep tight.” It was a little weird being in a strange bed that was held above an equally strange person below her, but pushing the thought aside Momoko tried to relax and fall into a deep sleep. She was already pretty tired anyway, though found it hard to drift off as her excitement for the next day was keeping her awake a little. Regardless she forced her eyes shut and attempted to dream of something else.

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THE NEXT DAY

The hours had flew by that night and soon morning had come once again, much to the demon’s annoyance as the sun’s rays crept into the room and shone on his face for a few minutes. Opening his eyes Memphis found himself in a chair that was sat in his office, which made him quickly conclude that he must have came to the office to sleep as appose to using the room that was provided for him. But he wasn’t surprised, given that back home he use to share a bed with his master as a child, and when older fell into the habit of sleeping just about anywhere so long as it was within the same room as the elderly mage. The floor, in a chair, under the bed; it was an unfamiliar feeling to bear when realizing he was expected to sleep alone for once in his life.

Exhaling a tired sigh Memphis got up from the chair and walked over to his desk after remembering there was a class today, and more importantly what exactly it was he would be doing with the students. The first day had gone somewhat well he guessed, though as to how the students and teachers felt towards him was an entirely different thing altogether. Ridding his mind of the thought the demon turned the schools intercom on before clearing his throat.

"Listen up, this is your Headmaster speaking," Come to think of it Memphis didn’t even know what time it was, but given that the sun was already up the demon figured others would be awake by now at least, he guessed. "Students and staff who are part of the Headmasters class are expected to arrive early to class this morning. Be aware that today will not be an ordinary lesson, it will be a fun outing instead, and so students and staff should come prepared for the trip. That is all... and I hope you will all have fun, heh."

Releasing his finger from the button the demon leaned back and stepped away from his desk, briefly wondering what things he could need, if anything. Though it wasn’t like Memphis had much to begin with anyway since his master was still sorting out his belongings to send over to the academy in the following days, and in the meantime the demon decided to just leave the room without a second look back. Once outside his office the Headmaster made his way down in the direction towards the classroom and shoved his hands into his pockets, though as he passed down through the hallways quickly many who passed the redhead hurriedly stepped aside to avoid Memphis as he passed by without a care for them.

By the time he reached the classroom the demon pushed the door open and strolled inside casually, popping out a cigarette before placing it between his lips. No one was around quite yet so it wasn’t as if there was someone to whine at the demon about his smoking, thankfully. Sitting himself down against the edge of the desk the Headmaster waited for the arrival of students and staff, and all the while pondering how to best conduct today’s class. Of course though he already had a few ideas on how to improve matters, though as to how they would be received was something else completely. All the demon could do for now was wait and enjoy his cigarette in the peacefulness that lingered just then. He wondered who would dare to arrive first.

---

Ruzik had heard the Headmaster’s voice over the speakers in the hallway outside his dorm, though in all honesty the incubus didn’t feel like going on some outing. What was so fun about it? What was the Headmaster even thinking, if at all? Ruzik wasn’t impressed and just rolled his eyes. Having woken up sometime before the demon was already dressed and wondering about the room in a bid to amuse himself in the meantime and distract his mind from thinking of Kou.

In all honesty however, the demon had thought of nothing else beside the rabbit throughout the entire night but it hadn’t eased him in the slightest. Over the passing hours he had come to the conclusion that maybe his presence wasn’t wanted in the infirmary, maybe he was the problem? Either way, Ruzik was determined that he would visit the girl when he could though perhaps right now was a little too early. Besides Kou seemed to be enjoying sleeping quite a bit since becoming a rabbit, so allowing her further rest wouldn’t be so bad?

”Hey Momoko, you awake?” He quietly asked all of a sudden, unsure if the girl was conscious or not at that moment. Maybe she had heard him walking? Surely the Headmaster’s little speech would have stirred the mage somewhat. ”If you are you best get dressed, we’ll need to leave soon since… we have class I guess.” Clearly Ruzik didn’t seem all that enthusiastic to go but did he have a choice? If they didn’t go, or if he didn’t especially, them someone would likely come and drag him there anyway much to his displeasure.

Thus, another long day has finally managed to pass by. Though with Midora, there aren't any days that weren't long though. People just don't know what burden he has to carried on his shoulders. Although he has already learnt how to cope with it, sometimes he did feel a bit lonely as not many people would understand what he has to sacrificed. Especially since recently, painful memories are bound to return to him a lot more than it should and hopefully it's not going to turn into a bad thing. But, that's life, Midora figures. Something that he can't control no matter how much he tried.

After rising from his slumber after a long night last night, Midora got changed and clean himself look so that he can look neatly as usual. He was going out to meet a certain someone who has informed him that they will arrive today and he don't want to keep them waiting. It was not until that he stepped out of his room that the Headmaster informed the students and the teachers to gather at the classroom. Since last night, it seemed that both of them weren't on a very nice speaking terms. But not that Midora really mind though. He has been entrusted with the task to keep the Demon intact as long as he still resides within this Academy's inferior.

