I decided to add chapter 5 as well. And to Devlin Dracul, as much as I want to answer your questions, I really don't want to spoil anything for you~ I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.

Chapter 5- The Letter

"...and then, he called me a psycho after I called him out on cheating on me! Can you believe it?!" Asako, one of my teammates, rants to me as we leave the changerooms. "He has the nerve to call me a psycho!"

"Wow, what a dick," I scoff in disgust. "Did you dump his ass yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm definitely going to right now," she tells me. "You know, Yumi, you're so lucky to have a boyfriend who actually loves you and cares about you. I mean, I've seen you two around together, and he's always so sweet towards you. Mine is just a jerk."

I shake my head. "He's not worth it, Asako," I tell her. "Just leave him. You deserve so much better."

"You're right," she agrees. "Anyways, I have to go now, because…" She trails off, and I'm about to ask her what's wrong when she points towards a certain direction. At the same time, I also sense a slight demonic presence from behind. Curiously, I turn around and to my surprise, I see our History teacher, Satou-sensei, standing behind me with some books in his hands.

He gives me a seemingly friendly smile. "Sorry to ask you of this, Tanaka-san, but I was wondering if you could be able to take these books back to the classroom on the third floor?" he asks me.

I nod. "S-Sure, Satou-sensei," I agree, taking the books from him. "Well, I'll see you around, Asako!" I call as I make my way to the third floor of the school.

Once again, as I make my way to the third floor of the school, I feel the unmistakable dread filling up in me. A part of me knows that I shouldn't be doing this if I know someone like that girl is on the third floor, but I know that I can't say no to a teacher like that. If I said no, he'd ask me why not, and there's no way I'm telling him why.

Besides, if I said no to someone like Satou-sensei, he'll get all leery and creepy towards me, and that's the last thing I want. For some reason, I have a very bad feeling about Satou-sensei. There's something about him that worries me, and the fact that I just sensed a demonic presence from him doesn't really help.

Sure enough, when I enter the third floor hallway, I can feel a shiver running down my spine. The hallway is completely dark and empty. As I enter the hallway, I walk slightly faster, looking around me cautiously. For how lively and busy this hallway can be during the school day, it can also be as quiet and grim as a crypt or a sepulcher during after school hours.

I finally manage to reach the classroom, where I place the books atop the teacher's desk before leaving quickly. I don't want to stay there too long, lest something creepy happens. Picking my bookbag up, I hastily walk out of the classroom, closing the door behind me. But that's when I can sense it.

I feel a cold sensation brushing past my back, and I tense up as I turn around. However, I see no one. Raising my eyebrows, I look around in confusion until my eyes land on a figure, standing near one of the classroom doors, her back turned to me. The figure is a girl in the St. Ishiyama uniform with black hair in a bob cut. Oddly enough, I can sense a demonic energy from her, which increases my suspicions. Even though my reason is telling me to run, my instinct makes me walk up to her.

"Hello? Are you lost?" I ask her.

She doesn't react, even as I walk closer to her.

"Is everything okay? What's wrong?" I ask again.

Suddenly, I hear her speak, and I freeze in shock at what she says.

"They know what you are."

Her voice is an eerie, hoarse whisper, and it makes me falter and step back a bit. My eyes widen in surprise as her voice rings in my ears. Too stunned to say anything else, I barely notice her turning around until she looks directly into my eyes. And that's when my jaw drops open as I take in her appearance.

Her face is pale and haggard, with dark circles under her eyes. A strange black fluid drips from her head and stains her sickly pale face, and the same fluid drips from various punctures in her body and stains her hands and legs. Even her uniform is stained with this black matter. However, that's not what horrifies me. It's her eyes. Her black, cold, listless eyes that stare directly into me and make me feel naked and vulnerable.

I take a few steps back, still in shock. So this what the Demon of the Third Floor looks like? As she continues to stare unforgivingly at me, she opens her mouth and repeats what she had told me.

"They know what you are."

Shaking my head, I turn on my heel and run away from her, going as fast as I can. I don't care if she's chasing me or not, I have to get out of here. Running to the shoe racks, I hastily switch shoes before sprinting outside, ignoring the blowing snow and wind that hits me as I run outside. As I run to the gates, I check behind me every now and then to make sure she isn't chasing me. Even though she isn't, I don't slow my pace.

Fortunately, I see Shizuka, Izuma, and Hecadoth, to my surprise, standing by the school gates. Upon seeing me running, they look at me curiously as I stop in front of them, bending slightly to catch my breath. "So sorry…" I pant.

"What happened?" Hecadoth asks me, helping me up and moving my hair away from my face.

"Nothing, really…" I brush it off. I know I should tell them about what I saw, but a part of me tells me to keep it a secret for now. I then glance up at Hecadoth. "By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Your boyfriend apparently has some information about the Demon of the Third Floor, and he wanted to share it with us once you came," Shizuka tells me. "We're going to the ramen shop to meet up with Oga, Furuichi, and Hilda-san to talk about it."

