To Tame a Demon

by SilverTreeandGoldLeaf

In a world that has been split in three, Nagisa Shiota is training to become a Demon Hunter. However, instead of hunting them down, he wants to befriend a one - but first, he has to tame it. Can he and his classmates tame the demons they have summoned and become Hunters? Especially Nagisa, when the demon he summoned is a red-haired boy, who ran away from Hell.

7. Chapter 7

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu: To Tame a Demon

D/C: I don't own anything from Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, I only own my own OC's.

**Ansatsu Kyoushitsu**The arc of Hunters**

Chapter 7

Nagisa's pov:

I opened my eyes only to see more darkness. I could feel that I was lying on rocky cold ground. I felt the sharp rocks under me and I slowly started to get up, groping my way through the darkness. I had no ideas where I was or how I had gotten there. The last thing I remembered was… wait, what was I doing before I ended up here?

My head hurt when I started to think of it and I suddenly felt tired. I sat back down to the ground after while of walking - it obviously didn't get me to anywhere. I still couldn't see anything else but darkness and feel only the ground under me. "I wonder… where everyone else is?" I mumbled aloud, my voice disappearing into the darkness. "It's kinda cold here…" I had been with Karma so long (am I the only one who considers two weeks to be long?), that I had practically forgotten how coldness felt. Around him, I never felt cold - he was always radiating warmth after all.

Thinking of Karma… he had hurt himself, hadn't he? I had some kind of image of him dying in my mind. He was lying on cement floor, blood forming under his head from the two holes on his neck, while his golden eyes were hidden behind his crimson bangs. Even the thought of Karma like that made me shudder. There was no way a strong demon like him would get hurt so badly… right?

Great, now I was starting to doubt myself.

Suddenly I felt a strong presence behind me and I knew I wasn't alone anymore. I firstly thought that it was a good thing, but soon I realized that I was better off alone. The presence was firstly quite far away from me, but started then coming closer. I heard no footsteps or breathing, but still I knew it was coming closer. I didn't dare to move or turn to look - but instead of being just plain frightening, I sensed warmth. The same kind of warmth Karma always radiated. Still I knew for sure that this person behind me wasn't Karma.

He or whoever it was, was now standing right behind me. I still didn't hear any voices, not until the person kneeled down, his clothes ruffling slightly. Then I also heard his breathing for the first time - and I also realized that he was she. A soft hand touched my cheek, and even in this darkness, I could see how pale her hand was. I smelled faint scent of strawberries, which linked her to Karma - again. Her warmth was so familiar, that I was starting to miss my demon.

The pale hand left my cheek, and I took a deep breath in. She was still frightening, even though, I didn't think she was bad. I don't know how long we just sat there, she behind me and me just staring into the darkness. But it felt better than just doing it alone. Her warmth made the cold disappear completely and I was thankful for that. It felt like an eternity, but at some point, the darkness was starting to fade. I saw bright white light in front of me and that made me jump up. Something told me to walk towards the light and leave the darkness behind. Then, I decided to turn around and see who had been sitting behind me the whole time.

But when I turned around, I firstly saw only darkness. It took me a moment to see that she was still there, sitting on the ground. Up from her chest, she was wholly shadowed by the darkness, so I didn't see her face. But I could tell that she was a pretty young woman and her crimson hair reached easily her waist. It was curly and looked silky. She was wearing a traditional looking kimono, but now that I saw her hands better, they seemed even more paler than before - which made me question was she sick or something.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked, but the woman didn't answer me. I honestly hadn't even expected any answers. I looked at the white side of whatever the place we were in was and then I looked at the darker side. Out of the two, it was obvious which side I would take, but for some reason I didn't want to leave my new companion behind. But she showed no intentions of getting up and following me. "Are you okay?" Again, no answer. Maybe she was deaf? "I need to go. I have a feeling that this side takes me back to my friends - don't you have that kind of feeling?"

Why was I even trying, when it was obvious that the woman wasn't going to answer.

"Well, I'm going. Thanks for keeping me company", I ended up saying, as I started to make my leave. "My name is Nagisa. May I ask yours before I go?" I heard a weak mumble as an answer, but I didn't caught the name. Or that's what I thought, but when I started to walk towards the brighter side, I only had one thing, one name in my mind.

And that name was the first thing I said when I woke up.

"Mayu!"

