Chapter 1: Demon King

Pain. An excruciating weight pressed down upon my back, holding me flat against the cold floor. A crook was held against my neck, forcing my head down and preventing me from looking around too much.

"Stop it! What are you people doing to him? Unhand him this instant!"

I could spot Yukinoshita in the corner of my vision protesting my unjust treatment. A bit of the weight was lifted from my back, my captors easing up their intense hold on me, but still preventing me from moving. I took the chance to glance around the room and try to better comprehend our situation. Hayama, while somewhat disoriented, had awoken and seemed to have some comprehension of the current tense situation while Miura who was still out cold, looked relatively unharmed as well. Yuigahama, who was also still unconscious, seemed fine as well. With my worries assuaged, I looked forward again to face our captors.

Before us stood the large figure of a man, someone of great importance no doubt. He was surrounded by soldiers, judging by the weapons they carried. The man was tall and while a bit round in some areas, noticeably bulky. His well-shaped face was outlined by his dark hair and I could imagine that he was probably quite the charmer in his younger days; his current appearance however, suggested that he had seen better times, creases etched onto his face from the scowl that had currently occupied his face all too well. I had also noticed he was adorned in extravagant clothing and various metallic pieces of a much higher quality then what the men around him wore. However, what stood out most was the hatred radiating from him. I could almost see an aura around him from his hatred that seemingly died his surrounding area with darkness. As for the target of the hatred? Was it my imagination, or was he staring straight at me? …Oi, wait just one minute! This is no time to be joking. I don't even know this guy. Exactly just what did I do to piss of this kind of guy?

"Father, please, you're being hasty! You need to calm down. He appeared alongside the heroes when we summoned them. There must be some sort of misunderstanding here. After all, that man looks human, does he not? We must find the truth before you decide to what to do with him."

Ouch. First they attack me physically, and now they're attacking my mental health as well. What's up with that stinging, but all too familiar insult? In fact, the source of that insult seemed really familiar as well. The voice came from the left of the man. His figure was so overwhelming I hadn't even noticed before, but there was a young woman standing beside him. Judging off her height and her appearance, aside from her complete lack of, *cough*, well, you know, she appeared to be around 16 or 17, or the same age as us. Something about her struck me as off though. Her voice, her face, her mannerism… no way. Aside from her hairstyle and clothing, she was the splitting image of Yukinoshita. I glanced to the side to reconfirm that Yukinoshita was still indeed by my side. Yukinoshita herself looked equally baffled upon seeing her doppelganger standing before us.

"ENOUGH!"

A single command from the man was all it took to force the room quite. Even I was hesitant to make a sound, cautious of drawing any further spite, despite my immediate distaste for the person who had no doubt placed me in this situation.

"Knock him out and take him away. There are more important issues we must deal with currently. The matter of his punishment shall be decided at a later date." Having said his piece, the man turned and made his way out of the room. The Yukinoshita look-alike looked unsatisfied, but otherwise did not say anymore.

One of the guards standing around the room moved in front of me. I hadn't noticed it before, but this one, and a couple others, weren't wearing the metal armor, but rather robes of some sort. Placing his hands out, he began chanting in some other language. Almost immediately, I felt my eyelids growing heavy. I was still under extreme discomfort from being restrained, but I could tell that somehow, they were managing to put me to sleep. Looking up, I could see the unease on Hayama's face concerning our predicament and Yukinoshita, struggling against another guard. Words flowing desperately from her mouth, but my mind was far too muddled to make any sense of what she was trying to say. It was at this point that I blacked out.

…

Just how did we end up in this situation?

~The Same Day, After School~

Ah, what a beautiful day. It was just starting to warm up, with much of the late February and early March snow completely melting away, revealing the lush plant life buried by the cold winter. Many of the flowers were beginning to go into bloom, painting the much of the school grounds with the beautiful hues of pink and purple that Japan is so famous for. From this classroom, I was able to enjoy this peaceful environment every day, after school. Despite my initial misgivings about the club, I was truly grateful to Hiratsuka-sensei for forcing me into the Service Club. N-n-not that I would ever openly admit that to anyone, idiot!

