Hey there everyone, so here we are again, a new chapter.

A demon is a supernatural, often malevolent being prevalent in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology and folklore. There are indications that demons in popular mythology were believed to come from the nether world. Even various diseases and ailments were ascribed to them, particularly those that caused great pain or death. From Christianity to Hinduism, every religion and culture recognizes the demon as a being of supernatural origin, with abilities that far surpass those of humans, and are bent upon wreaking havoc and destruction upon our world. In other words, demons are effectively distinct from humans, and act against humans in order to become more powerful.

However, I tend to disagree; back when I was little, I was afraid of the dark and always ensured that the bathroom light was switched on, and the door creaked open to let in the light before I slept. Horror movies terrified me and thoughts of supernatural beings such as ghosts and demons were very scary, often making me prone to nightmares when I heard stories about them. But all that stopped sometime ago, when I came to realize that humans were way scarier than any creatures ancient mythology could throw at me, the living were far more horrific than the dead. The true demons in this world did not have horns, differently colored skin, extra arms or any such physical abnormalities, they stayed among us, as one of us, and played us for their evil motives while they smiled at our misery; humans, hence were far more scarier than demons could have ever been.

I had come to that conclusion a long time ago, what else could justify the smiling demon that stood before me holding a can of MAX at my face. I stood frozen there for what seemed like eternity. Fear enveloped me, what a funny emotion indeed.

Fear, it is a feeling induced by perceived danger or threat, it causes a change in metabolic and organ functions and ultimately a change in behavior, such as fleeing, hiding, or freezing from perceived traumatic events. Fear in human beings may occur in response to a specific stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to body or life. The fear response arises from the perception of danger leading to confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat, which in extreme cases of fear can be a freeze response or paralysis. The reason fear is funny is because in event of anything occurs that may harm you, fear encourages you to escape danger by fueling your instinct of self-preservation, however, paradoxically, this emotion puts even greater limits on a person's ability to cope with the situation, which means that in event of inescapable situations, this only serves like a handicap, limiting the person, making him more vulnerable to danger.

That was exactly what I was experiencing now as I continued to stand in the same position, should I flee, maybe run back to the clubroom, or go straight home and hide in my room, or better, leave this country and go somewhere, anywhere, away from this, away from her….

No, escape was not an option now.

I glanced over at the smiling demon in front of me, she stood there, unmoving, baiting me with the can in hand, prompting me to act somehow. Escape was not an option, I could not tackle this problem as I did in my childhood, closing my eyes would not make this monster go away, it would only give it a better chance to enrapture me while I dreamed of an automatic solution in my self-imposed blindness; an attempt to do that was what had resulted in the present scenario, not something which I wished to repeat.

I closed my eyes and composed myself, letting her smell my fear was the worst possible thing I could do right now, evidently, she had gained the upper hand right now but I would not let that position remain for long, if the two of us were to play this game, it would be on equal terms, as it remained, I had to wrest control from her.

As my thoughts became clearer, my pain began to fade away and my fear began to dissipate, and was replaced by the more sinister feeling of loathe, and anger. Anger towards the smiling demon in front of me, who still audaciously held the can on my face. I clenched my fists in order to control my surging emotion, uncontrolled anger is useless, lashing out would be pointless here and only give her higher ground, staying calm and channeling my emotions was currently the best course of action.

Releasing a breath I had unconsciously held since some time, I tried to act as nonchalantly and indifferently as possible. I silently took the can offered to me, casually pulled the plug and took a sip, the sweetness of the overflowing nectar put me further at ease. After taking a sip, I glanced at the she-devil in front of me, who was now looking at me with an amused expression, tilting her head slightly, she spoke first, "Hikigaya-kun, you look terrible, did something happen at school?" she asked, "Don't tell me…" she rearranged her facial features into a surprised expression while cupping her mouth with her hands, "You tried to make a move on Yukino-chan and she hit you? Mou~ she's still a kid you know Hikigaya-kun, you need to take it slow, you know, be a bit more caring and senstitive…"

I mentally tuned out the useless prattle she was currently throwing around, beating around the bush would not yield any results, I had to go for a full frontal attack.

