"Gah! This is hopeless!" Battler threw his hands in the air and slumped back on the bed. This action caused some papers to fly up, which Kanon dutifully snatched up and returned them to their proper place on their makeshift desk composed of binders. Kanon looked down at Battler, who was currently despairing and not noticing how he seemed to keep sinking into the ravenette's mattress. Before Kanon could save him, a knock came at the door. The skinnier of the two glanced back down at the miserable teen before going to open the door. He was greeted by a tray of chilled tea and miniature sandwiches. Kanon peeked behind the tall glasses and was greeted by his sister's smiling face.

"Hey, I thought you guys could use some snacks but..." Shannon had walked in and set the tray on a bedside table, before observing what was left of Battler that hadn't been devoured by Kanons' sheets. "Maybe I was too late..."

The brother blew black strands out of his face and passively replied, "Yeah, he's a bit of a lost case."

A cry was heard from somewhere within Kanon's bed. "Hey, what did you say about me?! Don't talk like that to your senior! I know more than you!"

"Evidently not."

Battler groaned at the same time Shannon giggled. "I am so not smart enough for this," Battler emerged from his cave of gloom and doom to barrel towards Kanon. "Kanon, my dear friend! I have an idea! Why don't I just take pictures on my phone of the questions tomorrow and you tell me how to do them?"

Kanon looked down at where Battler had interlocked their fingers and glanced back up at the red-head with a cocked eyebrow. About to refuse, Shannon interjected with, "But Battler, that's cheating!" Kanon only gave Battler a look that seemed to agree. Battler shook their joined hands animatedly and hurriedly protested,

"Yeah, but no one has to know! You'd help me out, right? C'mon, don't leave me to fail like this!"

Kanon replied in a daze, trying to recover from being shaken so forcefully, "I don't know, Battler..."

"Jessica would be disappointed..."

"Hey, that's playing dirty!" Battler pointed to Shannon before returning his desperate gaze back to the male of the twins. " Don't listen to her, Jessica won't know," He side-eyed Shannon once more, " I'll make sure she doesn't find out!"

"I... are you threatening my sister?" Kanon asked indignantly.

Battler barked out a laugh in sheer hysteria. "No, no I would never do that! Your sister's too hot for that-"

Kanon readied a sharp pencil in his grasp. " I MEAN- she's a really beautiful young girl and I would never hurt girls like her, I just- Kanon please-"

Shannon held onto her brother by the waist and looked to Battler with an embarrassed, urgent look upon her face. "Quick, before you get hurt!" Battler needed no more encouragement. He rushed past the pair and out the door, not bothering to get his papers. They were just gibberish to him, anyways.

Outside, Battler shivered (and the night air was only partly at fault here).


Honestly, Battler expected much worse. When he'd been handed his test back, he expected to see a huge F. Instead, there was a 68 in red, which meant a D. So close to a C, but Battler felt like he couldn't have really asked for more.

"Hey, hey, what'd you get?" Beatrice leaned over and once she'd seen the score, she proceeded to laugh.

Flustered, Battler snatched her paper to observe her results. A 95.

How even? Beatrice barely paid attention in class!

Granted, he didn't either, but that meant she should've gotten a low B at the most!

"This is such shit, you so cheated!"

Beatrice stuck her tongue out. "Have you ever considered that I'm just superior to you in every way?"

"Now, now, children. Can we continue the lesson?" Mr. Ronove intercepted.

"Teach, this is some bull right here! I know I did better than this!" Battler waved his paper around angrily.

"If you wish to speak about your results, you know the procedure. Meet with me after class or during lunch and we can discuss the issue," the man adjusted his monocle and shuffled some papers around, with a ghost of a smile on his lips. The rest of the class laughed at Battler's misfortune, but the teacher snapped a sharp warning to the students. "I know some of you have also failed, so don't be hypocritical unless you want me to announce the failures," Then he simply went back to teaching pleasantly enough. That shut the class up for the remaining half hour.


The teen finished typing out his response to Ange while he waited outside his chemistry class.

To Ojou-sama 3:

Yeah, ik but I'm sorry, I have to talk to this lame teacher about lame things. Go home without me. Tell Shannon I said hi tho!

Battler pocketed his phone and was about to walk in when he heard people talking on the other side of the door. He hesitated. Would Battler be intruding? He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he considered his options.

"Oh my. Well, I thank you so much Mr. Ronove! Asmodeus isn't very bright, but with your help, she got an A on the test! We couldn't have done it without you!"

"Hey, I'm right here, y'know!"

A laugh.

"I only helped, Asmodeus here is the one who did all the work, miss..?"

"Oh, just call me Persephone, please."

