We're finally heading towards the arc's climax! Almost done with the first half of the first act!
Comecome sat at his register, waiting for the next customer. Double checking all his products, the food and gear all set up to perfect display and quality. The TV overhead switched channels, displaying one of the school broadcasts. The festival was coming up, which met a lot of hungry students and parents lining up for his products, as well as desperate students looking for items at the last minute because they wasted all the time they were given. Truly, it was the best time for business.
"My my, I've got some lovely new students to join my Battler." The plant teacher prattled in an obviously televised way. Seriously, add some flare to your work.
"Maybe, but you see, my new students are superior in every way." Spoke the torture teacher, somehow even more cheesy. Damn, don't ruin the possible rewards!
"Silence." Kalego spoke up, making every teacher shut up. Good. Needed to keep the mind on business. "This isn't the time to focus on bragging rights. With that fool Sullivan being kept away at the moment, for some reason, it falls on me to be acting Chair Demon."
"Wow, such a great honor! You must feel really special to be chosen by Sullivan himself for such an important job." The annoying newbie kissed butt. Uggh, reminded him too much of imp-ish stealer girl. "You don't think Sullivan actually did anything wrong, right?! He couldn't have! It's all a big mistake, rig.." The annoyance's face was grabbed and flung across the room. Ha.
"Now then, let's get on with the competition itself." Kalego spoke, ignoring the screams of the newbie and the motions of the cameramen on screen. "On parents day, you will bring your best and most stunning displays in an attempt to gain the most votes."
"And this year, we don't just have the top award." The torture teacher spoke on, as cameramen still tried to pry the newbie free from the cold claws of Kalego. "We have awards for the top three Battlers!"
"First up, the 'You did your best' award for third place." The plant teacher spoke, the screen changing to show off a nice looking room, five stars for sure. "The Battler will get a new and improved clubroom fit with the best of the best!"
He could hear students muttering, some actually thinking it would be better for third instead of just first. There we go, rank up that wanton desire to try hard and get the parents spending money!
"Next, the 'Wow' award." The newbie teacher spoke as the display changed to a bunch of objects. "Whoever gets this will have their Battler budget increased, along with one of the objects of their choosing. I'm surprised you managed to get this, Chalego?" More screaming was heard in the background.
Even more muttering was heard, along with some exclamations.
"And finally, the 'Grand Prize'!" The torute teacher took the mike again. "What's this? The president will go up two whole ranks! And everyone else in said club will go up one rank!"
And that was the straw on the camel's back as the student body roared with excitement and frenzy. Ughh, so annoying. So messy. They better buy a lot of items today to make this worth it. "Excuse me sir." He turned, the green haired boy came by. "I'm kinda running out of notebooks again, sorry, could I get some more?"
Huh. The honor student was an associate with the stealer, so that made him want to stab him, but he's also one of the best customers he's had. He's never sold more notebooks in a week than any other year. Maybe retirement was possible with this job after all. "Yeah yeah, same price as usual." He spoke, sliding some over along with a small pack of pencils. The boy put down the money, along with some extra. "Hey kid, it's not that much." He spoke.
"Oh, well I know Clara causes you a lot of trouble, so I wanted to pay you back as a … sorry?" What? No one said sorry to him. Always take without regret. Was empathy actually a thing with this kid? "That should probably cover everything she replicated, ah, at least for this week." Comecome stared down at the money even as the boy walked away … maybe he'd give the boy a discount next time around. God that felt weird to think.
"Oh, it was finally your turn, huh?" A janitor walked past him. "Yeah, the honor student is weird like that. Wherever we get word about the misfits causing a mess, he usually has most of it covered before we get there. Sure saves us a lot of labor. I'd hire him if he wasn't still a student." There was a crash. "Damn it, rowdy students and their food wars!"
Hm. Felt guilty enough to fix their own mess. Opportunity was here. He wasn't one to turn down free labor. But how to work it out …
"Ah, Gabuko-san, this is great!" Kiriwo muttered in his comfort zone. "We can finally do it. I didn't think it was possible, but Izuku showed me some things I never thought possible." Yes, Izuku, that boy was amazing! He analyzed magic on the spot and was able to point out things he kept hidden.
"And to think, it's all possible thanks to one magicless demon, someone even more pitiable than me." He could only imagine the type of hardship his little kohai had to face. Sure, being weak was one thing, but powerless? Less than a thud, something fundamentally useless on every single level, yet not only did he gather three other impressively stronger underlings to support himself, but managed to understand the world better than anybody else.