I sat on my side of the class, the far edge of the table, carefully sipping the tea provided to us by our beautiful club president, Yukinoshita, Yukino. As I flipped through the pages of the latest trashy light novel I had picked up (Say what you will, Yukinoshita, I consider light novels to be the culmination of Japanese storytelling.), I could hear the sounds of the club's resident airhead, Yuigahama, Yui, as she made incongruous chatter to Yukinoshita.

It was a bizarre scene to most, no doubt— a loner, a nice girl, and the ice queen of Sobu High all gathered together in one room and getting along (mostly). If I had told the me of a year ago of my current situation, he no doubt would have told me to go blow up and die. The three of us have had our issues and problems, fought and argued, even showing sides of ourselves that we would normally never let anyone else see, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't cherish my current relationship with these two.

I know that in the past, I've always said that relationships reset— that as we move on with our lives, we're bound to grow apart from those we know. Rather than actually forming bonds with people, our friendships were simply a result of us, as human beings, seeking companionship from those around us— friendships as a result of circumstance. Remove those circumstances and I can guarantee that 99% of relationships would return to zero. That that was simply how superficial relationships were. I used that as an excuse to be alone. Now, I'm not so sure. Yes, our current situation was the result of the small chance that we all gathered here in this club, but… whether we'll drift apart like what I once believed, or whether we'll persist with this rather unlikely friendship— I, for once, would be content to see myself proven wrong. For now, though, I'll enjoy the existence of the Sobu High Service Club.

"Hikigaya-kun. What's that disgusting smile on your face? I know you're surrounded by your two beautiful club mates, but if you're having any perverted thoughts, I'll report you to Hiratsuka-sensei."

Urk. And here I was, actually praising you two for once. Am I not even aloud to smile or have a happy thought? That's harsh. Besides, I wouldn't fantasize about that washboard you call a chest anyways.

"What's up, Hikki? You usually have this super serious look on your face. It's kinda weird seeing you smile and look happy."

"Even I'm capable of feeling emotions of the positive end of the spectrum." I muttered, a frown replacing the apparent smile on my face. Come on guys, you're both treating me like I'm not a person. I'm a human, I tell you, human!

"Seeenpai!" Interrupting our rather one sided bashing with a singsong cry was an all too familiar voice that could be heard, rather loudly, storming down the hall. Before we could even respond, our door was abruptly shoved open, revealing the owner of the voice. I knew only two people who would so loudly and boldly barge into the clubroom. Based off the voice, I knew without even needing to look that it was our sly underclassman, Isshiki, Iroha, the president of the student council.

"Isshiki-san, next time you open the door, please knock beforehand. Also, try to refrain from yelling in the hallways; it's ill-mannered and unfitting for the student council president."

"Sorry about that, Yukinoshita-senpai. It's just that the student council is in a seeeriously bad position right now. We're supposed to be in charge of setting up the graduation ceremony for the third years, but we've piled up a ton of documents that need to get done before graduation can commence. Graduation practice is going to be done tomorrow though, so we really need to get chairs set up by the end of today. I've already talked to Hiratsuka-sensei for help, but I could reeeally use your guys' help as well setting up."

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to refuse. Isshiki-san, the point of the Service Club is to help students better themselves. Seeing as this is clearly the student council's fault for their mismanagement of time, I'm afraid this goes against our club's teachings. You can't keep coming to us for help every time you need help with something."

"Seeenpai, pleeease, we reeeally need help to finish this up on time." Seeing how her frontal attack against Yukinoshita had no effect, Isshiki decided to try me this time. Clasping her hands together, pushing up her modestly sized chest, she stared directly at me with one of the cutest pouts I've ever seen, just short of Komachi's. However, I'm sorry to inform you, your attacks are ineffective, Isshiki. Years of dealing with Komachi have gradually raised my resistance against the charms of younger-sister types. I'm completely immune! Besides, this task sounds totally troublesome. For someone like me who hates work, there's no way I'd want to spend the rest of my afternoon doing something so bothersome.