I nod. "Yeah…"

We start walking to the ramen shop, but this walk does little to calm me down. My stomach is churning slightly from seeing the Demon, and my heart is filled with fear and dread. This is the third time I've seen her, and up close now. I recall how the legend went, and how anyone who sees her ghost will go crazy until they commit suicide.

As that crosses my mind, my legs stop moving and I stand still for a moment. Hecadoth notices this and stops walking before looking at me in concern. "Yumi, are you okay?" he asks me.

I look at him. "I… I'm feeling a bit scared…" I confess to him, my voice unusually small.

"Is this about the Demon of the Third Floor?" he asks as we continue walking.

I nod, and he gently pulls me close. Before I realize, I suddenly start speaking. "I… I saw her again after school today," I tell him. "The Demon of the Third Floor."

He looks at me in shock. "Really?"

"Yeah. I don't want to tell them immediately though."

"Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

I sigh. "I had just left a classroom after returning some books for a teacher," I start. "When I entered the hallway, though, I noticed how cold it was, and that's when I saw a girl standing by a classroom door with her back turned to me." I slowly shake my head. "I… I thought she was just a St. Ishiyama student, but when I tried asking her what was wrong, she… spoke to me."

"What did she say?" A look of concern is on Hecadoth's face.

"She said, 'they know what you are'," I recall. "And then, she turned around." Even as I remember what she looked like, I feel a chill running through me.

"I swear, I thought she was going to kill me," I say. "She… She had this black fluid dripping from her head and lips and from various wounds in her body. But her eyes… they were blank and hollow." The image of her onyx, hollow eyes staring into my soul still burns in my mind.

Hecadoth looks somewhat surprised. "Why did she say that?" he asks me.

"I… I don't know," I admit. "I'm pretty confused as well."

Eventually, we reach the ramen shop and we seat ourselves at the counter. It seems like Oga, Furuichi, Baby Beel, and Hilda aren't here yet, but according to Izuma, they should be here in a short while. As we wait, the shopkeeper comes up to us, placing some glasses of water in front of us and asking our orders.

"The usual," Izuma requests.

I glance at the menu as Shizuka requests for miso ramen. "Tonkotsu ramen, please," I request.

Hecadoth looks confused as he glances through the menu. "What is this 'ramen'?" he asks me in confusion. "I've never even had this before."

"Just get what I'm having," I recommend. I then turn to the shopkeeper. "He'll have tonkotsu ramen."

After our orders are taken, we notice Oga, Furuichi, Baby Beel, and Hilda enter the shop. Upon seeing us, they sit next to us at the counter. "There you are," Izuma says.

"Just a question," Furuichi starts. "Why are we meeting here?"

Shizuka shrugs. "Well, we thought that some ramen might make this meeting a little less tense," she says.

After they take their orders, the four of them turn to us. "Before we start anything else, I want to ask you something, Hecadoth," Furuichi tells him. "Do demons believe in ghosts and the undead?"

Hecadoth nods, and so does Hilda. "Yes," Hecadoth says. "We demons do believe in ghosts and the undead. In fact, they play a rather large role in our beliefs and rituals for the dead. However, we have never had the same kind of, well, fascination, for ghosts like how humans seem to have."

"However, for us, a ghost is the spirit of a person who cannot find peace," Hilda explains. "Because they are unable to find peace, they roam the world of the living until the exact cause of their death has been taken care of, so to speak."

Shizuka nods slowly. "So then…"

"If a demon was murdered and their killer was never brought to justice, they won't be able to find peace until their killer has been punished," Hecadoth confirms. "Often, it's someone who has seen the ghost who is in charge of finding out the murderer and bringing them to justice."

Oga looks at the two demons questioningly. "What does this have to do with anything?" he asks.

"We're saying that this Demon of the Third Floor might just be the ghost of an actual demon," Hilda tells him. "After all, we've all sensed the demonic aura from her."

At that moment, all our ramen noodles are served, and we start eating. The delicious scent fills my nose, and for a moment, I allow myself to just be lost in the tastiness of the noodles. However, after eating for a bit, we get back to the discussion at hand.

I then slightly raise my hand up, deciding to tell them about what I saw. "Guys… I witnessed her after school today," I tell them.

Everyone looks at me in shock. "Seriously?" Izuma asks me.

I nod. "She spoke to me."

"What did she say?"

I look down as the fear fills my being again. "She told me, 'they know what you are'," I say before shaking my head. "I… I don't know what that means. Who's she talking about?"

Shizuka looks at me in shock. "No way…" she whispers. "She also spoke to me!"

"Wait, what?!" I look at her in astonishment.

"When I saw her, she had said something that I didn't understand at the time," she explains. "But now that you said this, I realize that she was warning me! She told me, 'danger awaits you'!"