**Ansatsu Kyoushitsu**The arc of Hunters**

I woke up to see golden eyes staring at me, and suddenly I realized that I was holding onto someone's wrist. It took a moment for me to realize that it was Karma's hand and the person kneeling next to me was my very own demon - alive and seemingly well. He did have a bandage going around his neck, but otherwise he seemed just fine.

"…Mayu?" the red head asked, surprised look in his eyes.

"Mayu?" I repeated and let go of his wrist.

"You said that", Karma said. "You yelled out the name Mayu when you woke up. Why? Where you having a dream of someone with that name?"

I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. I could still feel her presence around me - or maybe it was just Karma now, since the two of them had felt the same. Except, Mayu was a woman. When I opened my eyes again, Karma was still there, staring at my questioningly. "You don't happen to know anyone named Mayu?" I asked out of nowhere. I just felt like Karma may know her, since they seemed so similar.

The red head blinked his eyes in confusion and it took a moment for him to answer. "No, not that I would know." Did I hear a hint of hesitation in his voice?

"I see", I nodded to that and then I took a good look around my surroundings. It took a moment, but I then realized that I was back at the hotel where we were staying for the Kyoto-trip. There was no one else at the boy's room, only me and Karma. I was lying on the futon-bed, a glass of water next to me. It was already day, yet I was just lying on bed. But again… I didn't remember even going to sleep.

My memories were starting to come back. I remembered going to the empty alley with my group, meeting the high-schoolers, going to the factory and the Blood Demon. I remembered how Karma had almost died because of me and then I remembered the hole in the wall and how I had felt really tired. The Blood Demon… What happened to him? My eyes traveled to Karma's neck, and I eyed the bandage for a moment. He honestly seemed fine, he wasn't even pale. And now Karma was eying me with curiosity.

"You're okay, right?" I asked after a while of quietness. The question seemed to once again surprise Karma, who nodded slowly. I let out a relieved sigh. "Thank god - I was so scared you'd die."

"You're the one who went closer to death", Karma bluntly said and now it was my turn to look surprised.

"Huh…? Wha- what do you mean?" I asked. The red head frowned at me, not looking sure should he answer or not. "Tell me."

"You're a weird one, you know that?" Karma sighed. "I think Koro-sensei can do better explaining this. I'm not so good at it anyway…" Karma got up. "I'll go get him, and there'll be probably few others coming too. Basically everyone is worried about you." He made his way to the door.

"Karma…", I said before he stepped out. The red head turned to look at me, waiting for me to answer. "Thanks."

He raised a brow at me. "For what?"

"I have the feeling that you saved my life… more than twice."

Karma stood at the doorway for a good moment, his golden eyes staring at me. I didn't know was he shocked or not, but if he was, he hid it well. "Don't thank me", Karma ended up saying. "I did nothing." And then he left without another word.

After fifteen seconds, I heard running footsteps and the door was slammed open with great force. At first I saw only yellow and heard yelling, but suddenly someone pushed the yellow thing off of me and I saw a green haired girl kneeling in front of me.

"Nagisa!" Kayano yelled, tears in her eyes. "You're awake! Finally! We were so worried!" She hugged me tightly and I just hugged her back, bluntly staring at my other classmates who had come to see me. The yellow thing was (surprisingly) Koro-sensei.

"Are you okay?" Sugino asked me when Kayano finally let go and backed off a little.

"I'm feeling just fine", I answered. "But what's all the commotion about? Why did Karma say that I almost died?"

Everyone quieted down, most of my classmates looking at Koro-sensei, who was looking for the correct words. "You really don't have any idea what you did, do you?" Kanzaki said, breaking the silence.

"Please don't tell me I broke law or something", I sighed and that made both Sugino and Kayano chuckle.

"No, you didn't do anything like that", Koro-sensei said. "To put it shortly, you almost used up all of your spiritual-energy, leading to a close-death experience."

"What?"

The yellow octopus smiled warmly at me and came little closer. "When Karma-kun took your place, and instead of you, the Blood Demon ended up drinking his blood and nearly killing him… I suppose you felt the need to save him. He is your demon after all. Well, I would've liked if you wouldn't have decided to use such rash-manner to save him, but basically you used your spiritual-energy to push the Blood Demon away from both you and Karma-kun", Koro-sensei explained. "But you can't control it, so you accidentally used almost everything you had. And that, like I said, lead you very close to death. We were lucky that Karma-kun managed to share his spiritual-energy with you and balance your own energy. It took the whole night, but with one spell and Karma-kun's endless powers, we were able to save your life. Don't worry, you're now working completely with your own spiritual-energy, it was only for the night. But there are few possible aftereffects."