"Persephone," Mr. Ronove seemed to roll the name on his tongue. Battler wanted nothing more than to run to the closest bathroom and puke his guts out, but he stayed if only because he wanted some blackmail material. He searched the hallway and when he was satisfied that no one was there to spy on him, he stood closer to the door and tried to covertly peek in. He could only see empty tables, so they must've been standing at Mr. Ronove's desk.

"Mother, c'mon, I promised I would meet with Mammon and you know how grumpy she gets!"

"Right, right. Oh, Ronove, can I call you that?"

"By all means."

"Ronove, I can't help but be curious... are you married? I can't tell with those gloves of yours."

... What.

"Mother!"

"Ahahhhh, no it's a perfectly fair question. Um, no, I am not."

Asmodeus' mother must have had an expecting look on her face because after a brief pause, Mr. Ronove elaborated, "I had a fiancé, but complications arose and we decided to break it off. We're still good friends now."

Another pause.

"Oh my god, this is so dumb! I'm leaving!"

They've must've been closer to the door than Battler expected because before Battler could back away, he got a face-full of door. He stumbled backwards and hit the back of his noggin on the lockers behind him. The twin-tailed girl looked enraged when she noticed Battler standing there, but only bit out a curt, "I'll deal with you later!" and stormed off. A woman in beige heels click clacked her way out of the classroom, which Battler assumed to be Asmodeus' mother. She called out to her daughter and quickly followed, not even glancing towards Battler's way.

The red-headed teen now had a bleeding nose to match his hair. He knew this because he noticed the red drops on his white t-shirt seeping through. He attempted to right his self but then the world blurred and he fell forward.

Strange, I don't remember the floor being this soft, Battler dully thought. He clawed at the surface before him, tried to pull himself up but still felt utterly dizzy and gave up. Then, he felt vibrations push against his face.

In the back of his mind he registered a laugh made deeper through close proximity. The injured teen managed to look up and came face-to-face with warm, smiling, azure eyes. He stared for a few seconds -seemingly entranced- and only more of Mr. Ronove's laughter brought Battler back to Earth. "Battler, you don't have to throw yourself at me to get me to notice you..." He trailed off as he examined his student's face. "My goodness, Battler, you're bleeding!"

"Yeah, I know," Battler slurred.

The teacher looked warily at the students emerging from their classrooms to observe the ruckus, then back to Battler's pitiful face. "Look, let's just get inside before I get accused for beating a student up," He wrapped an arm around Battler's waist and encouraged him inside. If Battler was in a clearer state of mind, he would've loudly objected to this. His injured mind only gladly accepted the help as he leaned heavily on Mr. Ronove.

Battler walked to the closest surface, which just happened to be Mr. Ronove's desk, and sat upon it. The brunette grimaced but said nothing as he pulled a handkerchief out and dabbed under Battler's nose. The teen vaguely acknowledged Mr. Ronove wiping at his lips and chin, made a pleased noise at the back of his throat. "Thanks," He nodded at Mr. Ronove but soon regretted it because it only agitated what was the beginning of a migraine.

"I assume you came to talk about your test grade, but I doubt that's going to be a possibility now. Sadly, this is what happens when you eavesdrop, Battler," Mr. Ronove waggled his finger towards the teen. Battlers' eyes widened but refused to meet Mr. Ronove's knowing gaze.

"Y-you knew?"

"You're not as sneaky as you think you are," Mr. Ronove pulled out a sleek phone and fiddled with it for a few seconds before continuing, "Do you want to call your parents and see if they can come pick you up?"

"Hm? No, no," Battler waved the offered phone off. "They're both at work right now, I don't want to bother them."

Mr. Ronove hummed thoughtfully. "Do you have any friends to walk with you?"

"I told them to go on without me, y'know, 'cause I was going to talk to you..."

"Hmmm... this is troublesome. I don't want you going home alone like that," Mr. Ronove directed a hand flourish towards Battler.

"Pfffft, don't worry yourself, Teach, I got this. Watch," He stood up shakily and began walking towards the door, but smacked his face into the wall next to the door instead. "Ahhh... Hahah that was a joke. I was joking. Funny, right?" Battler turned and grinned, bloody once more.

Mr. Ronove pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No, no, no, that won't do. Where do you live?"

Battler rattled off his address and watched Mr. Ronove stuff papers and manila folders into a black satchel behind glassy eyes. It wasn't until he was being pulled out into the hallway (by hand, Battler chafed but didn't pull away) that he processed what was happening. It should've been worrying that Battler was willingly going along with this, but he couldn't really come up with any good enough protests. Quietly, he mumbled something about if Mr. Ronove was even allowed to do this sort of thing, to which he laughed and made a shushing motion with his hands. Said something about keeping it a secret just this once.

Battler was ok with it as long as he didn't have to walk home; he didn't feel like he could even walk straight without any support.