Leaning closer, she put her hands on my shoulders as she moved her face much too close to mine. "Please, Senpai?" she whispered into my ear.

"Oi, Yukinoshita, can't we help out Isshiki just this once? We do owe Shiromeguri-senpai for all that she's helped us with through the year."

"Un, that's right. Can't we help them out, Yukinon? It would be really sad if their graduation was a mess after all the hard word they put in for three years." Getting pumped up, Yuigahama made her own plea to Yukinoshita. Seeing as she was outnumbered two to one, Yukinoshita let out a sigh. Offering me a quick glare for, I assume my weak defenses, she yielded her resistance to Isshiki's plea. I'm very sorry, Yukinoshita. I might have maxed out my resistance to little-sister types, but I forgot that Isshiki had two types. There's no way you can expect a loner like me to have a resistance to underclassmen-types as well.

"I suppose we can't simply let the graduation ceremony to result in a failure this year, so the service club will offer their aid. However, Isshiki-san, I would like you to reflect on your fault in this and to try and prevent such a situation from occurring again in the future."

"Haaai, Yukinoshita-senpai."

Following after Isshiki, we made our way out of the special building which housed many of the school's clubrooms. After crossing the school grounds, we arrive in front of the school gymnasium, the site of the graduation ceremony. Based off the festivities that took place during the cultural festival, I knew the gymnasium had both the supplies and the room to house both the third year students and any relatives who would be attending to see their students graduating.

Upon entering we found Hiratsuka-sensei waiting for us with none other than Hayama, Hayato and Miura, Yumiko. What the heck are these two doing here? I wasn't informed of this. Didn't these two have better things to do with their time like… whatever it is that normies do? Aren't you riajuu-bastards too good to be volunteering for this kind of crap? I may have come to an understanding with Miura after the Valentine's Day event the student council hosted and I might have seen more of Hayama's real personality than any of his so called "friends", but there was no way in hell I wanted to hang out with these two if I didn't have to.

"Well, seeing as how Hiratsuka-sensei managed to rope these two in, you have plenty of hands helping out now. I just remembered that I had something I needed to do for Komachi, so I'll leave this up to you guys." Perfect. With this I can slip away. It's way after school hours anyways. Most clubs are wrapping up by now and heading home; why shouldn't I do the same?

"Hikigaya-kun, seeing as how you agreed to Isshiki's request and dragged the Service Club into this, where exactly do you think you're going?"

"Hikigaya, if I hear from Yukinoshita that you were slacking or bailed out, I'll be sure to punch you later."

"Hikki, what exactly did you need to do for Komachi anyways?"

Urk! A three-hit combo. You guys, teaming up against me, that isn't fair! Battles should be one on one. I demand a rematch, four stock, eight minutes, Fox only, Final Destination!

"I look forward to working with you guys today, Yui, Yukinoshita-san, and Hikitani-kun." Breaking up the previous, hostile mood that was directed towards me, Hayama managed to wonderfully transition the conversation and conveniently roped me back in as well. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like I'll be able to get out of this.

"I'll leave this up to you five then. You should be familiar with where everything is. If you need anything else, just ask me. I'll be in the teacher's lounge finishing up some work. I'll be back down in an hour to check on your progress. Good luck." After giving us her piece, Hiratsuka-sensei left the gymnasium, presumably returning to the main building.

"Hmm… maybe I should help out as well?" Our sly underclassman was offering to help despite the fact that we were only here because she shoved her work off onto us. I had no doubt she was trying to take advantage of the situation to try and show off her good side to Hayama or something like that. Our club president easily saw through it as well.

"Isshiki-san, didn't you say earlier that the student council was swamped with paperwork that needed to be finished before graduation?"