"And what are those?" I asked. So, Karma did save my life again, after all. I wonder where did he disappear to?

"You may feel very hot", Koro-sensei said. "You may get strange flashbacks and see people you don't know, but those are just Karma-kun's memories. And you may feel things humans don't usually feel. But don't worry, all of them will wear out after a day and it's already four pm - and you might not be affected by Karma-kun's spiritual-energy at all anymore. He did pretty good job, didn't even hurt you when he practically set you on fire…"

"Seriously…? He set me on fire?"

"Well, those flames weren't meant to burn anyone", Koro-sensei chuckled. "Again, don't worry. It seemed that Karma-kun knew what he was doing. I honestly didn't even need to help him."

"Is Karma really okay?" I asked after a while of thinking. It took me a while to comprehend what Koro-sensei had said. There was one thing that worried me and it was the dream I had. The woman… she had resembled Karma a lot. It made me wonder, was she related to him? Had Karma lied when he said that he didn't know anyone named Mayu? Had that dream been a memory? Or did Mayu give me a fake name? So many questions and I didn't believe that Koro-sensei was able to answer them. I firmly believed that only Karma was able to do it.

"Karma-kun is completely fine", Koro-sensei nodded, a reassuring smile on his face. "He healed almost right away - that's the way things go for demons."

"And what about the Blood Demon?"

"We don't know what happened to him. He didn't return after you pushed him away with your spiritual-energy", Kanzaki-san answered instead of Koro-sensei. "The other classes have been warned, and we're all leaving tomorrow. Some real Hunter with his henchmen is coming to take care of the demons and monsters."

"Finally", Maehara-kun sighed. "They should've just sent professionals from the very start."

"I don't know", I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders. "I think this trip has taught me a thing or two about how demons and their lifestyle."

"You have a demon, Nagisa", Kayano pointed out. "Karma-kun sure is full of surprises, you know. I'm sure you'll learn many new things from him."

I smiled at Kayano. "That's true."

"And what makes you think I'm going to teach you something?" Karma's voice suddenly asked inside my head, making me jump and shiver at the same time. I felt a soft pawn poke my cheek and I only then noticed the red cat sitting on my left shoulder. Karma let out a cute little meow and rested his head against my neck, eyes closed.

"When did you get there?" I asked, sweat dropping.

"Just now", he answered. "I'm going to sleep. Wake me up in two hours." The cat went limp, and soon he fell from my shoulder, but I caught him and let him rest on my hand. He wasn't all that big in his cat-form, and it was kinda cute to hold him like that. Though, Karma was still extremely warm.

"Are you seriously going to sleep right here?"

As an answer, the cat purred, not even bothering to open his eyes. I let out a sigh, and Koro-sensei chuckled.

"Let him be Nagisa", the yellow octopus said. "When Karma-kun is chained to you and to this world, he can never use his full power - you could say that half of him is still in Hell. But what I mean with this, is that he has used up a lot of energy and rest is the best way to get it back. It wont take long until he's up and going again - you should rest too."

I said nothing to that, I just eyed the sleeping cat in my hands. Karma didn't seem like a demon when he was in that form. He was just a cute little cat, who happened to be warmer than normal cats were supposed to be. And even in his human-form, Karma never showed any of his demonic sides. He could act like a human with no effort and that sometimes made me question - was he really even a demon?

"He's cute when he's sleeping", Kayano suddenly pointed out and that reminded me that everyone else was still in the room. "Sleep makes him seem so… calm."

"Isn't he calm all the time?" Chiba-kun said. "I mean, I've never seen him angry or even rising his voice."

"He doesn't get angry easily", I said - that much I had learned of the red head within a week. "I've never seen him losing it either. And yes - he's really calm." I paused for a moment, my thumb brushing Karma's soft cheek, making the cat stir and switch pose. His tail curled against his body like a protective wall. "But I know that his calm hides a storm. Even for a demon, he's pretty secretive."

Koro-sensei hummed knowingly. "Yes, I've noticed this too. But Fire Demons are different from other demons. There aren't so many of them and they know each other personally. You could say that they're a family, who care for each other. May sound weird, but even demons want to keep the ones they love save. I don't think Karma's any different. It's obvious that he doesn't want to talk about his family, because we could use that information as our advantage. And there's always something people don't want others to know about." And once again, Koro-sensei was right. "Now everyone~, let's leave Nagisa-kun and Karma-kun to rest! The dinner is in two hours, someone will come and wake the two of you up, okay?"

