Sorry for the late update! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 3- News Reports
"Last night, at approximately 11:45 pm, the local late-night convenience store was robbed and vandalized, with some of the items in the store being stolen. The thieves had apparently tampered with the video cameras in the store, but one witness, Izuma Kaname; a 3rd-year high school student at St. Ishiyama Academy, managed to get a glimpse of the thieves on his way home."
This is the first thing I see when I turn on the TV to the morning news, which I regularly watch when getting ready for school. The camera then shows this Izuma person, whom I have seen a few times in the school. He has black hair and glasses, and he is wearing the St. Ishiyama boys' uniform.
"I didn't get too close of a look, but I had run after them," he says. "The thieves were very quick, and their faces were well-hidden. When I ran after them, they turned a corner and just… disappeared."
I raise an eyebrow. That's strange… I should ask this Izuma person about the robbery. Even then, I shouldn't just jump to conclusions. It could simply be regular human thieves as well. I shouldn't always jump every time something suspicious happens. "I'm heading out!" I call.
"Have a nice day!" Mom calls back.
When I arrive in the classroom, I hear some bits and pieces of a conversation between Oga, Furuichi, and Hilda.
"DId you hear about the attack at that convenience store last night?" Oga asks.
"Well, practically everyone has," Furuichi replies. "But about what Izuma-senpai said this morning, don't you find it strange?"
"Even if they were demons, why would they rob a convenience store?" Hilda asks. "This is rather unusual. At first, I thought they were Behemoth's men, but I highly doubt that they'd do something so petty like robbing a store."
Exactly. I think. Right then, a guy with silver hair done into a pompadour comes up to my desk. "Oi, Mizushima," he drawls. "How much?"
I look up at him curiously. "Huh?"
"How much to make you my follower?" he asks. I raise an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not following you, uh… what's your name?" I ask.
"Oi, oi!" Furuichi exclaims, slightly startled. "That's Himekawa Tatsuya, one of the members of the Tohoshinki, and the son of the chairman of the Himekawa zaibatsu! He's one of the strongest delinquents in Ishiyama, and the richest!"
I turn to Furuichi. "You seem to know a lot," I say. "Do you think you can show me around Ishiyama, as well as St. Ishiyama Academy?" I ask. "Also, I have to ask something to Izuma-senpai as well."
He looks a bit surprised, but smiles brightly. "Sure thing! I'm honoured to help out a beautiful, gorgeous girl like you!" he declares cheerfully.
I can't help but giggle a bit. That was kind of… cute. Right then, I see a red-haired girl glare at Furuichi in disgust. "Oi, Creepichi! Leave her alone!" she scolds harshly.
I turn to the girl. "How was that creepy?" I ask curiously. "I just asked him to show me around Ishiyama, and he said yes."
After the class period ends, Furuichi guides me down the halls, showing me around the school building. Right then, we run into a student with black hair and glasses. "Ah, Izuma-senpai!" Furuichi greets. "Mizushima-senpai wants to ask you something!"
He turns to me. "Right, you're the new student from India. Mizushima Ayaka," he states. "What is it?"
"I heard about the convenience store robbery, and how you saw the thieves," I say. "What exactly did they look like?"
He looks at me in surprise. "I thought I had made myself clear on the news," he says. "I didn't see their faces."
"Even then, I have a feeling that the thieves weren't normal humans," I tell him. "And I have a feeling that you know as well. Saotome-sensei told me that you were one of the people who know about demons, right?"
Izuma-senpai looks at me in shock, while Furuichi stares at me in surprise. "You're one of us…" he muses. "In all honesty, I was expecting Oga's wife, or even Oga himself to come and ask me this. Well, I guess I should tell the both of you."
He lowers his voice a bit. "I got a glimpse of those attackers," he begins. "They look nothing like normal demons, or even the demons of Behemoth's 34 Pillar Division. I had gotten a better look when I had chased them into an alley corner."
Furuichi looks startled. "Nothing like Behemoth's Pillar Squad?" he asks.
