Chapter Text
Start Chapter 1
Iruma was glad that it seemed that the day, although it was stressful, seemed to be looking up. Especially after the toothache he had woken up to for the 4th day in a row. He was wondering if he should tell someone about them. They were getting pretty bad and he swore he could wiggle one of his incisors now, and he was pretty sure it was an adult tooth. Which did worry him… He really didn’t want to worry or inconvenience his grandpa or Opera though. They already did so much for him, after all. He would just be more careful with chewing things! He knew he did have a tendency to crunch right through the hard candies that Clara gave him…. It was hard not to, though; he didn’t want any of them to go to waste, and the idea of not being appreciative and finishing everything given to him did make him very anxious.
Iruma and the rest of the class spent a majority of the day, just like the days before, studying until he truly felt like he was going to lose his mind and felt a bit like a useless case. He wasn’t planning on giving up, but it did stress him out. He could support a tax filing service all on his own at the age of 12 when a whole office got swine flu, but he couldn’t even get the simplest of netherworld questions right. He was so grateful for his friends doing their best to help him. He felt really lucky and cared for.
He understood he was far behind and really wanted to do well not just for himself but for everyone else as well, and he knew that wasn’t possible with how he was currently doing in school and in his studies. Being so far behind in Human World school, plus barely knowing anything about the Demon World, had been very detrimental to his academics. The blue-haired boy was just hopeful with hard work that, they could figure out a game plan for him to at least skate on by for the end of terminus exams until he had a better understanding of things and learned how to study in a way that helped things make better sense for him. Either way, things weren’t going all bad; Iruma had managed to pass one of the quizzes in the Imaginary Creatures class book with a 100%! Yeah… maybe he may be too excited over that due to it literally being about basic human world things and up until a few months ago he, a human, lived there, but after well over a week of studying, he at least knew he could pass one of the parts of the terminus exams and that was a major relief.
Iruma had convinced Azz and Clara, his best friends to take him to Netherworld History classroom, hoping that the class would help him prepare and that he might be able to get professor Dali to help a little and answer some of his questions in a way that he would be able to understand and retain better. He was excited at the idea and fully committed to doing his best to pass his exams.
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Iruma had so many regrets. He had been excited to meet Professor Balam after completing the questions with complete success in the quiz from his book. He should have listened to Azz when he had encouraged them to leave after they learned that someone named Balam, who was the same Balam that wrote the book he had been holding, had substituted for Professor Dali. It seemed like the class was empty at first, and then BAM, they had been wrapped up in vines and suddenly being whipped every which way; he was being petted, which would have been nice if he wasn’t terrified and being held against his will by someone that clearly ate kids for breakfast!
Clearly, Balam was crazy as he ranted eagerly about Human world creatures, and before he could even ask a decent question, the man was eagerly muttering about the dining habits of Human world creatures and how they ate each other! His cat drawings were cute but that really wasn’t much of a consolation for the situation, especially after students explained that he felt students to figure out how suitable they were for experimentation. It was terrifying! Especially as Balam really seemed to have a thing for Clara, who frankly wasn’t helping herself the way she was climbing all over him and nuzzling into his hands like an eager cat. And Balam seemed to like Iruma a lot to with the way he flung him over and even sat him in his lap.
Iruma felt like his heart would beat out of his chest when the terrifying teacher began talking about humans, especially when everyone started talking about how they would eat one if they met them! It reminded him of the fact that he was most definitely NOT a Netherworld native and that he could get gobbled up at any point! He would rather have the man stay distracted by petting him like some little purse dog than have to hear any more about how he would get eaten if anyone found out his secret!
Iruma’s thoughts were interrupted when someone asked what Professor Balam would do if he met a human and after the massive demon paused for several very uncomfortable minutes staring very very menacingly at the doll he had hanging with the word human printed over its front, professor Balam turned and exclaimed that he would like to ask it how it was able to live without wings since they were imperative to survival in the demon world. This once again reminded Iruma of how he definitely needed to be careful because he wasn’t a demon, and that would be incredibly obvious if anyone saw he didn’t have wings.
