Mugen no Tenma, in.
I didn't expect to continue this story, but here I am!
For people who expected me to update Game of The Wizard, sorry. My laptop's got wrecked by a virus and it could take a while to repair it. I made this story by borrowing other people's laptop. Thank you for your patience.
Now, on to the story!
Chapter 1
Who Is This New Transfer Student?!
Today was just another day in Kuoh High School.
A peaceful day like usual in the entrance. Where an unaturally good-looking blonde teenager with blue eyes was being swarmed by the ignorant horde of fangirls, which adores him as their 'prince charming' or so they called. In another place, a voluptuous redhead was walking with her even more voluptuous raven-haired friend, attracting the eyes of both males and females.
There is a strange charm around that blonde boy and the two girls, as if concealing something hideous inside them. Of course nobody in the school notices this thing about them, they never realized. They just thought of those people as 'exceptionally gifted in looks', just like they want to believe.
But not him.
He looked straight through their glamour and instantly figured out what manner of creatures they are.
That boy was a devil. No doubt about it.
In the eyes of common people, he looks like an Arabic or Middle Eastern male that was a bit too old to attend this school. His tanned skin, black hair and blue eyes were an uncommon combination for a foreigner, but none of those people care about that and instead focusing on his good qualities.
He was good looking too, like the blonde boy he was currently observing from a good distance. And while the boy's blue eyes were warm and patient, his were cold and distant. His mannerism are polite, hiding all the concealed motives for his observation of the boy. For now, he'll just observe and wait.
After all, that is what the Ukulele Man asked him to do.
He looked over his arms. Covered in black matter that resembles regular fabric, no one would ever suspect that it was something to hide his identity and suppress his ability. If that black shroud ever separates itself from his being, his mere presence would harm ANY life grown in soil around him.
That is his curse, and his mark, concealed behind a bandanna that wrapped around his forehead, was the eternal proof of it. No one could remove it except the one who bestowed it upon him. And meeting Him, in any way, was impossible. He might be stuck with the mark until the end of time…
"I suppose I should go to my classroom now…"
He sighed, looking away from the blonde boy, who was still being swarmed by his fangirls, towards the school itself. He let out a whistle of appreciation… were it not for the cars bustling behind him, he might believe that he had travelled back in time. Not that it was impossible for the people of Foundation, mind you, but still. This is impressive, even for him.
Kuoh Academy looked as if someone had tried to convert a Victorian-era mansion into a school and succeeded.
High walls surrounded the huge plot of land, while well-maintained gardens and bushes dotted the area within. A straight path led from the iron gates to the main school building, a six-storey high structure with a water fountain in front of it. He had done his research before coming here, of course…
Kuoh was a private school that catered to the very talented and the very rich, and it showed. The pristine building looked as if it was chiseled from marble itself, and grand pillars reached from the ground to the roof. Whoever made this building, they managed to create a masterpiece.
Looking around, he could see students engaged in conversation walking past him, most of them girls. He was feeling slightly at loss, unsure where to go next. He had been debriefed in detail about what should he do while he's attending this school, but about the structure of the school itself, he knew nothing.
Following the crowd, he walked in, taking careful note of the conversations going on around him.
"I heard the Perverted Trio almost got suspended yesterday."
"What? What did they do this time?"
"Their usual thing. The Kendo Club was very pissed."
"Those good-for-nothings. Why they haven't been expelled yet? What's the Student Council thinking?"
"Like I know about that. Speaking of which, did you do the homework?"
"I did."
"Can I see it? I completely forgot to work on it yesterday, so…"
"Oh, you're so hopeless…"
The students seemed normal enough, which unsettled him for some reason. He felt like an old man in the middle of youngsters, which is justified because how old he actually is, and personally he thinks that he had outgrown school. He doesn't actually need the formal education given to the students here.
At last, he reached the majestic doors of the school building, but he was still reluctant to enter. Where would he go from there? He didn't even know which class he's in, as the people who dealt with his registration in this school only said that his name had already written in school records, and therefore, an official student.
"Excuse me, you over there."
He turned around and saw a black-haired student standing before him. She was short, her head reaching only to his shoulder, but she carries herself with confidence. A pair of glasses sat on her nose, which she pushed up nonchalantly. Her hair was cut short and and her uniform ironed, an obvious sign of a well-groomed person.
She gave off the feeling of authority. But most importantly… her presence is undoubtedly that of a devil's.
"Are you Mr. Cain, the new transfer student?"
"Yes, I am." He replied politely. "My name is Cain ben Adam, recently moved to this city. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss…?"
He went with his real name. No one bats an eye to this, so it means that his name, no matter how old and ancient it might be, is still a common name for a foreigner these days. This girl before him doesn't even look a bit suspicious over this name of his. Maybe devil these days never heard of him…?
He was disappointed and relieved at the same time. Nevertheless, it was somewhat nice to see people referring to him with his real name, not with a series of designated numbers.
She looked him over briefly, as if measuring his worth, and then stuck out her hand.
"Likewise. My name is Shitori Sona, the Student Council President. Welcome to Kuoh Academy."
"Thank you for your warm greeting, Miss Shitori."
Cain took her hand and shook. Her gripping strength is what you would expect from a devil disguising as an ordinary human. Not inhumanely strong to stood out between other humans, but still gives off the feeling that it could crush a human's hand if she wished so... not for him, unfortunately.