Kiriwo smiled as his heart skipped a beat. "It'll be hard to pinpoint him in the chaos, but I really hope I get to protect him … he should live." He shook his head. "What am I saying, I should get back to work Gabuko-san, some wires get messed up and this ends up exploding in our faces all over agai-'' The door opened. The secret door that was never meant to be opened was opened.
"You know, in a castle-like place such as this, I'm surprised I didn't stumble into a secret room earlier." His Kohai idly muttered. "Kiriwo-san? What're you doing here? I didn't stumble into anything private, right?" This was too early, he needed to buy time. Set up a story.
"Oh, this is my little private room. Found it in my second year, so I decided to keep all the really important stuff here. You never know which demons would like to screw over your work for the fun of it, especially one who can't fight back." Kiriwo started with a weak chuckle.
Izuku raised a brow, probably a bit taken back by the little bite he added to his tone, but shrugged nonetheless. "Right, sometimes I keep forgetting just how cruel the world can be. Back home, I almost never had a moment's peace."
"How did you find this place?" He felt the need to ask. It wasn't like the kid just tapped every brick he came across.
"I was looking for you, then my ring started to drag me all over the place. Barely had the time to steady myself so I wouldn't hit anyone." Right, the ring, that would be a problem.
Kiriwo realized something. This was an opportunity, something he could show Izuku. "How about I show you something?" He smiled, removing the curtain behind him. "Just promise you won't tell anyone, it'll ruin the view." Down there, behind the window, the courtyard where all demons gathered and conversed could be seen.
"Wow, they're all so small from here." Izuku muttered. Yes, small. Weak, pitiable, less than the dirt they walked on. "One could feel on top of the world from this height. Makes me think about how we've been able to accomplish so much in such little time."
"It's thanks to you, you know." Kiriwo stated, causing the Kohai to turn with curious and innocent eyes, more innocent than they should have been with what they've been through. "When they go off, when we soar higher, we can become better than we were before. We can make the world down there the same as up here. Where everyone looks the same."
"If Kachaan or anybody else I knew from before heard that, he'd laugh before throwing an explosion to your face." Izuku chuckled hollowly. "I've been called plain looking for all my life, nobody could even be paid to ever be like me. It's funny really." He stared down below. "Actually having people caring about you. Even my mother, bless her heart, struggled with my weakness. Felt so worried for her kid, she couldn't find the strength to tell me it was okay."
Ah, so he was a reject from even his own family. They became more alike every second. "Don't worry Midoriya, we'll take away the concept of ranks from those at the top. And your fireworks will be the first step to doing so. No one will have to suffer like we have." It was true, soon the very concept of ranks would be a thing of the past …
"And will make everyone smile doing so."
That, that sent a thorn into his gut. This kid's priorities were a little messed up. "Yes, we'll bring smiles to everyone." And then take that joy and replace it with something more, elegant.
Sabro tapped his desk as everyone ran around screaming. Seriously, it was just parents day, not the apocalypse or something. From his side he's got his sister, his brother was a no show as usual, and his father didn't do anything, not like he cared about the old bastard!
"My sister is going to show up, she's going to embarrass me completely. Just stab me now." Lied muttered. "Not literally." He quickly added as many students put away their bladed weapons.
"It can't be as unfortunate as you make it out to be. My father plans to arrive as well." Goemon brought up as he sheathed his blade. "He plans on dueling every teacher he comes across. He believes the best way to learn another's character is to fight them to the death."
"Oh, so your father is a Sabnock." Jazz spoke. Sabro retaliated with a hardened glare.
"Does thou seek to tell that to my face?" He asked, as the thief immediately backed down.
"Just a joke, just a joke, big guy. I'm getting a little nervous about it myself." Jazz defended. "My folks can't make it, but the bastard I call my brother is coming. Knowing him, he's just going to take everything I've collected for himself. It's totally uncool." Ah, he could relate to uncool brothers.
"You just took a teacher's wallet as you were talking!" Kaumi pointed to the small leathery square in the tall teen's ringed fingers.
"Yeah, but he's taking MY stuff, that's not cool man." Jazz complained. Fair enough. As a demon, it was his right to take what he wanted. That's why he gave the same advice to Valac.
"My mom will show up, she'll love most of the stuff. And Grandpa … he'll just make a big deal out of stuff." Izuku spoke while cringing. "Actually, you might want to pack a few raincoats. The two of them together can create a national disaster out of their tears alone. What about you Azz?"