Standing at my full height I fixed my natural slouch to look as intimidating as possible, while we were almost the same height, standing upright gave me a slight edge, moving closer and invading her personal space, I spoke "Why did you have to do something like that?"- I asked her the question as bluntly as possible, and from the reaction I received, it was clear that this unsettled her, she was not expecting this from me, what she expected….only she knows.

The smile on her face however refused to falter, nonchalantly she tilted her head to the other side and spoke "Whatever do you mean Hikigaya-kun?"-she asked me in mock confusion.

'You damn well Know what I mean'- I clenched my empty fist again , struggling not to crush the can of MAX in my hand as anger again surged through my veins as the scene from just sometime ago replayed in my mind.

(Flashback)

"Umm…you see I was.."- I was currently in the teacher's lounge sitting before our admittedly still single homeroom teacher, Hiratsuka Shizuka, the reason for this visit was once again, the issue of me being late for class.

"Save it Hikigaya"- she cut me off before I could even make an excuse, 'NO! I have to do something, and fast, I do not want to punched in the gut again by this single middle aged woman, save me the creator of this universe!'

"Just don't…be late next time."

'Eh? What? Did she just let me off the hook, just like that?'- I felt blessed, maybe the gods had finally answered my prayers, 8man, maybe you should buy a lottery ticket now! I glanced over and noticed that a smile had graced her beautiful face as she played with her phone, apparently texting someone 'Maybe she managed to finally get a date…'

Anyways, what mattered now that I was able to evade punishment for now, and should make a run for it as fast as I can.

"I shall take my leave then"- I bowed and made my exit as fast as I could. Closing the door, I noticed that sensei was still focused on her phone, now grinning like crazy, I internally prayed for the poor sod who was going out for a date with her and prayed for his good health, after all, his sacrifice to the great Hiratsuka Shizuka was what had helped me escape her wrath, 'better him than me'- on that note I closed the door and began my regular trek to the clubroom.

As I began walking, I decided to take the stairs right next to the lounge to go to the next block, it was my regular route after all, students generally avoided it due to it's proximity to the teacher's lounge, and the teachers were too lazy to get out of their cabins anyway, so the passage is generally empty, perfect for a loner like me. However today, I saw 3 guys standing in a close huddle in a corner, oddly, none of them were talking normally but simply staring down at the ground, as if waiting for something…well, none of my concern.

I passed the group, unconsciously glancing at them, to see that 3 sets of eyes that were earlier looking down were now focused on me, as if sizing me up. Slightly nervous due to the newfound attention, I turned away and quickened my pace, whatever these guys were up to, I did not want to be a part of it. However, I had barely taken a few steps before I felt someone grab my shirt collar from behind, before I could react, I was pulled with a surprising amount of force and pushed into what appeared to be an empty classroom, unable to keep my balance in this case, I fell face down as I heard the classroom door being closed behind me.

Confused as I was, I collected myself and got up to face the perpetrators of this crime, incidents like this, while rare, were not unheard of even in the prestigious Sobu High School. But something like this happening to me, sure I wasn't liked that much, but as far as I knew, I never did anything that would piss off a group enough to resort to physical violence, the last time had been when I had talked down to Sagami during the school festival, after that…nah I didn't do anything, maybe these people just got the wrong guy.

Standing up, I faced those that had pushed me here, I did not recognize anyone in here, then again, Sobu had over 600 students, with over half of them being guys. "Maybe we can tal.."-my attempt to negotiate peace was swiftly countered by a punch right to my gut from one of the guys, as I felt a sharp pain in my abdominal area I saw the other 2 guys step forward and attack me as well, I attempted to counter them but was swiftly overpowered in this 3 on 1 fight, 2 guys had proceeded to grab my hands and put me in a shoulder lock while one of them gave me a quick shakedown, ending the same quite fast, with another punch to the gut as the 2 others let go of my arms.