"Your Japanese is good for a foreigner…" She commented. "No offense, but I didn't think you would be this eloquent."
"None taken." Cain shook his head. "I get that a lot. I just have too much time to practice."
Briefly, he thought he saw an impressed expression on Sona's face. But it was back to her neutral look in an instant.
"Alright then. Come on." Sona said. "Let us get your orientated to the school environments."
The school was deceptively large, much bigger than it had originally looked from the outside. Contrary to its historical appearance, its interior was modern with its top-class facilities and cutting-edge equipment. Then again, it is what expected from a rich school. What Cain did not expect however, was the forest behind it.
The forest. Yes, it was at least thrice the size of the school building, and that allowed it to hide another building within.
The people from the Foundation didn't say anything about this before… well, they might be feeling too cautious to infiltrate this building themselves, due to the fear and paranoia that the devils might notice their presence. How typical of those men to send him to infiltrate these buildings instead.
"This is the old school building. It's currently used by the Occult Research Club." Sona explained. "I'd give you an advice against going inside. There is a reason why the Occult Research Club likes it so much."
He found it odd that once club had the entirety of the building. Then again, it looked dilapidated, with its exterior faded and vines and moss creeping along the walls. If he was a normal human, he might've thought the reason was because no other club wanted to use it as their building.
The actual reason is probably something along the lines of a 'secret gathering place' of devils. He quickly filed the information in his mind and decided to investigate this building further in the future.
After a moment of silence staring at the building, Sona clapped her hands, snapping him out from his thoughts.
"Well, that concludes the tour, now let's get you into class."
Cain nodded. As they walked back to the new school building, Sona began to talk.
"Mr. Cain. Before you get settled in, there are few things I would like to tell you about Kuoh."
Sona paused for a moment. Cain just raised his eyebrows quizzically, waiting for her to continue.
"I will assume that you have already done your research, and you know that Kuoh Academy was once an all-girls school that recently turned co-ed not too long ago. Is my assumption right?"
"Yes, it is. I knew some bits about that."
Cain politely nodded, smiling. Seeing this confirmation, Sona continued.
"As I said, it's only been a short while, so as you would have seen earlier, there is a proportionally large lack of boys in this school. This makes it difficult for us, as the government requires co-ed schools to have a minimum percentage of each gender to ensure fairness. Thus, boys in this school enjoy a certain degree of technical 'immunity' from expulsion as a form of punishment."
Cain listened to her patiently, noting every important points that she made and keeping his gaze polite at the same time. But, as her speech continues, Sona's tone of voice became more serious… Cain quickly realized where she was going with this line of speech. Of course…
"However, please do not abuse this right in any way." She warned him. "Kuoh expects the highest of standards of its students, and students who violate the code of conduct will be disclipinary dealt with."
He had no intention of doing any misdeed in his time here. He had regretted his sins in the past, and he sincerely hopes that he can redeem himself. Whatever it takes, he would do anything to repent…
"I understand." Cain once again nodded.
"Good."
Sona's voice was filled with approval. Cain thought that she was done with her speech, but then she spoke again.
"You seemed like a responsible and diligent person, so I'll trust you for now." She said, causing Cain to slightly raise his eyebrows. "But I should let you know that there are few students who are negative influences here in Kuoh."
It was natural for any school to have their shares of bad apples… from what he had read in modern literatures, anyways. In his time, back then when he was still 'human', the term of 'school' had yet to exist. Not that he need any formal education back then...
"Are they something to worry about?" He asked.
"Yes, Mr. Cain. And those students are just happened to be in the same class as yours. So… please," it almost sounded as though she was pleading with him. "Please, whatever you do, do not become like Hyoudou Issei. Do not associate yourself with him, do not follow him, try not to even talk with him."
Well… that was something he didn't expect. Especially with the name. He thought—
"Three of them is already more than enough headache…"
Sona muttered under her breath, but still loud enough for him to hear.
"I'll see what I can do, Miss Shitori." He smiled at her. "Thank you for your warning."
Why does she looks so thankful to hear that? For all knowledge and wisdom he held for his unnaturally long life, he couldn't figure it out. Maybe she was just glad that he won't become another one of the negative influences of this school…
They continued to walk, this time in relative silence. The silence was only broken by Sona when she felt the need to point out and explain certain things that they had missed out in their initial tour. Finally on the fourth floor, they stopped in front of a door. This was it.
"And this is your classroom, Mr. Cain. Please enjoy your time here in Kuoh," She turned to him. "And I hope you do make the best out of it to have a meaningful and enriching youth. Have a good day."
She bowed deeply to him, and then walked off. Cain smiled as he watched her go. She might've faked her true identity to all humans in this school and probably lied to them as well, but the last things he heard from her was definitely genuine and sincere. Not what he'd expect from a devil, but that doesn't mean it was bad.
"Have a good day to you too, Miss Shitori."
He turned back to the door, still feeling pleased from the conversation, and slid the door open. Inside, it was indeed a classroom, full of students and one teacher. As he walked inside calmly, he realized that he just disrupted their lesson, every pair of eyes now turned to look at him.
Now that he was facing the class, he could see what Sona meant by the skewed gender ratio. In the class of around thirty or so students, there are only four male students. One of them though, he instantly recognizes from one of the photos that the Foundation had given him to before his 'assignments' here.
A boy with long brown hair and brown eyes.
Hyoudou Issei.
It was him.
One of The Potentials of Humanity.
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Mugen no Tenma, out.
