I am so, so sorry for the late update. I've just been so busy with homework and projects, and to top it all off, I'm having severe writer's block in ending this story. I haven't forgotten about it, however. I apologize again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.

Chapter 12- Trophies

Various thoughts are running through my head as I walk to school today with Hecadoth. I'm unable to maintain steady eye contact with him because everytime I look at him, I always remember our first time last night. Of course, he made sure to use protection, which I'm incredibly grateful for. It had felt quite amazing, and I'm always recalling how he had kissed and touched me so many times. Afterwards, he held me in his arms and I had a peaceful sleep next to him.

However, there's something else that's bothering me, something that I had been mulling over last night. What is up with Mantha? Where did he come from, and how did he know us? I highly doubt that him attacking us was a mere coincidence yesterday. We were clearly his intended targets. Was he trying to kill us to shut us up? The more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel.

"What do you think? About Mantha's attack yesterday?" I ask. "There's something about it that's just not sitting with me. I don't think that this attack was something out of the blue. I have a feeling that he fully intended to kill us."

Hecadoth muses over this. "You might be right," he tells me. "There's no way that this is a coincidence. The fact that he had the weapon that was used to kill those three humans makes this rather suspicious."

That's when I start to wonder, could this guy have somehow been involved in the death of Shibuya Airi? If he was willing to kill the people who knew her, then I don't think he would've hesitated to hurt her in some way.

Soon, we arrive at the school and after saying goodbye to Hecadoth, I make my way to the classroom. Perhaps I should mention this to Izuma and Shizuka. Once I arrive in the classroom and take my seat, I turn to face the both of them.

"So, anything new yet?" I ask Izuma and Shizuka as we wait for class to start.

"Nothing yet," Izuma says.

She frowns. "I got several threatening calls from my stalker," she tells me. "This is seriously getting creepy, and I don't even know who it is."

I think for a moment. "You know, I was kind of bothered by Mantha last night," I recall. "Like, how did he know us, and why was he trying to kill us?"

"What do you mean?" Shizuka asks me.

"I don't know, really," I admit. "But for some reason, I have a bad feeling about him. I don't think that the attack was a random one. Think about it, he had the weapon that was used to kill those three people. I highly doubt that this was a coincidence."

"But even then…" Before Shizuka can say anything further, the chime rings, signalling the start of class. I make a mental note to continue this conversation during lunch with Shizuka and Izuma.

However, after class, before the three of us can have our lunch, we suddenly see Satou-sensei coming up to us. "May I have a word with the three of you?" he asks.

I look at him suspiciously as Shizuka raises an eyebrow and Izuma frowns slightly. "What is it, sensei?" Izuma asks.

"I've recently heard that the three of you are investigating into the death of a St. Ishiyama student," he tells us. "Why are you doing that?"

My eyes widen in shock. How does he know about this?

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Well, I've overheard you discussing things about her murder these past few days," he tells us. "You should know better than to do that." He frowns at Izuma and Shizuka. "You know, I expected better from the both of you, Izuma Kaname and Nanami Shizuka. All of you should know better than to pry into things that don't involve you."

Shizuka frowns slightly. "What do you mean by that?" she asks.

He glances at her. "Because trying to find out things that are of no concern to you may be the end of you," he tells her. "Especially you. And we'd like to have your purity intact."

My eyes widen in shock and I see Shizuka look down uncomfortably. Did this guy just slut-shame her?

"Excuse me." I stand up from my seat, frowning coldly at him. "Did you just try to slut-shame Shizuka? Are you implying that it's Shizuka's fault that men may stare at her?"

Satou-sensei looks at me with an unreadable expression. "How could you assume that, Tanaka-san?" he asks me.

"It was quite clear in your voice," I tell him sternly. "I don't know what kinds of beliefs you have about women, but they are quite sexist to me. We were just trying to help out the police in solving her murder."

Satou-sensei gives me a strange look. "How dare you talk to your teacher like that?"

"No," Izuma cuts in, sounding deathly calm. "How dare you talk to your female students like that? Please, if you're done talking, we'd like to have our lunch in peace."

He frowns at us. "I'll let you all off for now," he says, walking out of the room. "But I'll warn you. You shouldn't go poking around in things that are none of your business. Afterall, curiosity killed the cat."

Once he's gone, I stare at the door in disbelief. "What the hell was that?" I ask.

"Something about him seems a little off to me," Izuma muses. "I don't know what exactly, but there is definitely something strange about him."

Shizuka nods in agreement. "I agree, I'm a little disturbed by him," she says. "I always notice him looking at me weirdly, and I don't know why he's looking at me like that. It's starting to scare me, honestly."