"Well, I'm sure that the vice-president and everyone there are doing their best. I'm sure they can handle it!" Sticking out her tongue and closing one eye, she tapped herself on the head with her fist. What the heck is that useless appeal. It's too cute. It's worth a ton of Iroha points! What, how exactly does Iroha points stack up against Komachi points in the first place?

"Isshiki-san, please stop fooling around. Everyone here is working hard to ensure that the graduation is a success. Go back and finish the paperwork." Uwah. Yukinoshita may have a smile on her face, but an absolute blizzard is coming off of her right now.

"Hai. I'm so sorry, I'll leave right now. I'll check in again later, Bye." Shut down by Yukinoshita, Isshiki quickly ceased her antics and rushed off to go finish her own work. Her close encounter with the ice queen had probably intimidated her more than she had let in on. After Isshiki closed the door on her way out, the five of us were left alone in the gymnasium.

"Well then," Hayama said while clapping his hands together. "Shall we get started? Hikitani-kun, why don't you and I start by getting the chairs out?" I let out indifferent grunt. Taking that as a sign of my recognition, Hayama nodded his head. "Yui, Yumiko, Yukinoshita-san, I'll leave setting up the chairs to you guys. We'll help out as well once get out all the chairs." The three voice their agreements to the plan prompting us to start our work. The faster we get this done, the faster I can go home and sleep.

I walked up to the front of the stage and started pulling out the carts of chairs that were stored beneath. I could see Hayama to my right doing the same. Meanwhile, the girls worked on pulling the chairs off of the carts and arranging them into rows. We worked in relative silence, much to my liking, focused on our tasks. We continued this way for a good forty-five minutes or so before we had arranged the gym into an acceptable condition, at least for a practice ceremony. I noticed that even Yukinoshita, who usually lacked the stamina to do any laborious tasks for extended periods of time had only taken a small break while we were working.

Having finished with around fifteen minutes until Hiratsuka-sensei would come check in on our progress, we decided to use this opportunity to catch a break ourselves. No point in fetching her if she would come down herself. The girls moved against a wall and started chatting with Yuigahama being the centerpiece of the three. Yukinoshita and Miura were, by no means, the best of friends, but they had recently come to an understanding at the lease, being able to tolerate one another's presence. Yuigahama, of course, served as the bridge that connected these two, helping to mediating and preventing any bad blood from forming. It was a nice scene, being able to see Yukinoshita act like a normal high school girl for once, but I knew if she caught be watching them, she'd have some heavy insults prepared for me later.

Seeing as how I had no place in their conversation, I went and moved myself over to the stage, propped myself up with my arms, and rested on top of it. To my mild annoyance, Hayama had decided to follow me over. Leaning against the stage, standing way too close for my comfort, he gazed over at the girls. For the briefest of moments, a melancholic expression held his face. However, it was gone as fast as it had come and the fake smile he usually wore was in place again.

"Hey, Hikitani-kun. Can we talk?"

"Nope," I replied, quickly brushing him off. We might have come to terms with one another after we revealed our mutual dislike of one another during the marathon event, but I had no intention of acting buddy-buddy with him to help him kill some time.

"Hikigaya-kun, please."

Now that caught my interest. For one, on the rare occasion he didn't use that ridiculous nickname that idiot, Tobe, had created for me, he was usually serious. Two, despite his easygoing nature and friendly nature, he was prideful and didn't ask for favors very often, especially if that person was me.

"What is it?" I relinquished with a sigh.

"Have you finally decided?"

"Decided what, exactly?"

"Between Yukinoshita-san and Yui."

I could feel my already irritated face twist into a grimace as I registered exactly what he was implying. "I don't know what you're talking about," I responded in a low voice, signaling my desire to the end this line of questioning.