"Oh I like to play a little game with my mother. She does her best to show up, I stop her by any means necessary, no matter how many bodies pile up.. I don't care how much altruism you spout, Izuku, I won't change my stance on that." Asmodeus spoke with a proud nod.
"So, you're just a big meanie to everyone, Azz-Azz!" Valac chanted. "My whole family's showing up, except for daddy, he's still out collecting a bunch of fun stuff, but that still leaves Mommy, Kebow, Konchi, Sin Sin, and Ran Ran! They're so much fun!"
"I was worried about your situation just for your parents, how much do they have to do for so many children?" Asmodeus asked, seemingly looking like he'd seen a specter of sorts.
"Azz, don't just say stuff like that. Seriously, we need to place a filter over your mouth if you're going to be nicer to others." Izuku admonished him. "Clara, I'm sure your family will be lovely."
"They're all just like me!" She cheered loudly.
"Okay, maybe he needs a filter, but she needs a collar." Lied spoke with a bit of sweat. He had a point, one person climbing Sabro Mountain was okay, he didn't need an army doing it. "Looks like Midoriya has his hands full just taking care of the two of them. How can anybody handle having more than one friend?"
"Okay, I know what I said on the first day, but being a friend is not about being a servant!" Asmodeus challenged. "It's about.."
"Silence." Kalego interrupted the boy before he got started. "Now then, let's go over the rules and schedule for the Division Party." He didn't notice Asmodeus pout in despair, simply grinning. His Demon King play would rule!
Clara played with a ping pong ball, waiting around was so boring! Even arguing with Azz-Azz and Eistring was getting old. At some point she was just able to get them to argue with each other.
"I'm telling you, pink! Pink is the best color for the cannon!" Azz-Azz pouted on and on about. "What other color could stand out more on a night like this!?"
"Just because you have cotton candy hair doesn't mean it's the best color!" Eistring fought back, holding back some sort of vial thing. "Green is the way to go here! No color represents our leader better!"
"Since when is Izuku our leader!?"
"Since we became his friends!"
"That means we're equal, not below him!"
"Um … I personally think red is a nice shade to work with." Izuku spoke.
"NO!" Clara shouted, red was the color of Lady Red Hair! "We need … blue, like Kirimake-senpai!" She shouted randomly, even for her. She would've said green too, but even she was getting tired of the back and forth. "He's in charge here, right? Maybe we should do something nice for him."
They all stopped arguing. "You know, you're right. We'll start out with blue for the big one." Izuku-kins grinned wildly. "Thanks Clara. Nice to have someone as level headed as you around."
Azz-Azz then stopped moving. In fact, he stopped breathing altogether. His face was turning blue. Guess he agreed with her. "Ah, guys, I think we broke Asmodeus."
"Someone, get some medicine! Or perform the heimlich. Should we give him logic?" Izuku-kins muttered, now confused about the situation. "Clara, say something you'd usually say."
"Everyday we should all be KABOOM!"
Azz-Azz's face returned to it's usual pasty color. "Whoa, I had this horrible dream that Valac was the most rational person out of all of us."
"Yes, it was a dream. It was a crazy dream." Eistring talked to him like he was a mental hospital patient. Fun! They should play this game more often. "Speaking of, are we actually ready?"
" Should be. Now then, let's go over the plan." Izuku-kins said, getting everyone's attention. "First, we wait until the right time."
"On the mark of the bell, right?" Eistring asked, having a watch that beeped as she fiddled with it.
"Right, then we have Azz set up the fire."
"Let's see … ah yes, blue sparks." Azz-Azz said, making a pretty blue fire. They were pretty cool looking, she'd have to admit. She'd take the next one tho, she wanted a turn.
"And finally, we set the flame onto the fuse, starting the firework." Izuku-kins said as she grabbed said fuse.
"Like this?" She asked, putting it onto Azz-Azz's fire as it was lit.
"Yes Clara, just like that-OH MY DEVI IT'S LIT!" Izuku-kins shouted like it was a bad thing. She was just checking what he told her. He took it out of her hands and put it out. "Ah, Clara, if you light it now, we won't have a big boom to show everyone, and we need th-it's burning my hand, it's not stopping!" Izuku shouted as it continued to move.
Azz-Azz tried stomping and failed to get it to stop. "Everybody down!" He grabbed the gang and shoved them onto the dirt. She was down, she won!
"... We're safe?" Izuku-kins muttered in confusion.
