Months had passed since the last visit to the heart of the young Dean, things for the most part remained unchanged, except the relationship between the Dean and the young Hero. Things between them became far more awkward than they used to be, they had problems even being in the same fight as the other person. Soon the Dean had disappeared, no one had seen, or heard from him in weeks, and those he called his servants had started to worry. The young Hero had searched high and low since the young Dean's disappearance, no luck after weeks of the young demon left. No matter how hard the Hero tried, the school just fell further and further to chaos, the Hero's demon transformation had been completed, and the Dean was nowhere to be found. The Hero had been on the verge of giving up for a week now, he had barely slept since he vanished. The depressed hero walked into the Dean's room, checking one last time to see if he was in here, seeing as he wasn't, the Hero was forced to sit down, exhaustion taking the best of him. Looking at the floor, he saw nothing but a filthy floor, and broken swords that appear to have fallen from the picture of the Dean's father. A small knock was heard on the door of the room, he walked over to the door, legs wanting to give at any moment, and opened it slowly to see the short pink haired Delinquent standing there. A worried expression on her face, "Any luck Almaz?" she asked, looking in the room with a sorrowed expression on her face.
"Sorry, Miss Beryl, no luck, Thursday I'm going to check the human world." Almaz said, looking down at the smaller demon.
"Would you like me to tag along?" Beryl asked, a loss of hope showing through in her eyes as much as it did Almaz's
"Nah, I'm going to visit my family while I'm down there, can I risk them seeing me with a demon? They've never been too kind about the idea of demons."
Beryl nodded smiling, an innocence so rare to see in demons was so evident in her, a small yawn escaped her "I'm going to go to bed, okay Almaz? I mean, looking for Mao has made me miss curfew three times this week."
"Thanks, Miss Beryl." Almaz said smiling seeing her walk away
"Oh, and Almaz," Beryl began before Almaz could close the door "You look fine in that."
Almaz laughed as he closed the door, his wings and tail had grown in, and he didn't want to ruin his only outfit, so he had temporarily taken one of Mao's outfits, not surprised they all looked the same. He looked over, Mao's bed remained untouched, messy as always, when Beryl would usually come in and make it all neat. Almaz walked over and practically collapsed on it, a little afraid to be in his room in the first place, knowing if Mao came back that he'd suffer a horrible punishment. He took his chances and fell into a gentle, but much needed sleep.
Two more days of hopeless searching brought Almaz to Thursday, he left as early in the morning as he could, hoping to get to his house by about noon his time. Walking down the path towards the entrance to the Human World brought back such horrible memories, his curse, his original death, all the memories came flooding back to him, including the conversation he had with Mao that gave him his title back. He gave up that title to keep his promise to Mao, does that mean trying to open his heart was a waste of time? He quickly passed that thought off as he got to the gate leading to the Human world, he could already feel the harsh sting of winter as he approached it nervously, as he jumped through, he shivered at the blast of cold air he was greeted with, as he instantly began his search.
As he was originally planning, he got to the area by his house by around noon, taking a key out of his pocket, unlocking the door and walking cautiously in, a female figure immediately sticking her head around the corner "I-is it really you!" She shouted, running up to Almaz, wrapping her arms around him "I've been worried sick Almaz. Come in, you must be freezing!"
He was lead to the living room, his eyes drawn on the young teen in the chair, a weakened grimace on his face, Almaz jumped seeing him, "Mom, who is this?"
"His name is Mao, we saw him wandering aimlessly around the city." She said smiling, Almaz's face lit up with joy
"I found you! Lord Mao, I've been looking for you!" Almaz shouts, running up to Mao grabbing him tightly, still shivering from being outside for so long. Mao opened his eyes, the familiar blue hair dangled in his face as he felt the young hero shiver uncontrollably. He reluctantly wrapped his arms around Almaz as well, though instinct told him to pull away, it had to be the True Heart interfering. Almaz's mother stood in the background with a confused expression about her
"F-fake Hero?" Mao said as he finally backed away "This is the 'fake Hero' you were talking about? I thought for sure it'd be your girlfriend or something." Almaz's mother piped up, Almaz flushed red as Mao turned around, a devious smile on his face.
"Well, you could say that." Mao said, his glasses fogging up in excitement of the possible reaction
"W-what!" was the Hero's mother's only reply
"Lord Mao!" Almaz shouts, before Mao turned on him, a darkened look in his eyes as he lifted the coat Almaz took from him and started examining the wings "Lord Mao, do you have to check NOW!"