The man continued walking over to Iruma and tilted his head before he began petting him again, his hands wandering past his shoulders subconsciously as he began speaking about wings again and why they were so important to a demon’s survival. “I would ask about how they were able to evolve without wings due to them being so important to the survival of those of us in the Netherworld. You see even if you don’t have horns you can still survive because you can get away from danger with your-“ The man paused, suddenly frantically patting at Iruma’s back, then with a panicked sound the teacher snatched up the frightened and confused blue haired boy and tossed him over his shoulder without a word to the class before bolting out of the classroom. Iruma of course, screamed the whole way through the school, unsure what was going on and if he was suddenly going to get put in lab or something like the other student’s warned him about.
After crashing into the Teacher’s office, Balam in his panic, nearly knocked down the door as he slammed it open. Robin released a startled yelp as the door nearly hit him in the man’s panic, though Balam didn’t even notice him. Instead, the white-haired demon was panting and wide-eyed, “Anyone?!”
“Wow, Professor Balam, is everything okay?” Robin asked, taking in the clearly distressed Gargoyle.
Balam turned to him sharply before shouting, “THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! MY STUDENT! HE-HE HAS NO WINGS!!!”
“Don’t be silly, that isn’t possible lets calm down!” The junior teacher said with a laugh, relieved that Balam was clearly just getting himself all worked up about something that wasn’t a problem again.
Momonoki came from behind the partition with a sigh, “Don’t be silly!”
“Of course he has wings!” Robin exclaimed, smiling at how ridiculous the white-haired demon’s claims were.
“Yeah, he probably just has them tucked inside right now! Nothing to get excited about.” Momonoki agreed, looking at the man like she thought he was letting his imagination run away from him again.
“No! There aren’t even any wing bases! You can tell by touching his back!” Balam insisted, snatching the back of Iruma’s uniform when he tried to make a break for it.
That had the indulgent smiles whipped instantly and two twin shouts of disbelief.
Robin’s smile warbled, “Well we can solve this real quick! Let me see your back Iruma!”
“What?!” Iruma squeaked.
After seeing Iruma actively fight and try to get away, Robin lunged forward with Balam, “Let’s get these off!”
“If they find out I’m human, they’ll kill me and eat me!” Iruma thought, terror filling him as he thrashed and twisted with all of his might. Not this way, not THEM ! They were the only adults who had ever shown even the slightest bit of genuine care for his well-being and hadn’t hurt him, and now they were going to kill him! Struggling was useless and the shirt was off in seconds.
No no no no no nO NO ! Iruma cringed and shut his eyes as tightly as he could. He was unable to control his panicked panting even as he gave in to the inevitable; at least he had been able to live such a good life for the last few months of his life, a better one than he deserved; that was what mattered, right? At least he didn’t die on the latest job or from accidentally eating poisoned or contaminated food, and he even got to eat a great big breakfast that day! And wait - why wasn’t he dead?
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The somewhat amused and indulgent feel of the adults in the room instantly vaporized at the sight that greeted them. It was truly wretched. The burns and scars were so numerous and overlapping they looked like a gruesome 3d map… and worst of all….. there was just… he didn’t have even a hint of wing remnants, just a deep deviating chasm down his back where something that once was had been brutally carved away to the spinal collum.
Momonoki was the first to excuse herself. She hadn’t been expecting anything, but maybe a comically small pair of wings that Iruma likely would have been embarrassed by, and due to this, she was so blindsided she felt like she’d been whiplashed by a blue Mountain bull during a territorial dispute. She hadn’t been able to steel herself and was too horrified to be able to shore up her emotions and act appropriately in the situation. She was embarrassed at the loud involuntary sniffle she had made at the sight.
Buer had stumbled at the sight that greeted him after coming out to see what was happening. He had been completely taken by surprise. Tensing everything from his jaw to his back and even his legs at the idea of going through so so much pain. He felt nauseated even thinking about it.