"…Okay", I nodded and everyone made their leave. I was left alone with Karma again, the cat sound asleep. I laid him right next to my pillow and rested my head back down. Karma was now right next to my neck, his pink nose touching my chin slightly.

"I'll find out what you're hiding", I whispered, my gaze still on Karma. "And that's a promise."

**Ansatsu Kyoushitsu**The arc of Hunters**

Third person's pov:

There was a man standing alone in a dark alley at Kyoto, breathing heavily and blood dripping from his mouth. It was raining and the water was cleaning the man from all the blood. But it didn't take the body from the ground away. There was blood everywhere and you could hardly even recognize the body to be a human.

"I can't… get the taste out of my mouth", the standing man whispered, his black eyes wide. "No matter what I do… I still taste him. His blood, his power. I want… more. Yes, more…" The man grabbed his own face and started to laugh like a maniac. His body was shaking violently and suddenly, his laughter turned into sorrowful scream. But no human heard it, it wasn't even meant to be heard by mere humans.

"No. No I can't", he said after the scream died down. "I can't touch him… I shouldn't have touched him in the first place. Satan-sama… he's going to kill me. Need to run. Away."

He had no control over himself at the moment, and all the demons and monsters close by hid themselves. This man could kill them all, they knew it. Stay out of his way, they all thought. But they failed to see that there was someone else as well - a far more stronger beast just close by, watching closely.

The black eyed man transformed into a bat, and flew away from the alley. He had to leave the town and hide, possibly leave the whole country. He should get back to his homeland. There he would be safe, for at least a moment. The black bat knew very well, that he was going to be hunted down. He had broken the laws of Hell - he had gone against his king. He had dared to hurt the son of Satan. Dracula had made the biggest mistake possible - and yet he graved for more. So instead of leaving the town, he flew towards a small hotel, smelling the familiar sweet smell.

"I can't stop myself", Dracula thought. "I need… I just need more."

He was so close to getting what we wanted, but suddenly someone grabbed him, and for some reason, Dracula wasn't able to fight back, when the person holding onto him dragged him away from the hotel to an other dark alley. There he was roughly thrown into the ground and he was finally able to take his human-form and face his captor. But the one who took him to the alley, was someone he couldn't even wish to defeat.

"My- my young master…", Dracula muttered in surprise. "May I ask what brings you here?"

In front of him was standing a tall young man, who seemed to be in his twenties. He had short fiery, crimson hair and glowing golden eyes. Dracula could practically see the fire in them. The man had pretty pale skin, which made the red hair stand out even more. He was wearing a dark suit, looking formal. The red haired man was a handsome one, but most demons were - especially the stronger ones. But what Dracula feared the most, was the man's enormous spiritual-energy, the aura surrounding the man. It felt like the Blood Demon would've stood right in front of a huge bonfire and a snake would've slowly crept up his body.

The red haired man let out a snort. "You know exactly why I am here, Dracula-san." The man's voice was cold and very formal, but the heat in his eyes just got hotter. Then, suddenly a small book appeared in the man's hand. Dracula saw that it was old and scuffed badly - but still, the book itself was enough to make Dracula fall on his butt. "I suppose you know what this book means", the red haired man said calmly. "It's the law book of Hell and as Satan's thirdly oldest son, I'm here to tell your punishment for breaking the law number four." The man paused for a moment to observe Dracula's reaction.

"You have broken Hell's law number four: do not ever drink blood from a Fire Demon. I, the son of Satan, Kazuo, have been authorized to complete your punishment", the thirdly oldest son of Satan, Kazuo announced. "The punishment has been decided by the king himself. You, Blood Demon Dracula, have drank blood of Satan's youngest son, without any special permission. To add more, you almost killed him. The king is angry and the punishment you had been given is death."

"Wa- wait a mi- minute", Dracula stammered. "Death?" He had hard time comprehending what Kazuo-sama had just said. Was the king serious? "Is it really necessary? I didn't mean to hurt the young master, your younger brother. Kazuo-sama, please consider again." The Blood Demon had to do his best to he wouldn't sound scared, even though he was.