"Wow, this is your car? Are you sure you don't work part-time as a lawyer or something?" Battler whislted appreciatively at the sleek, black car in front of him.

Mr. Ronove chuckled as he opened the door for Battler. "I'm sure," he went around to the other side and slid in.

"You're not secretly some big gang boss, then?"

"I assure you, I am not."

"If you say so, oyabun."

Mr. Ronove reached in his pockets and pulled out a piece of candy, then proceeded to throw it at Battler with one hand while he kept the other on the steering wheel. "Stop that, you're going to get me in trouble!"

"Ow! What'd you hit me with? Is this... a chocolate?"

"You are correct," Mr. Ronove glanced over and smiled politely at the other.

"Uh, thanks. There's no one here to hear us, though," Here, Battler stopped to pop the chocolate in his mouth and then continued, albiet slightly muffled, "so what does it matter?"

Mr. Ronove sighed and tried not to show his amusement, but the half-grin on his face gave it away. "You are going to be the reason I get fired," he stopped to ask if he should take a left or a right here, to which Battler answered distractedly.

"Yeah but, honestly you could just start a host club or something and you'd never have to worry about money again," Battler laughed at his teacher's confused face before explaining, "Don't think I didn't see what you and 'Persephone' did," he spoke in a mockingly sweet tone.

Mr. Ronove only laughed (this time it was one of those open-mouthed laughs and Battler was glad to see it). "Oh my, no I have no idea what you're talking about. I can't imagine that many people would pay to simply converse with me."

Battler noted he said 'people' and not 'girls' and stored that information in the back of his mind.

"Riiiight. Because you totally aren't seducing everyone in the school to have them always take your side," the student rolled his eyes.

"Is that what you think I've been doing?" The question almost seemed genuine.

"You can't fool me, you evil mastermind, you! I'm going to expose you someday!" Battler waved a finger in front of the driver's face. Said driver focused hard on not crashing. They seemed to have finally arrived at Battler's house, and so Mr. Ronove pulled into the driveway. He turned in his seat to smile evilly at his student.

"Oh, you will, will you?"

Slightly hesitant, the red-head stood his ground and replied confidently, "Yes, I will! And then everyone will know how you tricked them and then they'll love me and not you!" He stuck his tongue out.

"We can't have that, now can we?" Mr. Ronove menacingly rhetorted and reached out towards Battler. The latter panicked and squeezed his eyes shut, cursing himself for angering his teacher when all he had done was be nice to him.

However, instead of the blow he was bracing for, Battler felt cool fingertips brush down his lips and chin. Before he could stop himself, he shivered and let out a surprised puff of air.

He opened his eyes to see Mr. Ronove grinning mischeviously, glove stuck in between sharp canines.

"You still had some dried blood left on you," he explained.

"R-right..." Battler was sure he shone like a candle in this dark car, seeing as his completely flushed face matched his fiery locks. "W-well, see you tomorrow Mr. Ronove," and without preamble, Battler bolted from the car and ran into his beloved home.

He peered out the window to see the car pull out and drive away, then slid down the door and curled up into a ball.

"Bro? What are you doing? I was getting worried, y'know. You weren't answering any of my texts and it's pretty late. I thought maybe you had gone to another party. That's not ok, you know that, right? Hey, look at me- woah," Ange had stooped down to Battler's position and though at first had a scowl, worry now painted her features. "Hey, why is your face all red? Are you sick? That's what you get for staying out so late. Now I'm gonna have to make you some soup, so hurry and stand up," she kicked her brother lightly, barely a nudge, really, and made her way into the kitchen.

Battler meanwhile, traced his own lips as he replayed the event over and over in his mind. He eventually got up and followed Ange.

"Ange?"

"What is it?" She asked with a bored tone, but she worried her bottom lip as she faced away from her brother.

"Have you ever had a crush on someone older than you?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose so. Why, you aiming for some senior or something? Oh wait, you are a senior, I keep forgetting... Wait, you can't mean some student teacher or something, can you?"

"No, it's just... a hypothetical. I don't have a crush on anyone. At least, I'm pretty sure I don't..." Battler sat at the table and graciously accepted a bowl from Ange. She must've already been in the process of making some if it was done this fast.

"Ok, well... Are you asking what I would do if my crush was older? Because usually I'd go for it, but if it's the guy that's younger then that might be kinda weird."

Battler hummed.

"It's not necessarily bad or anything, just... Unusual. But hey, don't let me stop you from dating someone," Ange now sat across from Battler with her own bowl. She poked his spoon as if to say, 'Eat up already'.

Absently, Battler brought spoonfuls to his mouth but didn't really taste it.

Battler dreaded going to school tomorrow and considered ditching, but he couldn't really afford to with his grades being what they were.

He banged his head on the table, to which Ange only patted his back reassuredly as she headed out towards her room.