Izuma looks at her in worry. "Are you saying that you may be a potential target for murder?"

Shizuka shakes her head. "I… I don't know…" she says. "I mean, I never saw anything that was off, and I don't think there's anyone who'd want to murder me."

Hecadoth turns to me. "Yumi, is there anything else?" he asks.

I slowly shake my head. "N-No… I don't know…" I say, a quiet horror bubbling in my stomach. "I never even knew about this."

Something is off. What the hell is going on now? How did the Demon know about this? Is it happening right now, without my knowing of it, or is it something that's going to happen in the future? And who is doing it? What's going to happen?

"Well then…" Furuichi trails off. "Something's not right, but it's not clear yet. However, I think that for now, Nanami-senpai and Tanaka-senpai should tell their parents about this and be on their guard for the next while."

I nod. "Yeah."

"I'm gonna call Tora to come over and stay the night with me for the next few nights," Shizuka says. "I've asked him if he can walk me home from the ramen store, and he's gonna be here in a few minutes."

I turn to Hecadoth. "We should go talk to my parents about this," I tell him. "You come too."

The rest of our meal is silent and still, with a very uneasy atmosphere in the air. Eventually, after we pay for our noodles, Toujou comes by to take Shizuka back to her home, and Izuma also leaves to go back home. Then, Oga, Baby Beel, Furuichi, and Hilda also leave, so Hecadoth and I decide to go home as well.

Throughout the walk home, I still feel uneasy and afraid, so it makes me a lot more clingy to Hecadoth, despite not being a very clingy person. While Hecadoth is somewhat surprised by this, he just holds me close to him to try and comfort me. Fortunately, we manage to make it back home without much interference.

"I'm home!" I call as we enter the house.

"Welcome back, sweetie!" Mom calls. As we remove our shoes, both Mom and Dad come in, but are surprised to see Hecadoth with me.

"Oh, good evening, Hecadoth-kun," Mom greets, giving him a slight bow.

"Good evening, Elsa-san," he greets back.

"Not to be rude, but what are you doing here?" Dad asks him.

"Er…" I interrupt. "Can we go inside and talk?"

Dad nods. "Actually, we need to tell you something that happened today," he tells me.

We go to the kitchen and sit down at the table. That's when we notice the rather grim expressions on both Mom and Dad's faces. "Is everything okay?" I ask as Mom sets down a mug of tea for Hecadoth.

Mom looks at me with a serious expression. "While you were at school today, Yumi, I was coming home from the grocery store when I found this on the door." She holds up a folded letter with my name on it.

I look at the letter in surprise. "Who's it from?" I ask.

"I don't know," she says. "But it's what's written that shocked both me and your father."

Frowning slightly, I take the letter and open it up. Upon opening it up, my eyes widen in shock at what's written.

Tanaka Yumi,

I know exactly what you are, Konketsuji. You're nothing but a miserable half-breed that should've never been born. How dare you live like this, as a filthy cross-breed. You are a disgrace to all humans, but your father is also a disgrace to the Ishiyama Police. Tell him that if he continues snooping around, he will pay. But you will too. I cannot wait to get my hands on you.

And underneath the message is a dead rose. When I finish reading this, I slowly set it down, ice forming in my stomach. This… This is exactly what the ghost told me. Someone knows that I'm a Konketsuji.

"Oh… Oh my gosh…" I whisper in horror.

"Yumi?" Hecadoth looks at me in concern. He picks up the letter and reads through it. Just like me, his eyes widen in astonishment. "Who the hell wrote this?"

"We don't know," Dad says. "I can't believe this is happening." He runs a hand through his hair before taking my hand. "Yumi, this is not your fault at all. I don't know who the son of a bitch is, but it most definitely is not your fault. However, we need to work to make sure you stay safe."

I nod. "Okay."

Hecadoth raises his hand. "If it helps, may I stay here for the next few days with Yumi?" he asks. "I'll protect her as she sleeps."

The way he says that makes me blush deeply, but I quickly manage to regain composure due to the seriousness of the situation. Much to my surprise, Dad nods.

"Sure," he agrees. "You can stay with her. But don't even try anything on her, got it?"

Hecadoth smiles. "Of course. I'd never do anything to her that she doesn't like."

Despite this rather sweet gesture, the rest of the evening is rather tense, now that it is apparent that I'm being stalked. And it's possible that Dad might be in danger too. I start to wonder whether Shizuka is also going through the same thing right now, whether she's also received a strange letter from an unknown person. When I try to do homework, I'm just too distracted to focus on anything, only thinking about the Demon of the Third Floor, as well as this creepy letter. Something is off about these two things. How could she have known about this happening? Why is this happening? But above all, something else is nagging at me.

Could there be a connection between my unknown stalker and the Demon of the Third Floor?