"Yui's been depressed lately," he continued, ignoring my protests. "She hides it well, but she's been a lot quieter as of late and every so often, I'll catch her gazing out with an empty look on her face. Yumiko and I have been concerned and there's only one thing I can think of that could make her like this." He let out a sigh before continuing. "Despite the way I act, I do consider Yui a friend and I'd rather not see her like this. You know as well as I do that both Yui and Yukino have feelings for you. I'm not telling you to pick Yui over Yukino; I've already wronged Yukino once and it was the greatest mistake of my life, but if you've already made your decision, don't string Yui along like this anymore. You're only giving her a false hope to cling onto."

Having finished his piece, Hayama fell silent, leaving only the distant sound of Yuigahama's babbling to be heard in the otherwise empty gymnasium. Despite my claims of ignorance, I was fully aware of Yuigahama's feelings towards me. At first I had concluded that her feelings were simply a result of her misplaced gratitude towards me for saving her dog. Yet, despite supposedly having reset our relationship to zero, she continued to act nice towards me, caring not for my reputation and becoming one of the first people I would actually regard as a friend. I was aware of what she was doing when she first started her romantic pursuit of me; I'm not the dense main character of the obscene light novels I enjoyed reading. I'd have to be blind to have not seen what she felt towards me. But I was scared. I didn't understand. How could such a bright, cheery girl actually fall for someone like me. Would I be myself anymore if I accepted her advances? For someone who so readily mocked others for things like images, I had so desperately clung onto my own. In the end, I rejected her in fear of being rejected myself. Yet, for some reason, she kept coming back, kept trying to be friends, kept making me see her for more than what her hair and clothing would suggest, and in the process, I've come to truly appreciate the girl that is Yuigahama, Yui.

I am also aware of Yukinoshita's feelings and my own growing feelings regarding her. I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't feel something Yukinoshita. I'm not sure if the feelings are romantic, but at the very least, I know I value her dearly and want to see her succeed. At first, we clashed. I hated her pompous attitude and ideals. I thought she was conceited, berating us commoners for not trying hard enough while she stood miles above on her mountain of status, good fortune, and wealth. She hated my pessimistic attitude towards life and my general apathy to all things involving others. She'd felt I was only running from my problems, unwilling to fix them. However, as we spent more time together in the club, we gradually became able to tolerate one another, being able to make jokes, even if about the other. As I spent more and more time with Yukinoshita, I had become acquainted with one of the largest influences on her life and probably the cause of a majority of her problems as well, Yukinoshita, Haruno. Trying her best to even stand up against the monster known as Yukinoshita, Haruno, she ended up spending her entire life chasing after her. Because of that, Yukinoshita formed a serious inferiority complex, as well as any personal drive. Like I said, I'm aware of Yukinoshita's feelings towards me, and my own towards her as well. The problem is, as of recently, her growing feelings towards me as well as her need to rely on someone else for guidance have merged, making me the new target of her needs. While she held some degree of antagonism towards her older sister, her feelings towards me have changed that dependency into blind trust. Yuigahama and I saw that first hand when Yukinoshita repeated my response word for word to her sister. Even if these feelings of mine were romantic, if we were to go out now, Yukinoshita would never be able to fix her dependency issue and become her own person.

Hayama's concern over Yuigahama had brought my thoughts to the trip the three of us had taken to an aquarium only just a couple of weeks ago. It was there that Yuigahama confronted Yukinoshita with a proposal that the winner take all, and the loser, to bear no hard feelings. Yukinoshita, confused and lost by the direct confrontation of the one who she had considered her closest friend, had almost accepted. I stepped in, stopping Yukinoshita from agreeing, instead proposing we steadily moved forward, even if it meant clashing with one another, and to believe in our friendship to ensure that what we had was genuine. Yukinoshita accepted with relief and Yuigahama did as well, but it was obvious she was crestfallen by my proposal. She had never directly stated what the winner would be taking, but all three of us understood what she had meant. Considering the fact that I was the one who shot down her proposal, it might as well have been as if she had lost.