Already, I've lost my appetite. "You know what, how about you guys go ahead and eat," I tell them. "I'm gonna go for a little walk."

Before they can say anything else, I make my way into the hallway. Much to my surprise, the hallway is completely empty. What the…? Why is it empty? It's only afternoon! Usually, there are some students hanging out here at this time but it's completely empty now!

However, before I can do anything, I suddenly feel a sharp chill before an eerie sigh echoes in the hallway. I tense up as I feel a presence of demonic energy behind me. Slowly, I turn around to see the Demon of the Third Floor, no, Shibuya Airi, standing a few feet away from me.

Oddly enough, I don't feel the same fear that I felt when I saw her in the past. Sure, I do feel a little bit afraid, but it's not extreme paranoia.

Her head is lowered and she seems almost sad, for some reason. I hesitate a little, wondering how I should address her.

"Airi-chan," I say. She doesn't move away or disappear.

"Airi-chan, I know that you have some demonic blood in you," I tell her. "Tell me what you are. Are you a Konketsuji?"

She slowly shakes her head.

I frown. "Are you a contractor?"

Again, she shakes her head slowly.

That's when it hits me. "You're… a demon." It's not a question, just a statement of realization.

Airi-chan gives me a nod of confirmation. I look down as shock slowly sets in. So… Airi-chan really is a demon. But what kind? I have a hunch that she's a lower-class demon.

"You're a lower-class demon, right?" I ask her cautiously.

She nods again before walking away. For some reason, this realization horrifies me. I don't know why exactly, but the fact that Airi-chan was a lower-class demon who was likely murdered by Mantha seems to cross straight into being a hate crime. Suddenly, the dream I had a while back comes full force.

Mantha was the blur who attacked Airi-chan in my dream. But who was the other guy, the one who was arguing with Airi-chan? Could he be the contractor of Mantha? Too lost in thought, I fail to notice that Izuma and Shizuka are in the hallway as well.

"Tanaka-san?" Izuma brings me out of my thoughts.

I turn around. "Yeah?"

"What happened?" Shizuka asks.

I make my way back to the classroom. "Airi-chan… she's a lower-class demon," I tell them. "She confirmed it with me."

They look at me in shock. "You saw her?" Izuma asks me.

I nod. "I don't know why, but the hallway was empty when I walked out," I tell them. "And then, I felt her presence and that's when I saw her."

Izuma looks surprised. "Well then, this case has been put in a new light completely," he says. "I was going to tell you that I received another message from Furuichi-kun. We have to meet them after school. It seems like Quetzalcoatl found something that's rather important."

As I sit down in my desk, I notice Shizuka looking at me curiously. "Why'd you call her 'Airi-chan'?" she asks.

"Well, I thought that if I addressed her as if she were a friend, she might tell me something," I explain before letting out a sigh. "I don't think I've ever felt this confused or worried before. Now that it's been revealed that she's a lower-class demon, I don't know how the hell this is gonna turn out."

Shizuka nods. "I know, even I'm a bit scared," she admits. "This is just getting stranger and stranger."

The rest of the day seems to drag on forever, simply because of the anxiety I'm feeling. While I do my best to pay attention to my classes, I'm unable to do so. When school finally ends, the three of us make our way to the entrance, where we see Oga, Baby Beel, Furuichi, Hilda, Toujou, Hecadoth, and Quetzalcoatl waiting for us.

"You said that you found something rather strange?" Izuma asks Quetzalcoatl as we leave the school building.

Quetzalcoatl nods. "Yes," he says. "I had received a message from Dr. Furcas, who asked me to meet him at headquarters in the Demon World. As it turned out, he had analyzed the body of Mantha and found a few peculiar items on him."

"What does that mean?" Shizuka asks curiously.

"I mean, these items clearly did not belong to him," the harlequin demon explains. "But this is probably the most shocking thing I found on him." Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a golden heart locket and opens it up. "Have a look."

My eyes widen in shock. "Airi-chan!"

Sure enough, in the locket is a photo of Airi-chan. There's no doubt that this was once Airi-chan's locket.

"Where did he get this from?" Toujou asks.

"You know, my dad says that some serial criminals like to take something from their victims as keepsakes or trophies," I tell them. "Seems like that son of a bitch likes to do that as well."

"What are the other items you found?" Hecadoth asks him.

"Right." Quetzalcoatl shows four more items from his pocket. The first one is a men's watch, the second is a gold wedding ring, and the third is a charm bracelet.

"These are the ones that stood out to me," he tells us. "I have an idea as to who they might belong to."

I nod. No doubt, those belong to Nojima Kumi, Saionji Tadashi, and Fukuda Kaori.