As Midora made his way to the entrance, he held the pendant on his palm and examines it a bit more carefully. The power that emits from the pendant isn't something that one should toy with. Midora estimates that at his full strength, Memphis strength would be equal, if not surpasses, to that of the Demon who has destroyed the town where Midora and Mikari once resided in the past. He quickly shrugged the thought off. He can't imagine a Demon who was tamed by the Legendary Celestial Mage himself to go on a killing spree and massacre anything on his sight like that Demon. So far, only 5 people in this world are capable of taking Midora on and Memphis might very well be another one should he can learnt how to keep that destructive power of him intact.

Upon getting out of the Academy's campus, Midora took a deep breath at the morning breeze. There's nothing more refreshing than being able to feel the peacefulness of a brand new day when the sun isn't at its peak yet. On his way, he walks through some streets and some people would greeted him in a friendly fashion, in which he responded with a light smile. If things were like this in the past, will his life be much easier? At least, he wasn't that much of a freak in everyone's eyes. Dark Mages were rare, after all. Excluded Laurence, Midora and Mikari might very well be the only ones in this town.

And eventually, he reached a bridge beneath a flowing river. A man with spiky, light blonde hair that slowly darkens downwards was looking on to the far boundary while leaning on the bridge in a rather relaxing way.

"Hey, it's been a while. How's things going?" Midora smiled lightly as he approached the young man. The man then turned his back and greeted him, "Yeah, it's really been a while, Midora-senpai. It looks like you're doing a fine job too." Raiden - the leader of the second generation Sages replied.

"So, how's our sensei doing?" Midora said as he leaned on the bridge and casually asked his kouhai.

"He's fine as always. Though to be honest, he seemed to be a bit lonely without his beloved son to keep him company though." Raiden giggled playfully.

"I figure." Midora calmly replied, "Have you met Isolde yet? Looks like she'll be around here for quite some time."

"I've just seen her yesterday and it seemed that she's still as badass as ever. I suppose she came across with you guys since yesterday, due to the Window's incident?"

"Yeah, though some problems did surface between her and my new boss, nothing too serious seemed to happen." Midora then straighten himself up, "Well, let's go then. He won't be happy if none of his staffs are going to arrive soon. Just don't let his attitude got the better of you. He's only bark but not bite."

"Hehe, sounds like someone our sensei would put a lot of effort into taming." Raiden grinned.

And then, both of them headed back for the Academy. As they headed for the classroom, Raiden really did catch some students' attention. As they approached the classroom, Midora slightly pushed the door opened and enter, gaining everyone who has arrived's attention. The two Sages calmly walked towards Memphis, "Good morning, boss." Midora greeted him with a graceful bow before speaking up, "As you may have know, a couple of teachers in our Academy had been sent for the Upper Department for some business for a week or so and they've sent us a replacement for those ones. It is the person who is standing next to me right here."

After Midora finished his words, he stepped back as the young man stepped forward to the Demon, "My name is Raiden Eristocath, the Sage of Ether and leader of the Seven Elemental Sages. I will be teaching in place of the teachers that had been sent for a week. Pleasure to meet you and hopefully we can work well along with each other." Raiden gave Memphis a bow, "Now, should there are any problems, please feel free to summon me in the lunch break. I don't want to have my works delayed in the first day." The young Mage then turned his back and headed out of the classroom. On his way, he nodded to Midora as the Dark Mage also nodded back in return.

When the Celestial Mage has exited the room and headed for his class, Midora walked to Memphis and looked on at the students before speaking quietly enough for them to hear, "I didn't know whether if you've known or not but Raiden is your master's assistant. I have no doubts that Sensei sent him here to watch you for a while to see if you're capable of doing your job. Whether you like it or not, this has been decided by the higher-ups so I hope that you'll be okay with that for a week. Raiden is a reasonable man so I think that there won't be much of a problem to have him around. That's all I wanted to say. If you have any other questions, you can ask him later if you want."

---

Mikari yawned and stretched his arms as he made his way towards the classroom after the Headmaster summoned them. Yesterday was a long day to him and he has to running around running errands, which is why he wasn't really in his top shape today. Perhaps I should check how Kou-san was doing first. He thought as he changed his direction and headed for the infirmary. And yes, he also knows that a certain someone has entered the Academy. But that wasn't much of a problem to Mikari though.

As he got closer to the infirmary, the celestial emission although was lower than average but can still clearly be felt. Upon getting there, he saw that the door was closed. Mikari smirked. Not very welcoming, isn't it? He then flipped as he teleported inside the room and stood behind everyone. It looks like they're having quite a friendly conversation. "Sounds like you all are getting along well, huh?" Mikari said playfully, gaining everyone's attention, especially Tsukuyomi. "You should have informed me that you were going to come, ojii-sama. Although as much as I hate how you constantly sexual harassing me anytime we met, I don't know how the Headmaster would feel to have an unexpected guest at his Academy."

Mikari then shrugged, "Well, sorry for my little interruption. I was just checking how my students are doing. Looks like you're still as sentimental as always." He then moved his gaze to somewhere else, "We definitely needed to talk, hentai-kami. Although you might think I didn't look like it, I'm still their teacher and it is my duty to look after them. Now, please don't mind me, feel free to sorted out whatever problems you three had though be quick because our Headmaster isn't a very patient Demon."