I was ashamed that I needed Hayama to tell me this. True, I sat in the middle of the class, whereas Yuigahama sat in the back, but I still saw her every day in the clubroom. I contemplated just exactly what I could do to lift her spirits again. Unfortunately, my thoughts were interrupted. Out of nowhere, the ground started rumbling. As residents of Japan, we all somewhat familiar with earthquakes, so we quickly made our way towards the exit to evacuate. However, just as abruptly as it had started though, the rumbling came to a halt even before we had actually managed to get out.

The girls having sat against a side wall, were in front of Hayama and I, near the center of the gymnasium. With the shaking having ceased we moved over to them.

"Are the three of you alright?" asked Hayama, voicing both of our concerns.

"Uhn!" Yui replied with a smile and a nod. "We were a bit surprised, but we're totally fine."

I looked over at Yukinoshita, whom I had noticed was a bit shaken. "Oi, Yukinoshita. Are you sure you're ok?"

"Ah, yes. I appreciate your concern, but there is no need to worry," she replied, attempting to dispel my fears. "I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I'm still a bit tired from having set things up before and that earthquake just now caught me off guard." I accepted her reason with a nod, but there was no way I was about to let her try walking around on her own again.

"Well, we should still get out of here. Even after a quake, there's the danger of an aftershock so we should leave the building. Give me your hand. Seeing as how you're still tired, I'll help you walk." For as hesitant about physical contact as I was, my worry for Yukinoshita overcame any embarrassment I had about my offer. A crimson blush filled her cheeks as she averted her eyes from mine, but accepting my offer, she placed her hand in mine. Unfortunately, rather than an aftershock occurring like I had feared, something entirely different happened instead.

Spiraling out from beneath us, white lines rapidly appeared on the gym floor. They radiated outwards, crisscrossing and intersecting, before finally coming to a stop, forming a circular shape that encompassed much of the gym. Characters had formed in alignment with the circle, neither Japanese characters nor English letters; if anything, they appeared to be runes, like the kind you would find in fantasy-type games. In perfect time with the completion of the circle, the lines and the characters began to light up, eliciting another round of surprised cries from us. The ground once again began to shake, but with the appearance of this strange symbol, I was beginning to doubt that either this or the previous shaking were results of natural phenomena.

All around us, bits and pieces of the ground began collapsing and disappearing. Normally, during earthquakes, when the ground breaks apart, you're at least able to see what lies underneath. From what I could see, the pieces of the gym that had collapsed only revealed darkness beneath the floorboards. As the shaking continued, the floorboards of the gym continued to collapse, trapping us on an island surrounded by darkness. It was in that unlucky moment that the floorboards beneath Yukinoshita collapsed. Surprised by the sudden lack of footing, Yukinoshita's hand slipped from mine, dropping her into the darkness below. In the brief moment she fell, it felt as if time had slowed down, burning the shocked image of her face into my mind.

"YUKINOSHITA!"

I jumped after her, diving into the darkness. I don't know what had come over me, but any fear I had regarding our situation had immediately vanished. Having jumped off right after she had fallen, I managed to reach and grab her. Hugging her tight, I prepared myself for the inevitable moment when we would finally hit the ground. The last sensation that I remembered was the feeling of Yukinoshita's slender arms wrapped tightly around my torso, her face buried deep against my chest. Surrounded by the oppressive darkness, I eventually passed out.

Cold… and… warm? My head seriously hurt and my face is pressing against something cold, but the rest of my body is surprisingly warm. I gradually managed to open my eyes, fighting against both a slight headache and the urge to pass out again. Looking down, I found the reason for my surprise. Cradled in my arms, still sleeping peacefully, was none other than Yukinoshita. I quickly sat up, doing my best to untangle myself from her before remembering the reason why we had ended up like that in the first place.

"Oi, Yukinoshita, wake up," I urged, shaking her shoulder, trying my best to gently rouse her.