I crumbled down to the ground, pain pulsated through my body, while accustomed to bullying from my peers, the situation had never gotten physical before, this was not something I was used to, and the situation was being made worse by the fact that I did not even know about the circumstances that had warranted such treatment to me, the guys that had beat me up moments earlier too had chosen to give me silent treatment, as contrary to spewing insults and denigrate me during the act, as I assumed that was how it normally went, you insult the guy as you punch him, and spit on him after he's down, but with the silence that permeated throughout, and the lack of any response thereafter, this was giving off a vibe of something different, something more sinister…

As I clutched my hand in pain, I saw the guys huddle together again, they gave each other silent nods, as in connoting a job well done, and proceeded towards the door to make their exit. As the last guy went out, he turned slightly, I looked at him, he wasn't facing me but I was certain that the words that came out of his mouth were meant for me "Reply next time…" with those words he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

'Reply? What in this world? Did I fail to respond to these guys somehow? What the hell is going on!?'- my thoughts were a jumbled mess as I failed to understand whatever message that guy was trying to convey. I don't think not replying to somebody denotes treatment like this…

'Bzzz'

My phone vibrated in my pocket again, maybe it was Yuigahama that was messaging me, I don't know how long those guys had me, maybe an hour, maybe 5 minutes…?

Mechanically, I withdrew my cellphone from my pocket and swiped to unlock it, 'This is just too much to take in now…'

As I unlocked, my homescreen appeared and the notification was buzzing, as if baiting me, as I clicked on it, the notification screen flashed, displaying the name that I was beginning to dread more and more…the she-devil, a demon in human skin- Yukinoshita Haruno.

Suddenly, all this began to make sense, like the pieces of a puzzle falling together to create the full picture, 'Reply' clearly referred to my ignoring those messages that Haruno sent me last night, then it meant that this shakedown was a result of me ignoring her? What the hell? I knew she would be annoyed by my action, but having me beaten up…this was taking it too far…she…she …she…

I clutched my head as I was beginning to feel a bit dizzy, the pain from my wounds, both physical and mental, coupled with my surging thoughts about the current situation was making me feel as if I would puke immediately. Trying my best to remain calm, closed my eyes and began taking deep breaths, it worked a little as my desire to puke was suppressed, but the empty classroom was making me feel rather uncomfortable, making a decision, I slowly got up and did a self-check, looks like I could still move, 'Alright then'- with that thought, I picked up my bag that lay forgotten in a corner, trying to somehow suppress the surplus thoughts were currently surging in my mind, I began my treck to the only place I deemed safe right now…the Service Club Clubroom.

(Flashback End)

As the scene replayed in my mind, my anger surged, but I managed to keep myself in check as I glared at her, before moving in even closer and speaking in as neutral a voice I could currently muster "You know what I'm talking about…"

She gave me a thoughtful expression before again smiling as she said "Nope no idea!" in her usual Playful tone.

'This bitch' it was seriously taking all the lessons of chivalry that mom and Komachi had literally beaten into me to stop myself from punching this girl in the face right now, but anything more and I'm certain I'll go berserk.

"But then you know Hikigaya-kun…" she spoke up again,

"it's rude to ignore a girl's messages you know." She finished her sentence with a blank face, there wasn't any trace of playfulness, even that of the fake kind, in her voice now.

"I didn't know rudeness permitted the use of violence against the person." Normally I would've just taken a normal course that had been used against me multiple times in middle school, and made an excuse of being asleep, or my phone's battery dying out in such a situation, but the precluding circumstances had robbed me of any such privilege.

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about…" she replied nonchalantly as she fiddled with her hair, "I merely asked an acquaintance to convey a message as you wouldn't reply to my texts."

