Rimuru's Student

Iruma POV

Rimuru teleports us somewhere again, accompanied by the usual stomach-flipping sensation. I'm glad I'm no longer queasy, or that little jump would've been enough to tip me over the edge into vomiting.

I find that we're now outside a fancy-looking door. Rimuru steps up to it and knocks politely.

We wait a minute or two, but there's no response.

Rimuru knocks again, this time a little louder and we wait again.

Rimuru frowns slightly and crosses her arms, tapping her foot impatiently while we wait for someone to answer the door. She lets out a sharp sigh before stepping closer and attempting to grab the attention of someone inside again.

"~Leeeeeooooonnn~!" Rimuru calls out, accompanied by more knocking. "I know you know I'm out here, so open up!"

Rimuru knocks again, this time more forcefully. I notice the door is starting to splinter slightly in the spot Rimuru's been hammering on with her fist.

"Uuuhhhh…Rimuru? You're gonna break th-"

Ignoring what I said, Rimuru gives the door one, hard, frustrated, knock and the door finally gives and breaks completely, swinging violently on its hinges and slamming into the wall inside the building.

"Whoops," Rimuru says, her eyes wide at what she just did by accident.

Now that the door's been blown away by Rimuru's strength, two people are revealed by the now open doorway, one of them appearing like he was approaching the door to open it. His outstretched hand clenches into an angry fist as he lowers it now that the door isn't there to open any longer.

#I can't believe you just did that…# I mutter, dumbfounded by what I just witnessed.

#I didn't mean to break it like that…# Rimuru grumbles back, looking not too happy with what she just did, but only for a moment. Rimuru quickly hides any regret with a cheesy smile and approached the blonde-haired man that's still standing silent behind the doorway.

"Heeeey! Leon! Long time no see ~buddy~!" Rimuru says cheerfully, still grinning exaggeratedly at the man.

Based on the man's expression, I don't think he considers Rimuru his 'buddy'.

Then, suddenly, the woman with Leon springs forward, embracing Rimuru and scooping her into her arms with a little twirl to the action.

"Huaaah!" Rimuru makes a surprised noise as her feet go airborne.

"I missed you so much!" she says, hugging Rimuru in her arms tighter.

Rimuru appears to be blushing slightly, probably embarrassed by being picked up like that without warning. I know she was when Diablo picked her up a while back. Rimuru doesn't look mortified this time though.

"Hehe…I missed you too Chloe," Rimuru says with a warm smile and pats the woman on the head comfortingly, still being held in a 'princess carry' by her.

She set Rimuru's feet back on the ground and the two start a conversation, leaving me and the man named Leon standing there awkwardly. He doesn't seem too happy about Rimuru having all of Chloe's attention.

"Hello…?" I squeak out a sheepish greeting to the man since I don't have anyone else to talk to. I don't want to interrupt Rimuru's reunion with Chloe since they both seem so excited to see each other.

He glares at me questioningly with his cold, ice-like blue eyes, causing me to cower internally and break eye contact with him. If I was still standing next to Rimuru, I'd probably hide behind them. This man named Leon is very scary.

Leon responds with a dismissive "Hmph." Before returning his attention to Rimuru and Chloe. He doesn't seem to have much interest in anything else.

"Rimuru." He says in a harsh, demanding tone, trying to grab Rimuru's attention.

Rimuru, who had her back to him while conversing with Chloe, glances over her shoulder.

"Yeah?" Rimuru asks innocently, her golden eyes peering back at Leon.

"What are you doing here?" Leon asks in a voice as icy as his eyes. His face remains mostly emotionless, but I can tell he is irritated.

"I thought I'd just pop in for a visit. You don't mind, right Leon?" Rimuru asks with a cocky grin, seemingly amused by Leon's subtle signs of irritation.

"I-" he starts to speak, glances at Chloe's smiling face, and stops himself. "I suppose I don't mind…"

"Good, good. I do have a valid reason and it's not just seeing Chloe." The grin drops off Rimuru's face and turns into a determined serious one. "I need to talk with you about the upcoming Walpurgis and what you know about this 'new candidate' Guy mentioned, among a few other things."

Walpurgis? Guy? New candidate? What is Rimuru talking about?

I heard multiple names I don't recognize and can't help but be curious. I know Rimuru hides things from me, but the way her tone changed when she brought these things up means they're probably something serious.

"With how expansive your intelligence network seems, I'm surprised you don't already have all the information you need," Leon responds in an aloof tone.