"Hnnggu…" she yawned, slowly breaking from her slumber. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes with her fists, much in the same manner a cat would brush its face. My heart! If I wasn't stricken before by our proximity, her cuteness was certainly doing it now. This attack that could knock out any regular guy was super effective against a loner like me. Wait, I don't have time for this.

"Yukinoshita, snap out of it." I helped her sit up properly before she finally regained some alertness.

"…Hikigaya-kun!" Bolting up and away from me, she immediately moved her arms to cover her chest. "W-w-what are you doing so close to me while I'm sleeping? You didn't do anything i-i-indecent, did you, you scoundrel!?"

"Yukinoshita, do you remember how we ended up in this situation?" I asked, doing my best to ignore her accusations. A moment of confusion passed on her face before her eyes widened, recalling what had happened before had both blacked out.

"Something happened while we were in the gymnasium. The floor started to disappear and I fell." She lowered her arms to her side relaxing her guard, but turned her face downwards, making her expression unreadable. "You jumped after me and grabbed me."

I nodded, glad that I wasn't insane and imaging those events. I was just about to look around and get some bearing on our situation when a sudden force pushed against my back and slammed me into the ground. As my head was pushed down along with the rest of my body, a staff of some sort was pushed against my neck, preventing me from lifting my head.

"Hikigaya-kun!"

Fighting the pain, I tried my best to glance around to figure out what was happening. It was a bit late, but I realized that we weren't alone in the room. Yuigahama, Hayama, and Miura were also here with us, though still passed out on the floor. Standing, lined up against the circular walls of the room were many figures, enough to outnumber the five of us at least several times. It spoke multitudes about the size of the room we were in, to be able to hold so many people, yet still have so much space between us. Most of these figures seemed to be wearing the same uniform with a large emblem emblazoned in the center along with some sort of… armor? One of those figures had restrained Yukinoshita, preventing her from helping me. I assumed it was also these people that had tackled me to the ground. A loud, booming voice brought me from my thoughts.

"Don't let him go. If we capture him now, we can end this war, once and for all." Looking forward, I was able to identify the source of the voice. A large, intimidating man stood before me, commanding the attention of all in the room. I could sense his malice from a glance at the hateful expression he had on his face. He glared at me and I could feel his hated growing. However, he somehow forced it down and began to address me.

"I knew that you demons would try something to stop the summoning of the heroes, but to think you would come here yourself. Any last words before I your life myself, Demon King?"

Huuuh?

Extra: The Reason for Hayama and Miura

Standing outside in the cold, I shoved my hands into my coat pockets as I leaned up against the fence. Normally I would have gone home by now, or at the very least, I would've been off of school grounds. I wasn't a part of any clubs. I probably felt it would've gone against the image I had build, someone who was above doing things like trying too hard or caring too much. I guess if there was any club I would actually have joined, it probably would've been the tennis club. However, Sobu High is an academically geared school and most of the girls here are focused more on their studies. As a result, the school pretty much had no female sports teams. Recently though, I've began to change my mind about my attitude.

Despite the cold temperature of the air requiring most outside to wear a heavy jacket lest they catch a cold, I enjoyed the crisp air as it brushed against my face. It helped calm me down for what I was doing. The reason I was standing outside was none other than to wait for Hayato so we could walk home together. Even thinking about it is causing my face to heat up, so I'm glad for the cold air that's helping me think straight. It's so embarrassing doing something like this, especially when I reflect on my past attitude concerning something so clingy, but I had made up my mind and decided to do my best.

If I had to pinpoint a cause behind the change in my outlook on life, it would no doubt be Yui. Honestly, that girl really surprised me. Seeing her grow from someone so insecure, where I had to tell her everything to do, to someone who could stand toe to toe with Yukinoshita— I still have a hard time believing how much she's changed and I've been besides her the entire year. Watching her be so honest with Yukinoshita and Hikio, and seeing the relationship the three of them have— I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous.