Izuma-senpai nods. "There were three of them, all of them being very well-built. However, all of them had yellow eyes that gleamed with intelligence, light tanned skin, very vicious fangs, and long black hair. But what shocked me was that one of them had three heads."
Furuichi's jaw drops in shock. "Three heads?!" he asks. I, on the other hand, am in shock. They're already here?! Wait… the one with three heads… could that be…?
He nods, looking down. "I have a feeling that these demons are of a different type, or even a different species. Listen to me, if you ever come across any of these demons, do not attack them. Despite their feral appearance, they're very intelligent, and it's quite possible that they might kill you as well. Furuichi-san, go and tell about this to Oga-kun and his wife," he instructs.
"On it," he says. "Come on Mizushima-senpai, let's go."
On the walk out of school, Furuichi turns to me. "Is something wrong? You seemed a little tense when Izuma-senpai mentioned the demons. Sure, I was kind of freaked out as well, but you seemed almost alarmed."
I turn to him. "Some things are best left unanswered," I simply say, and he leaves it at that.
"You know, your Japanese is very good and fluent, but it has a slight lilt to it," he comments. "Not to be rude, but I just now noticed it."
To my surprise, instead of being offended, I just give him a small smile. "Well, when I was living in Madurai, the main language they speak there is Tamil, so I spoke a lot of Tamil. My mom speaks fluent Japanese as well, however."
He nods. "I see," he says. Right then, we see Oga and Hilda walking home. "Oi, Oga! Hilda-san! Wait up!" Furuichi calls.
Oga turns. "There you are, idiot!" he snaps, sounding a bit irritated. "I was just about to leave now!"
"Wait, why are you walking with us?" Hilda asks me.
"My home's in this direction," I say. "You know, I've been hearing people referring to you as Oga's wife or bride. Is that true?" I ask.
"Don't be silly, I'm not actually his bride," she replies curtly.
"His family believes that Oga's the actual father of Berubo, so they're convinced that Oga and Hilda are husband and wife," Furuichi explains.
Meanwhile, said baby is happily singing away on Oga's shoulders. At first, I can't understand what he's even singing until I catch onto a certain part. I turn to Oga in surprise. "He watches Narutaru?" I ask, shocked.
"Yeah. He likes a lot of the gruesome violence that's shown in the anime," he replies nonchalantly.
I stare at Furuichi in shock. "A baby… likes that show," I trail off. "Narutaru's extremely violent! I saw a few episodes, and I nearly threw up at some of the scenes! Not even Ring scared me that much!"
"I know." Furuichi shudders. "The anime's tame, compared to what they show in the manga during the death of the main bully. Her death scene was so graphic and disgusting, that when the released the manga in North America, they cut out a lot of those scenes." He turns to Hilda. "Hilda-san, how can you even let a baby watch such a show?! What happened to him loving Gohan-kun?!"
Hilda nonchalantly shrugs. "I can't help it. It's the Master's personal taste," she replies. "Well, change of topic now. Ayaka, what was your journey like to Ishiyama?"
I sigh. "It was pretty long," I say. "To start off, my mom and I took an overnight train from Madurai to Chennai at 2:30 pm, and we reached the Chennai train station at 10:00 pm, since we had to check in for our flight and all that. We flew from Chennai to Bangkok via Thai Airways at around 12:55 am. The flight lasted 3 hours, and we had a layover for around an hour at the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport. Then, around 7:30 am, we flew from Bangkok to Tokyo Narita, and that flight was 6 hours. Then, we took another overnight train from Tokyo to Ishiyama."
"Sounds pretty exhausting," Furuichi comments as we arrive at a four-way in the neighbourhood. I turn to them.
"Well, I'm heading home this way, so good night!" I say, waving at them.
When I reach home, I'm greeted by Mom, who hands me a list. "I'm so sorry for asking you about this when you've just come home, but do you think you can go out to the grocery store and buy me some groceries?"
I smile, despite my tiredness. "Okay," I say.
"I can come if you want," she says.
"No, it's fine," I say. "Well, I'm heading out… again!"