"Consider again? You must be joking, Dracula-san. Neither I or my father can forgive you for what you did", Kazuo answered, letting out even hotter spiritual-energy. It lighted up the alley and Dracula noticed few monsters watching them with interests. "And here you were, going to get some more. Tell me, did you like what you tasted? C'mon now, be honest. I know if you lie." The golden eyed narrowed at him, a cold smile forming on the perfect face.

Dracula hesitated. He knew he had to tell the truth. Lying would honestly make things worse - then Kazuo-sama would probably torture him to death. "I- I did. I did like what I tasted", Dracula admitted, feeling ashamed.

Kazuo chuckled. "I knew it. But it's no surprise. A Fire Demons blood is good, no matter who drinks it. It doesn't necessarily taste like blood either", the red haired man explained. "It's the drinker who decides about the taste. And you know what else? Our blood heals any wound, and I really mean any kind of wound. Small or big. Our blood holds more power in it than you've ever had. And I believe that you're quite a strong demon too, Dracula-san. Did you feel it? The power running through your veins?"

"Yes I did, my young master", Dracula nodded.

"And you wanted more. You wanted to feel strong", Kazuo sighed. "You wanted to be as strong as a Fire Demon."

"Exactly my young ma-"

Dracula was cut off when Kazuo's right hand was suddenly on his throat, strangling him. The red haired man lifted him up with ease and watched as Dracula pitifully fought for his life. "Such a pathetic end for a demon like you", Kazuo muttered. "But I can't forgive. I feel so angry, that I could practically set you on fire now. You… I can't believe you dared to touch him. Karma's is so much more better than you, Dracula-san. He's above you in every way - a lowlife like you should never lay a finger on someone like Karma. Do you now regret?"

Dracula could hardly nod as an answer, but Kazuo noticed it. He dropped the almost unconscious Blood Demon to the ground. "Good. Now, I'll make this quick for you", the red haired man said, a cold grin on his face. "Burn."

And then, a sea of flames devoured the Blood Demon Dracula, burning him to ash in less than I three seconds. So strong were the flames of a grown-up Fire Demon. Kazuo snorted and the law book disappeared from his hands. It was still raining, and the rain washed the ash away. But no water was able to touch Kazuo's body, that was radiating heat nonstop.

The Fire Demon knew they weren't too far away from the hotel where he's younger brother was. He fought back the idea of going and getting the boy back to Hell with him. He had to wait a little longer. Now it seemed that Karma had been chained to a human, so that would also explain why the younger Fire Demon wasn't leaving. Karma knew Kazuo was close and if he really intended to stay away from Hell, he wouldn't stay anywhere near any of his siblings.

"Just a little longer", Kazuo muttered to himself. "When your master is at his weakest, I'll sever the contract and take you back home, Karma. Just wait a little longer. After all, you can't forget that Hell is where you truly belong."

**Ansatsu Kyoushitsu**The arc of Hunter**

Karma's pov:

I could feel him. His power, his flames. Not too far away from us, maybe three or four streets. Too close. The heat, I could feel it. Somehow, it felt warm and made me want to go closer to check it out, but at the same time, I knew for sure that something bad was going on. But I was pretty sure that I knew what exactly was going on.

He must be here to punish Dracula… I thought, my eyes at the window. It was raining and it was dark, yet I swore I saw a fire burning few blocks away. I can't feel that bloodsucker anymore. Kazuo must have killed him. I closed my eyes and sighed. It wasn't really Dracula's fault, I honestly didn't blame him. Blood Demons usually couldn't control their hunger at all - when they tasted blood, they'd drink the victim empty. And I knew that my blood was special, why else would it be forbidden to drink?

"Karma, why do you look so down?" Nagisa asked from me. We were eating dinner with everyone else from the 3E-class, and everyone seemed to be feeling fairly well. Of course, they didn't sense what I did, exception being their demons - who seemed pretty nervous. I felt how many of them send worried glances to my direction, but I did my best to ignore it all. Every demon alive was serving my father, Satan, and so, as Satan's son, I had more power than I even wanted. The demons my classmates had summoned were all under me, they knew it and I knew it. None of them would even try to fight or say something against me, and they basically were my underlings. Of course, I didn't see them as such, I had never thought that I was somehow better than other demons just because I happened to Satan's son. I hated the fact that I had to be related to Satan - seriously, why me?