I'm used to being on top. I'm used to having people want to hang out with me. But it's nothing more than that. We talk and we laugh, but it all feels like an act, something we do simply because it's what friends. I would do the same with anyone else I considered entertaining. Because of that, there was no real connection.

The closest I have to what Yui has would probably be what I have with Hina. For someone so completely different than me, I'd consider her one of my closest friends. We don't share interests and our personalities are as different as night and day, yet I enjoy spending time with her, weird tendencies and all. Even still, I know there's a gap between us that I still haven't bridged yet. Despite how she loudly she'll parade around with her delusions, there's a part of her that always holds back. I know she holds back on purpose, because she's scared of driving people away, but I want her to let go and I want to be there for her when she finally does. Until that time comes, I'll do my best to try and be more open myself. That's why I've decided to give it my all to get Hayato's attention as well.

"Hey, Miura."

Snapping me out of my thoughts was a woman's voice. Looking for the source, I scanned around till I located Hiratsuka-sensei walking over to me from the main building.

"What's up, sensei?" I asked, curious as to what she called me for. Hiratsuka-sensei was our class' homeroom teacher as well as our Japanese Literature teacher, but aside from that, I didn't really talk to her too much. I wasn't doing bad in her class like Yui, but I certainly wasn't doing nearly as well as Hayato either. I wasn't in the Service Club like Yui and Hikio either, which really made wonder why she went out of her way to find me.

"Muira, I'm glad I caught you. The student council needs some help with setting up the gymnasium for graduation practice. You don't seem to be do anything right now, so could you come help out?"

"Sorry, sensei, but I'm kind of busy right now." I respectfully declined.

"Oh come on, you're just standing around. I know you're not in any clubs. Yui will probably be there as well. The more hands working, the faster they can get it done."

"Sorry, but I really can't today." I bowed and apologized. However, I absolutely cannot be sidetracked today. If I don't do this today, who knows when I'll be able to muster up the courage again.

"Hmmm. That's too bad. I suppose I can't force you like I can with other students. Sorry about this." With a wave, she turned towards the gymnasium. Right at that moment however, Hayato emerged from the soccer club's storage room.

"Oh, Hayama! You're done with club activities for the day right? If you have time, can you come help out with something. The student council needs help setting up the gymnasium for the graduation practice. Isshiki's already gone off to grab the service club. It'd speed things up a lot if you were to help out as well." Wait, what's she doing? What's up with this bad timing? She can't rope in Hayato as well, can she?

"Hiratsuka-sensei? Hmmm… I suppose I have time to help out. I know Yui and Yukinoshita-san are with him, but it be just a bit too sad to push everything off onto Hikigaya-kun." Ahhh! As expected of Hayato, he's too nice! But wait, my plans for the afternoon… No! I won't let them end in vain.

"Ah, Hiratsuka-sensei, I can help out as well."

"Hmmm? Miura? Didn't you say you were bus—"

"I'D LOVE TO HELP OUT, HIRATSUKA-SENSEI!"

"Ah… okay…?" A shocked expression sat on Hiratsuka-sensei's face, probably from my sudden outburst. I'm sorry sensei, but I won't let you ruin this.

"Shall we go then?" Hayato suggested, freeing us from that mess.

Author's Note: Hello, blank-san here. I've been a long time reader on the site and decided it was finally time to contribute as well. I really love this series as a whole and have generally enjoyed reading the fanfics posted here. A lot of them are interesting, taking liberties with what they do and really flesh out a lot of the side characters that don't show up in the books. What I've always really wanted to see though, was a more fantasy or supernatural like setting for these characters. That's why I decided to publish this. The story is basically a spin on the whole, "reincarnated into another world" trope that's so popular in Japan right now. Hopefully, I be able to do this story some justice because I really enjoy the genre.

Seeing as how college is just about to start again, I'm not entirely sure this was the best time to go writing this. I'll definitely try and get one more chapter done before classes get here, but once the semester starts, I'm not to sure how much time I'll have. Here's to hoping I'll at least up able to update this story sporadically and finish this.