"Asmodeus saved me …?" Eistrings muttered with a weird red face.
"I won the game!" Clara shouted to the world.
"No, that's not it." Izuku-kins went up to the failed boom-maker, and picked it up again. "It's a fake. Somebody switched it with a dud."
"Putting off the complaining we should give Valac for nearly killing us all-" Azz-Azz spoke, turning to her before turning back to Izuku-kins. "That's not possible, to make a dud they'd need to know what it looked like. And only us, and maybe Crocell, even knew it existed." He now looked confused. "And she wasn't even near here, so it had to be a Batler member."
"Wait, somebody isn't here with us. There's only one member of the club missing right now." Eistring pointed out.
Izuku-kins had a strange look, it wasn't that excited look he said was fear. It was this weird look, eyes wide open but frozen, not trembling but his eyes looked like an animal. "I … I don't like this … we need to go." He suddenly said, running off. Oh, were they playing race? She would win this time! Even Azz-Azz didn't complain as they started racing, this would be a fun one … so why did it feel like no one was playing?
Gaako wandered the halls, hands clutching scales. Ever since Eiko ran off into the Magical Apparatus Battler they hadn't spent much time together. It was a shame, though she shouldn't have been entirely surprised. She encouraged her, well, friend, to go after the honor student, and she actually managed to succeed in getting him to notice her and have a conversation that didn't start and end with her fainting.
Maybe it was just her being terrible. It wasn't like she actually expected her to really do anything. At most, she expected Eiko to just keep watching from a distance and talk to her about her wild fantasies as she built a collection of scrap books all to herself. She never expected to find herself missing Eiko's endless fascination with Izuku Midoriya.
Well, if she made it work out, then maybe it was for the best. The Honor Student may have been a danger-junkie, but he was smart from what she's seen, and he'd put Eiko's safety above his own, he proved that at orientation. Maybe he was the push Eiko needed to rank up, after all, that's what she wanted for her in the first place.
"Gaako!" A light in her life shouted, making the dragon girl turn and see Eiko and her gang running in her direction. So she did the one thing she's been doing ever since she came to this school.
"EIKO!" Shout her friend's name as loud as possible, rushing to them. The two embraced as she could feel tears falling down her cheeks. "I missed, I missed you so much!"
"Yeah, sorry, life's been pretty busy, working really hard for our Batter's presentation, meeting new friends, getting close and intimate with Izuku..." Huh? Wait, have they been..."But there's no time to focus on all that! Somebody stole our biggest firework!"
"Fire..work?" Those words did not sound like they belong together, but knowing the honor student's reputation, it was probably something dangerous.
"It's, well, in the wrong hands, it's basically a bomb!" The green boy answered. Called it..wait what!?
"Um, for the sake of someone that's not in the know … how big are we talking?" Gaako asked, a little concerned for the group's safety. Well her and Eiko, the rest could find a ditch or something.
"We were gonna set the sky on fire!" The hyper girl shouted with a smile on her face, and that sent a wave of terror into her head.
"I'm sorry, I know he's a danger-junkie but, does setting the sky on fire not seem overkill!?" Gaako shouted to her friend. Seriously, have some standards for safety!
"Ignore her, she's being hyperbolic, I hope." Asmodeus clarified, though it didn't give her the reassurance it should've. "Just know it is basically a ball of rainbow fire waiting to be ignited. Outside is the only place it can safely go off, but if someone lights it up on the inside.."
"We could potentially have the entire roof of Bablys collapse over everyone!" Midoriya finished for everybody.
"So then what are we standing around for, let's get running!" She couldn't let this happen, not when Eiko's life was on the line. Unfortunately her actions never came to pass, as a rumbling over took the school, with a pressure filling the room.
"What the? Is everyone okay?" Eiko asked the group, getting nods.
"Time to continue racing!" The little girl cheered obliviously, running headfirst into the air. Wait, something was wrong with that picture. "Huh, why's the air stopping me?"
"Something's in the way." Midoriya walked up to the area where Valac fell over, and 'knocked' on the air space she crashed into. "An invisible barrier." His eyes, for the first time she's seen, were filled with a disconcerting despair.
"There's only one demon we know that has that kind of magic." Asmodeus walked up to him, placing his hands on the solid air as well. "It feels stronger, but bloodlines are nearly impossible to replicate in any way. Barring your ring of course." Midoriya looked down on the ring, then at the others with something in his eyes, a fire.
"I need to get to the third floor of the building." He spoke with an unusual amount of determination. "Let's work out how."