Also, being the son of the king, gave me a natural gifts as a leader. I knew exactly how to lead other demons, make them work for me and bow before me. But that also meant, that I felt need to protect them all and keep them save. The demons in my class… I honestly had taken them under my protection. And they knew this as well - I suspected that the teachers also knew it, but it seemed that my classmates had no idea. Well, it wasn't like there was anything to complain about. I would make sure the demons in my class wouldn't die, and they would just keep quiet and let me be. They'd help me to hide.

Had I ever even told anyone, why I ran away? Why I was in Middle World to begin with? Honestly, I didn't know had my decision to leave Hell been right or wrong - but when I had made my decision, it had been because I couldn't take being around my father anymore. Nor my brothers (I didn't have sisters… anymore). It had felt right at the moment. But now… I was feeling little home-sick. I even missed my father's annoying rants about how to be a great king and all that.

Feeling Kazuo so close by… my older brother was a way for me to escape. He would certainly know how to break the contract between me and Nagisa. I gave the worried looking bluenette a quick glance.

I was his first demon. He wanted to tame me and possibly be friends too. He was stupid and not so strong, but he had more will than many other humans. He was… special. I wanted to know more about his mysterious power. How did he find the courage to stand up? To smile? Was his reason the same as mine? Was he hiding something? I wanted to know more.

And that was enough for me to stay.

"Hey?" Nagisa waved his hand in front of my face and that made me flinch a little. I had been so deep in thought, that I hadn't even realized that Nagisa had come closer. "What's wrong? Did you sense something again?"

I sweat dropped. "Ahaha, no", I answered nervously laughing. "Nothing's wrong. Just thinking."

"Of what?" the bluenette asked, giving me a questioning look.

"How bad is this food", was what I answered. In my hands was a bowl of rice and there was little meat on top, but seriously, human food tasted like… well, it didn't taste at all. The strawberry-milk from before had been different, maybe because it was so sweet. But I had at least liked it.

"How come?" Nagisa asked, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "I think it's pretty good."

"Suuure, for a human. But I can't taste anything", I responded.

"You've never told his before", my master pointed out. "Usually you just eat quickly… but is there something you'd like to eat?"

"A human soul", I sighed. Then I put the bowl back on the table and stared out of the window next to me. I couldn't feel Kazuo anymore, but he was somewhere close by. He knew I was there and father had probably ordered something like: 'Get that damn kid back to Hell, right now!' "But it's not like you'd give me a one."

Nagisa sweat dropped, a small smile on his face. "Yeah, no chance."

"Aw, c'mon~", I whined. "I'm starving! I haven't eaten in two weeks, human food wont satisfy me at all. And it tastes bad to begin with. Nagisaaaa~, pretty please, let me get something to eat." We were eating on a futon floor, so I was able to lie down and roll around like a cat. That made me want to transform into my cat-form, because that gave me more protection.

"How about we go hunt down some monsters?" Sugino suddenly suggested. He had been listening to our conversation and had come to sit with us - everyone else was still having a heated conversation about octopuses and fishes, Koro-sensei being in the middle of it all. "I think Kuro is pretty hungry too."

"Sugino's right Karma", my master grinned at me. "You have to be satisfied with monsters for now on. Get used to it."

I stuck my tongue out. "So mean! Monsters taste like shit", I mumbled and Nagisa laughed, Sugino joining him soon. Kuro just gave me worried glances. "I can't take being around humans anymore… I want to go back home." I rolled closer to the window and my eyes followed the raindrops draining down the glass. "This is horrible - I can't believe I'm starting to miss Kazuo and the others." I sighed once again.

"Who's Kazuo?" Sugino asked.

"No one", I answered quickly. Maybe I should just shut up for now.

"I'm done eating", Nagisa said after a while of quietness between us. "Let's go out to hunt some monsters. I'll just go and get my raincoat. Will I bring yours too, Sugino?"

"Sure", the raven haired baseball-player answered, a big smile on his face. "I'll tell Koro-sensei were we're going." The two humans split up and I was left alone with Kuro, who came closer and started to push its head against mine. Though, I was still lying on the floor, not moving a bit.

"I get it", I mumbled, my hand moving to touch Kuro's soft head. I felt warmth tickle my fingertips and some of the warmth spread into Kuro's body, warming the jaguar. It let out a purr and sat down next to me. I soon noticed that there were other demons gathering around me, yearning for warmth as well. The fire inside me wouldn't burn them if I was gentle. I could make them feel warm and safe by just touching them. Like they would've been back in Hell. "So, I'm not the only one missing home…?" It seemed, that no matter what happened, Hell was the only place demons could call home.