Rimuru's eyes narrow in irritation at Leon's excuse and the tension between them increases. I can feel it in the air and it's stifling. Chloe doesn't seem too concerned though, simply watching the two curiously, not intervening or commenting on their conversation.

"It's always good to hear from as many sources as possible, I'm sure you understand that," Rimuru responds flatly, staring intensely at Leon.

Leon doesn't bat an eye at Rimuru's pressure-filled gaze, at least externally. He instead meets it, not breaking eye contact at all, not even blinking.

"I do." He replies after hesitating a moment.

"So do you plan on giving me what I want then?"

Leon continues to match Rimuru's eyes with his own before finally closing them in defeat and nodding his head solemnly.

Rimuru claps her hands together gleefully, a smile forming on her lips.

"Great! I'm glad we've come to an understanding!" Rimuru chirps happily at her win over Leon.

Leon grumbles something under his breath, not seeming too happy with what just transpired but Rimuru doesn't pay him any mind.

That was scary for a minute there; well, I think it was just a minute…it felt like an hour while those two were just standing there…menacingly, staring each other down. They were both talking but were standing still as statues while their eyes were locked.

"I do have one question though," Leon says suddenly.

"Oh? What?" Rimuru asks, still wearing a satisfied smile.

"If that's your reason for visiting, why did you bring someone with you?" Leon asks, pointing his finger and returning his cold gaze to me.

"This is Iruma," Rimuru says as she separates from Leon and returns to standing beside me. "He's a friend of mine who's visiting Tempest. He wants to talk with Chloe about some stuff so I had him tag along." Rimuru says, giving me a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Chloe seems mildly surprised by this, but simply smiles at me when I glance in her direction to see her reaction to what Rimuru said.

"We should go inside and talk then, now that everyone understands why Iruma and I are here."

"Yes, I would enjoy talking with someone you consider a friend, Rimuru," Chloe says happily.

Rimuru grabs Leon's long sleeve and almost drags him along to go talk about that important-sounding stuff I have no clue about. Leon definitely doesn't look happy about going off with Rimuru, but he doesn't resist either, simply wearing a blank expression on his face as he's led down the hallway. Chloe and I follow closely behind, but we soon separate from the other two and enter one of the many rooms. This makes me a little nervous since I don't know this pretty lady I find myself alone with. She seems nice, though, so I think I'll be alright.

"I kinda feel bad for Leon. First Rimuru broke his door then teased and intimidated him before dragging him away…"

"Oh, it used to be a lot worse between those two. I heard that the first time Rimuru met him, they almost came to blows!"

"Really?!"

"Yes, but they get along for the most part nowadays. That was just a little game they were playing with each other, nothing serious." Chloe says with a smile.

She calls that 'getting along'?! I guess that's a way of looking at that…

"You're what Rimuru's been focusing his attention on while he's been gone, aren't you? I could tell by the way he was treating you; it reminded me of when he was my teacher all those years ago."

"Yes, Rimuru's been with me the last few months."

"Let me guess, you were in some sort of danger? He wanted to protect or save you possibly?"

"How did you know?" I ask, flabbergasted by her seeing right through me somehow. This woman seems very sharp, to pick up on my situation without me telling her anything yet.

"I know Rimuru very well; that's how," Chloe says with a knowing smile.

I'm a little intimidated by how smart she seems, but I still want to talk to her so I bring up the subject that I came here to ask about.

"So…about you being Rimuru's student…" I say to try to start some kind of conversation with Chloe.

"Oh, is that what you wanted to talk about with me?"

"Yeah, I thought it was interesting that Rimuru used to be a teacher and wanted to talk with one of his students about it. Rimuru said I could talk to you since you're the only one of their students that live in Tempest."

"Yes, the other four have gone off to do their own thing a long time ago. I miss them sometimes, especially Alice, but I'm still happy for them. We still exchange letters sometimes so I know she's doing well…" Chloe trails off, seemingly getting lost in her memories of her former classmates. Even though she's wearing a soft smile, I can tell by the look in her deep blue eyes that she's saddened by thinking about them.

"I'm guessing you're wanting to know how Rimuru ended up being my teacher, aren't you?"

I nod my head, surely curious about exactly that.