"I see." This wasn't going anywhere, resisting the urge to sigh, I took another sip from my can and looked her again in the eye, it was best to get this over with anyway.

"What do you want?" I simply put the main question to her as bluntly as possible, my annoyance right now was only feeding my anger.

She began laughing at my question as if I had told her the best joke in the world, 'Another of her many masks.'

As her laughter died down, she spoke up again, "My, my, Yukino-chan was right." She straightened herself, her smile still present "You really are rude Hikigaya-kun…"

The smile faded a little as her eyes looked directly at me, "You haven't read the messages yet, have you?" It was more of a statement than a question, ofcourse I hadn't read the damn messages! I won't be reading them now either.

"But then I guess" she placed her hand on my cheek, cupping my face "this stubbornness of yours is what makes you interesting" she spoke as she moved in closer, okay now this was making me slightly uncomfortable, but I refused to let this affect my response right now.

"Anyways," she moved away now, "you can delete the earlier messages now, they're useless anyway, just read the message I sent you now, it should be enough." With that she moved further away before turning and disappearing down the hallway, leaving me here alone with my thoughts and an empty can of MAX in my hand.

'Damn, I let her dictate the flow again'- I thought as I crushed the empty can before throwing it in the dustbin, being angry was no excuse for littering after all.

With her gone, I let out a big sigh as the enormity of the current situation began to sink in, I had managed to hold it back for a bit with anger, but it was back now, the bruises began to hurt again and I had an urge to throw up. Somehow composing myself, I took out my phone again, cursing the device and the creators of the instant messaging services, and sent a text to Yuigahama saying that I was not feeling well and would head home now. With that done, I went straight to the bike stand, unlocked my bike and headed straight home.

Once I reached home, I unlocked the door and stepped inside, the house was empty, indicating that Komachi was not back yet, 'Good' I thought, involving her in this was the last thing I wanted. Locking the door behind me, I headed straight upstairs to my room, threw my bag in a corner and lay down on my bed.

As I lay down , the thoughts came back but my eyelids became heavier, the entire sequence of events had left me exhausted, more so than I thought, not bothering to change my uniform, I simply closed my eyes and fell asleep.

(Haruno PoV)

As I left him in the hallway, I skipped a little with excitement, he was so…so…so damn Interesting!

I noticed he had cracked, just a little, but then again, most guys would crumble like a heap of dirt if put in such a situation. But not him, he had come back, unfettered by what had happened, he had come on to her and dared to face her as an equal, he refused to crumble, to give in, he was stubborn, he was interesting!

'Yukino-chan is such an idiot.' But then again my cute little sister was not very smart, even though her stellar performances in academics indicated otherwise, Yukino-chan was an idiot, to be with a man as interesting as Hikigaya Hachiman, and not make a move whatsoever…Booo! Where was her sense of fun?

'But the again that Gahama likes him too doesn't she? Yukino-chan is probably holding back a bit too much though, all for the sake of being with that girl..' but then again, her relationship with Gahama-chan were none of my concern, after all, what I wanted in the end was the most interesting prize…

"Heehee, just wait Hi-ki-ga-ya-kun,…just wait…." I skipped along, after all, I was going to see him again very soon.

Thank you for appreciating my work, please feel free to leave a review at end, or any suggestions you might have.

PS

The Quotable Patella: it was never meant to be work of plagiarism, it was coincidence at best.

Masane: Thanks a lot man. Hope to keep up the good work.

Thatslifebro: Thank you.

Toolazytologin: I'm not particularly looking for a jealousy arc, but it could be given some thought.

Guest: Thanks.

jam99chgo: Thank you for your appreciation, it means a lot.

Jackbosstin: Glad you liked it. As for an entire chapter in Haruno PoV, I'll try to give it a shot.

wildarms13: Thanks man, and don't worry, there will be a lot more.

animeloverq8: Maybe he will.

BentShuriken: I'm going for full spooky now, as for your question, it will be answered in the upcoming chapters.