"We're ready to go and - whoa! Karma, I didn't know you were friends with the other demons!" my master said as he came back, his and Sugino's raincoats in his hands. That made the other students to turn and look - and indeed, every demon we had in the class had gathered around me to enjoy the warmth.

"Nurufufufu", Koro-sensei chuckled. "You're sharing your warmth now, aren't you, Karma-kun? How generous of you to do that, but it must make you feel tired again. Are you sure you should just go and share your spiritual-energy with other demons?"

"Tch, I have enough fire in me to burn down Middle World", I answered.

"But what happens when your flame dies down?" Terasaka-kun suddenly asked. "Do you die?"

"No, but I'm nothing if that happens", I said. A small flame appeared on my right hand and danced there for a moment, before disappearing. "I'll become cold and pretty lifeless. My heart may beat, but there's no soul in my body. The fire is my soul, my very being."

"Maybe you shouldn't tell us about it, since we are studying to become Hunters", Maehara pointed out.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's nothing new. Many Hunters know this already. But that doesn't mean they can do something to it - the point is, you humans don't know how to extinguish the fire."

"Seriously?" Terasaka mumbled. "Then, if we ever find a way, wouldn't that mean that we'd finally be stronger? That we'd finally be able to destroy Hell?"

I let out a bitter chuckle. "Terasaka-kun, you seem to miss a one important point here. You humans can't live without us demons and monsters, just like we can't live without you. Don't you think that this world was created the way it was for that exact reason? There's no such thing as perfect peace, there's always someone capable of breaking it. Wouldn't you rather blame us than other humans?" I sat up from the floor, and looked right into Terasaka's eyes. "I'm not saying that we're good, because we're obviously bad. But, you humans aren't saints either. Don't think so highly of yourselves just yet. There are so many things you don't know." I gave the now scared looking boy a sweet smile.

I've only seen one human and one demon, who have understood this. Only two creatures in this big messed up world could understand - and now, they're both dead, I thought, my mind wandering back to last year and to the day everything went wrong. I wonder, what good did you see humans? What did that woman show you? Why did you say it was worth it?

Tell me, Mayu - I don't know what to believe anymore. Please, tell which road should I take.

A picture of a crimson haired woman flashed in my mind. Her smile, the glimmer in her golden eyes… Why did it have to be her? Out of everyone I knew, it just had to be the person I admired, the person I cared for the most. What did Mayu see that I didn't? She went through so much pain, but still she said it was worth it - why?

I eyed my master, who was now chatting with Sugino. They were wondering where we should go to hunt some monsters, smiles on their faces. So innocent. So pure. And this world was only created to show darkness and to destroy that innocent light every human was born with. We demon were born only to show humans the bad side of life. We were only born to make humans monsters… just like us.

"We are the same, Karma. In the end, we're all the same."

Her words ringing in my mind, her voice in the wind, her shadow always behind me. Father had always said that the two of us had been the same. He always blamed her. Did he see her in me? Or maybe father saw my mother in me? Maybe I was little too much like she. Maybe I changed.

At least I was slowly starting to see humans in different light. And it was all because Mayu had brought it up.

"You'll find someone different. You'll see what I saw."

It had been almost a year already. The day everything went wrong, the day I lost my faith in life. The day I started to hate everyone and everything. The day I wished for death, still did. It had been almost a year from that day.

It had been almost a year since I lost my older sister, Mayu.

And now, my master just had to bring her up again.

Now I think, Nagisa, you know something I don't. If I stick with you, will I find answers? Will I finally be able to understand you humans?

Or, will you be that person?

**Ansatsu Kyoushitsu**The arc of Hunters**

Third person's pov:

In the darkness, at the doors of death, there was sitting a lonely woman. She was surrounded by darkness, yet her golden eyes shone brightly as ever. Today, she had sent away a boy with blue hair and bright eyes. She had given him another chance to live. It had seemed that the boy had an important role in the life of a certain very important demon. And it wasn't the time to open the doors of death just yet - she would wait. When the right person would come, she would leave too.

Until then, she would wait, stare into the light she could no longer even see and smile like always.

"This is the first step", Mayu said, her voice echoing in the emptiness around her. "A step closer to the moment, when humans and demons shall finally understand each other. And Karma, my dear little brother, you will be the spark starting the fire."

End of chapter 7

**Ansatsu Kyoushitsu**The arc of Hunters**