"All five of us kids were summons, all around the same age. Soon after we arrived in this world, we were told that we were bound to die within a few years and were thrown into a special class for kids in our situation. Ms. Shizu was our teacher. She was strict but kind and treated us as people, not as children that didn't have long left. All the other adults looked at us with pity whenever they saw us, but Ms. Shizu was different. She was almost like a surrogate mother to us. But, one day she disappeared without a word. Gale saw her before she left without telling us why, but he had no clue that would be the last time he or any of us would see our beloved teacher. Some time passed with no sign of Ms. Shizu; the school tried to replace her with other teachers multiple times but none of them lasted very long. They weren't Ms. Shizu, so we rejected all of them. That's when Rimuru showed up. I felt…something…the first time I saw him; almost like I knew he would change our fates, but I didn't understand it at the time. I went along with my classmates' rejection of this new 'invader', but everyone quickly changed their mind about this new teacher that didn't look any older than us." Chloe explains. "He sure talked like an old man though, so we all quickly figured out that he just looked our age but was actually an adult," she says with a little chuckle. "Rimuru promised to save us in Ms. Shizu's place, and he did. After a few months of being our teacher, he found a solution to our problem and fulfilled the promise he made. I won't go into much detail, especially since out of the five of us, my situation was more…complicated…but Rimuru is an amazing person. He's done so much for me, for the people of Tempest, and the world as a whole."

Chloe pauses for a moment, looking like she's pondering whether to share something with me or not.

"Since it seems like Rimuru has grown attached to you, I should probably warn you about one thing," Chloe says in a more serious tone.

I don't say anything but I match her gaze to show that I am giving her my full attention.

"Don't tell him I talked with you about this, but Rimuru has one weakness and I don't want you to inadvertently cause that weakness to rear its ugly head."

I gulp nervously, still staring Chloe straight in the eyes, although my instincts are telling me to look away. She's intense, reminding me of Rimuru when they get serious.

"He can't tolerate losing people he cares about, particularly when he feels it's his fault they're gone. It's one of the few things that truly hurt him on a deep level. When that happens he gets reckless, emotional, and puts himself in risky, dangerous situations to get them back."

That's when I remember; when Rimuru thought I was gonna return to my parents and leave them and the Netherworld behind. The hurt in Rimuru's eyes was clear until I assuaged their fears and told her I was staying. Rimuru seemed to think my potential wanting to leave was her fault too since she apologized multiple times that night.

I think it would be a bad idea to tell Chloe about that though since she seems so attached to Rimuru so I hold my tongue.

"Oh, so you've already seen Rimuru like that then," Chloe says knowingly, almost making me think she can read my mind or something.

How does she know?!

(AN: The reasons I'm giving for Chloe being able to read Iruma like a book is her 2000+ years of experience making her great at reading people. Also, the fact that Iruma can't hide his feelings to save his life. He's bad at lying and acting, so it's not too hard to get what he's thinking out of just his expression.)

"I-I never said I did," I respond, trying to hide my feelings.

"~If you say so~! Just keep in mind what I said, okay?"

"I w-will…I don't want to hurt Rimuru at all, I promise!"

"I didn't think you would, so don't worry," Cloe says, patting me on the head. I slump slightly under her touch, feeling my face turn red.

Why do the women here keep doing that?! It's embarrassing!

Chloe giggles when she sees my embarrassed expression.

"I do hope Rimuru and Leon finish up soon…I want to spend more time with Rimuru before he leaves again." Chloe says with a small pout to her lips.

"What is it they're talking about anyway? Rimuru mentioned a walpoo…walru…walpert…wal-whatever it's called…what's that mean?"

"Oh, you mean Walpurgis? That's a Demon Lord banquet; a meeting between all the Demon Lords. Leon mentioned they had a potential new member coming to the next meeting; that's probably what those two are discussing."

"A new Demon Lord? So does that mean Leon is a Demon Lord too, just like Rimuru?"

Chloe nods.

"That explains why he was so scary…"

"Oh, don't let Leon scare you! He's all bark and no bite, and he doesn't even mean to bark usually. Leon is really bad at expressing himself, so don't let his rough exterior bother you too much." Chloe says with a giggle. "But back to what you were saying. Yes, just like Rimuru, but also no. Rimuru is a True Demon Lord, while Leon is a True Hero, despite his title being Demon Lord."

"True Hero…"

"I'm a True Hero as well, just so you know." Chloe shares. "They're the counterpart to True Demon Lords; the Demon Lords being from monsters and the True Heroes from humans."

"So Leon is human then? Since he's a True Hero?"

"That's not exactly true, at least now. He used to be human."

I wonder what happened to him to make him lose his humanity? With Rimuru it was dying and reincarnating but the way Chloe's saying it, it doesn't sound like Leon became a non-human in the same way.

*knock*

There's a sharp knock on the door of the room we're in and Leon and Rimuru enter without waiting for a response. It seems like their 'talk' is done.

(AN: I'll cover Leon and Rimuru's conversation in the next chapter.)