Robin jerked his hands away from Iruma’s back like he had been physically attacked at the sight. Pale, he held a hand over his mouth while looking around at the others like he desperately hoped he was hallucinating. Iruma was the sweetest, hard-working kid; he was always so weirdly carrying and creating such deep bonds with the other fledglings in his class in a way that had both baffled and amazed him and even seemed to be making close allies outside of class, which was especially strange. Even super-friendly social demons rarely were able to create close bonding allyships with more than a few individuals in a lifetime. Of course, they can have lots of allies but not the way Iruma did. He was devoted to them and they him. He went out of his way to help others in such an undemon-like way and didn’t complain ever…. And…. And his back! He had to be so scared, and tired, and in pain all of the time! What had happened to this child? What sick bastard had done this?
No one could take their eyes from the spot where the child’s wing roots should have been. If they all hadn’t been seasoned adult demons, the sight may have made someone lose their lunch or act out. Besides the grotesque hollow, there was a thick gruesome purplish scar, nearly a palm in width, that ran down the entirety of the boy’s spine from neck to butt, deeply indented and hollowed in several spots along the ridge. Some spots were puffy and more an angry red and ropy in others. The other scars along Iruma’s back carried their own ugliness and horror. There were spots, mostly around his shoulders, that were deep, rounded pits in various stages of age, and some didn’t even look healed. in other spots what looked to be old stab scars, lash marks, possible clawed spots, jagged ropey tears, a spot here or there that had clearly regrown meat in the past, and spots where something wickedly sharp had slashed thin ropy worm-like lines in a crisscross. All of it was layer with various of lightened faded scars. Much of the skin around his spine looked angry and tight.
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Iruma couldn’t understand what was going on. Shouldn’t they have killed him already? He wasn’t dead, but how? They had to know he was a human now and demons ate humans. Were they so cruel that they were waiting until he opened his eyes? He couldn’t do it, just pretend I don’t exist I don’t exist!
“Momonoki……. I know… you are having a moment…..But… Can you go please ask Suzy to take over my class? We will also need… Ifrit to take over for Marbas. Get Kalego here to, he needs to be here.” Buer said, his voice slightly shaken.
Robin raised his hand an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. “I-I’ll get him!” Iruma heard a click and then what sounded like running.
Buer decided that the situation was probably going as best as it possibly could in the situation. He had directed Momonoki out of the room as he didn’t want her near hysterics, although for a good reason, to cause any stress. Robin might be a loaded cannon, too, with the look on his face. It was already a near inevitability that Iruma was going to end up in an evil cycle after that, hell he himself was already on the edge of one and wouldn’t be surprised if he himself was unable to resist his own after dealing with the situation.
After hearing the second click of the door, everything was quiet for several unnerving minutes until Iruma worked up enough courage to open his eyes. Too scared to just sit there not knowing what was going on. It had felt like hours had gone by, but in reality, less than 5 minutes had passed. The small boy glanced around the room. He didn’t understand what was going on. Shouldn’t they be eating him by now? Why did they look so freaked out? Or maybe horrified was more accurate…? They all looked either like they were going to be sick or were super upset.
Professor Marbas was approaching Iruma, one hand out in a placating gesture as he looked at him with strange gentleness and incredible. He just looked so sad. Iruma held back the anxious whine that wanted to leave his throat. Was he sad because of him? Was it because he didn’t tell them the truth? He didn’t want anyone to look that way because of him!
“Hey, hey , it's alright. Nothing you say here will leave this room. You are safe here.” Buer ephasised. He, too, held out a hand and gave Iruma a reassuring smile before a serious frown took over his face as he met the boy's eyes.
“Safe, but I-“ Was he implying they weren’t going to kill him even though they knew he was a human? Or did they think something else was going on? Iruma was so confused!