"Almaz! If I've told you once, you should know, you're MY servant, not the other way around!" Mao shouted, stopping getting to the base of the wing before stopping "Almaz, how long were you wearing your outfit before changing to one with holes for the wings?"
"A few weeks, why?" Almaz asked, his mother moving close to see what Mao was doing
"You're wings are under a lot of stress and pressure right now, don't sleep on your back, don't wear anything over them, you can't have injured wings Almaz." Mao says, wanting to yell at his stupid little hero.
"W-what happened Almaz?"
"It's fine, I stumbled across a science hungry demon in the Netherworld." Almaz said laughing, seeing the scowl across Mao's face
"Science Hungry Demon Almaz?" Mao asks walking up, looking him in the eye, "Would a Science Hungry Demon have stayed here for this?" he continued, taking a box out of his pocket, handing it to Almaz
He opened the box, the symbol of the Nether- Institute Evil Academy with the word 'HERO' in large bold letters above it "M-Mao, is this.."
"I was here doing research, and heard of this 'Valentines Day' humans celebrate, I saw it as a chance to test the effects of a Hero's Power." Mao said with a smirk on his face
"Mao, thank you." Almaz said before reaching out, pulling Mao into another quick hug
"Wait, you said it was for your girlfriend." Almaz's mother said
"I said that, but that doesn't mean I meant it."
"Mao... you, haven't changed a bit." Almaz said, a smile appearing across his face
"Fake Hero! I want to go home!" Mao shouted
"But Mao, I haven't gotten you anything yet." Almaz said frowning, not truly upset, just covering. Mao didn't reply, just wanting to get back home, he had noticed Almaz's mother had left the room, which would make leaving easier on him.
"Almaz." Mao said, a stern voice and a face Almaz was all too familiar to
"F-fine, just let me say goodbye." Almaz said, walking up the stairs in the direction he saw his mother go, Mao was left at the bottom of the stairs, looking aimlessly at the ground, seeing the younger run downstairs a few moments later with a white bag
"What's all this?" Mao asked looking suspiciously at the bag Almaz was holding
"It's some clothes, with spots at the back cut out so my wings will fit through." Almaz said, his face practically glowing with joy, "I've said goodbye, I'm ready to leave whenever you are."
Mao immediately turned and walked out, the sudden chill running through him even worse than it did the Hero, who was wearing the medal preciously on his shirt. Mao got closer to Almaz to try to use him for warmth as they both walked towards the gate to the Netherworld, in complete silence they walked. The gate had come into view now, as Mao got excited, broke from Almaz, and started walking faster, the chill making him want to wait for Almaz, who was reluctantly chasing after him as he stepped through the gate. Once Almaz entered the Netherworld side of the gate, Mao started calling, telling him to hurry up. They walked up the path for the most part quietly, a fair distance apart.
"Mao, your gift, it was fantastic, anything you want in return, I'll get it, no matter the cost." Almaz said with a smile on his face Mao stopped dead in his tracks, stepping up to Almaz with a serious face
"An experiment."
"W-what?"
"I want one experiment, okay?" Mao said again, his glasses fogging as a devilish smile was spread across his face, drool falling from his mouth as excitement took over.
Almaz was unsure whether it was smart to allow himself to be experimented on, but he accepted, with a simple nod as they continued walking, closer than before. They got to the front doors of the Nether- Institute Evil Academy, and Mao swung the doors open carelessly. The students stopped and stared upon seeing their Dean re-enter the school, the two were soon greeted by Beryl, who ran up to the two excitedly.
"Almaz! You found Mao? Where was he!" Beryl shouts smiling
"He was, at my house in the Human World." Almaz said
"Did you bring him there?" Beryl asked, a look of disbelief on her
"No, but my mother's always been a bit too over-kind to anyone she thinks is human."
Mao stormed past "We'll talk later, Fake Hero! Follow me!"
"Coming Lord Mao!" Almaz called, running after him as he walked into his room
Almaz walked in, and before he was asked, sat on the observation table and laid down, Mao turned around, a vast array of tools in front of him, a shocked expression at Almaz's cooperation. "What kind of experiment are you doing Lord Mao?"
"I, haven't decided yet." Mao said with a demonic smile, and an excitement Almaz hadn't quite seen before, as Mao placed a mask over Almaz's mouth, forcing him to quickly fall asleep.