“Devi that green idiot was screaming my ears off! What’s happened no-“
Kalego entered the office, looking more than a little annoyed until the stink of horror and stress hit his nose and he actually took in what everyone was staring at. Oh, Oh satan ! The guard dog didn’t even notice as he paused mid-sentence when his eyes landed on his student’s back; he knew even without seeing his face that it was Iruma. Kalego didn’t even notice when his planner hit the floor as he fought his hand from racing up to cover his mouth. His stomach rolled and gurgled vilely at the mess that made up the child’s back. How didn’t he know? When did this happen? he was mangled! Who?- why, WHY ?! Iruma was the most disgustingly selfless, polite, and least demon-like demon Kalego had ever had the displeasure of worrying over! As irritated as he could get with him Kalego could never imagine a reason to do this to anyone, let alone a fledgling and this one especially! How dare someone do this? How dare they?! He couldn’t control the chest-deep growl that rattled out of him as he stormed over. At seeing Marbas and Buer sweating and involuntarily tilting their necks in submission, Buer going so far as half crouching in deferment, and Iruma more than ready to run for his life Kalego mentally scolded himself. He needed to force himself to stay composed no matter how much his blood boiled.
Before a returned Robin could step a foot into the room, Kalego was already barking orders. “Robin out now, go tell everyone that until this is figured out the Chairman is not to impede.”
“What, why?!” Iruma squeaked.
Kalego flicked his wrist at Balam, knowing he would understand him without even having to be told what he wanted him to do. The white-haired demon nodded, slipping behind the purple-haired demon as Kalego approached. Shoulders slopped, head held out and a little downward, slightly tilted, ears held slightly down but not back, scent protective-comfort-safe. That perfume that brat wore was especially infuriating. It was so strong it practically blinded him from being able to pick up on anything. He hated it on a good day and downright loathed it entirely at the moment. It left so many things an infuriating guessing game on the best of days. If Iruma weren’t so ridiculously emotional, he would never be able to figure out what he was thinking or feeling. As strong as the stench was he sometimes wondered how Iruma could even pick up on anyone else’s scents and important cues either. He was so socially clueless Kalego sometimes worried that being sheltered with the moronic chair-demon had stunted him.
Instead of relaxing like he should have been from Kalego showing his desire to protect and for a calm peaceful interaction, Iruma looks like he is trying to figure out if he can figure out a way past Balam, who was now standing in front of the door, and run screaming bloody murder down the hall for all of the school to hear. Kalego almost wished that his initial thoughts on Iruma’s severely strange behaviors had been the case. Instead, he was probably incredibly damaged by the torture he went through.
Iruma violently flinched away from Kalego as he went to gently direct him from the middle of the room towards the sitting area. Before the boy could fully commit to bolting, Kalego pressed him to his front and locked his hand firmly to cradle the back of his neck and head, then carefully soothed spots behind his ears. “ Calm .” The demon ordered.
Iruma was frozen in place, scared the demon would crush his skull at first and then too comfortable and hazy to really think properly after a few minutes of Kalego doing something weird. He could even smell something kind of nice, maybe comforting even? Iruma let out a sigh of relief as his heart loosened.
“Now, let’s go sit down.” Kalego all but demanded, jerking Iruma from his semi-comfortable haze. Seeing this Kalego wasn’t willing to take any risks, the kid was fast and very difficult to catch so he continued to lead the still rather anxious boy by his neck towards an area with a coffee table and several nice chairs and comfortable-looking coaches.
Buer immediately got to work making some hell-grade tea while Marbas sat some sandwiches and cake on the table. It was common knowledge these days that nothing calmed the blue-haired teenager more than food.
Now, being able to see that Iruma was not only just very small but a bit underweight and the injuries that he had gone through, Marbas suspected he wouldn’t like the answers to why the boy was so fixated on food.
After letting a very confused and slightly dazed Iruma go, everyone was given a few minutes to settle down to put on their professional faces, and Marbas had lent Iruma a very oversized sweater due to Robin accidentally tearing Iruma’s uniform; everyone had stewed and were more than eager to get down to business…. Other than Iruma, who was clearly still very anxious and practically sweating bullets.
“Iruma, there is no need to be so nervous. You aren’t in any trouble.” Kalego explained, signing as the boy gave him wide uncomprehending eyes and practically vibrated with anxiety.
He wasn’t shutting down from the stress was he? “You can understand me right?”
“I-uh yes?” The boy confirmed, glancing up at his teacher before looking back down at his lap.
“ Good . Now…” Kalego leaned forward, “I need to ask….” His eyes narrowed, “ Who …. did this to you ?”
End Chapter 1