Kalego looked up at Izumi from his small kitty form. Irritation flared in him but neither spoke for a few quiet moments. All eyes in the class were on them.
"Your familiar is adorable, Ms Sasuki." the new teacher grinned. "It truly shows your soul."
Kalego put the pieces together. Familiar studies and here he had hoped he'd lucked out but alas no such luck it would seem. Izumi just looked quietly at the new teacher as he went around inspecting each demon's familiars making enthusiastic comments on each. The two sat there wanting to be absolutely anywhere other than seated beside one another. The black furry familiar didn't speak for a while. He didn't know how to ask what he needed to know.
For Kalego, the next move was perilous. If he misstepped, he risked thrusting their bond further into the muck. " You summoned me?" He commented. Though the question sounded more like an observation than a positive or negative comment.
"I did." Izumi's voice was bland. As if this conversation was not worth the brain cells. Though Kalego had to admit that his little mate seemed like a cold woman. She wasn't not easily swayed into emotion and never smiled. He actively avoided her and only ever saw her in class. The male was not privy to the little smiles or sparkling eyes that conveyed all her joy. If he had actually looked and seen perhaps he would realize. So far that has not been the case.
Kalego did however wonder with her lack of reactions how such a cold woman in his opinion had been scorned from a mere kick.
He stayed silent again, pondering how he would approach this next. She was not overly affectionate and emotional like Shichiro nor was she like Opera in the fact that she did not take pleasure in the misfortune of her mates. He was unsure how to handle her. To him she was a still lake. He was willing to bet that her calm surface held secrets.
Before he was able to find the right word, Professor Robin assigned the first task. "Alright class." the green haired man cheered enthusiastically. "Your familiar grows more powerful through your bonds. What's a bond? Well I'm glad you asked. A bond is the mental and emotional synchronization of you and your familiar.'' The demon spoke as if the speech had been rehearsed a vast number of times. Izumi could tell he had put a lot of time and heart into his little speech. "To strengthen that bond we'll go through some activities designed to build teamwork and trust." The green haired demon pulled out a frisbee. "Now let's begin."
Izumi was handed a cheery printed frisbee and she looked at it to Kalego. The cat familiar looked like him might just vomit, even with the lack of facial features, at the prospect of 'Playing Catch.' His tiny kitty body was shaking in suppressed rage. Oh he was going to kill her for this no doubt in her mind. However this was graded so she lifted the desk and gave it the lightest toss she could manage. It pathetically sailed about three feet and landed on the ground with a thunk.
The kitty familiar looked at it for a few seconds debating if he should or not. He was an esteemed professor of one of the best schools in the demon realm. He shouldn't have to debase himself by chasing a disk.
"Oh, Ms. Suzuki. I'm afraid if you cannot get your familiar to cooperate it'll be points off." Professor Robin told her.
Izumi looked at him with blazing eyes causing Kalego to get a deep frown etched into his jaw. Not that Kalego was looking at her. He had heard Robin and though he cursed the foolish professor to the abyss and back, he did step forward slowly towards the disk. Once there, however, he ran into a horrific problem. He had no hands…fury blazed within his heart, but he picked up the disk with his teeth. Trudging back to the blue haired woman in despair, he could hear his student's making comments and cooing. Oh he would get them back. He felt how low he had fallen as he carried the grass covered disk for a Daughter of Avernus. It took everything in him not to curl up in his newly formed paw and hide in the shame.
Professor Robin clasped Izumi on the shoulder and loudly declared. "See. I told you. The bond between you is already growing."
Izumi looked up from time to time to see how the rest of the class was doing. Alice and Sabro were competing in who could do a better job at the tasks. Both of them almost looked like they were preening when she caught their eyes but even then…the tasks irked her. They clearly were not well designed to suit the familiars. Dancing wasn't easy for some while patty cake was hard for few or no legged creatures.
Task after task was given with no time to rest and Kalego's little kitty body was feeling the strain.
"Sit down." Izumi told him, plopping down on the ground, not confirming with the professor that they had finished their task. Her blue eyes roved over her mates ones more. Clara's strange familiar seemed to be the one in charge but her wide smile told Izumi it wasn't a bad situation.
"You may loose marks for this." Kalego warned her.
SHe glanced at the kitty who was slightly out of breath much to his chagrin. This tiny kitty body was not holding up like his own did.
"I'm okay with that." she told him. He didn't understand her. She was against failure but didn't strive for the top. She was expressionless yet attracted eyes and word of mouth everywhere she went. Yet at the same time she seemed apathetic to the fame. Neither shrinking from it nor using it. Nor did she use her name, title, or status, aside from the latest replacing him as teacher bid. She just seemed to simply be. Yet one question niggled him since the flying race ended.
"Why didn't you summon me in Cut throat valley? Do you look down on me so much because of my form?" It came out before he had fully thought it through. The demon just needed to know what she thought of him even while he would act like he didn't care. It was a blow to his ego if one of his students, particularly the one who ended up summoning him as a familiar and was his pack mate regardless of being bonded or not, thought he was weak.
"Can I answer you frankly without you getting mad?" She tilted her head to look down at him as the others were doing their tasks for Professor Robin.
"Very well, I will not be angry." He vowed in his little cat form. It was necessary to know how she viewed him and where they stood.
"What gives you the right to ask such a moronic question?"
Kalego looked at her shocked. She was pretty well mannered generally but currently she was looking down at him angrily. He hadn't expected that.
"Was it not you who said that you would never be my familiar on multiple occasions?" Her tone was sharp as she threw his words back into his face. "I believe you said that you would ensure I would never be able to do it again if I summoned you. These are not the words of someone who would willingly protect me. And if you were to learn one thing about it, it should have been that I don't force anyone to help me." Her eyes looked forward away from him. "If I were to end up in a situation I could not get out of, then I will face it, Professor. As far as I am concerned, outside this class, I don't have a familiar. The only reason you were summoned today was because I won't fail my class to accommodate you."
He wasn't sure why but her words stung him far deeper than he would have expected. She had gotten up and walked toward Sabro and Alice, patting their arms telling them to calm down as their familiars seemed to calm with their masters' inner feelings. She hadn't thought him weak, she had thought him unreliable. Why did that ache in his chest? Like weight had been tied to his stomach sinking it to the abyss. This…this was much worse than he had imagined. Was he only now seeing his mistakes, his aggression, leading to this? He padded slowly after her as the youngest professor gathered all around him and started handing things out. "Here you go." Professor Robin smiled, giving the girl a piece of cloth. "Make sure that it's secure so you can do the three legged race." He smiled gleefully at the master and familiar.
Izumi sighed before tilting her hand and watching the cloth flutter to the ground. "I must decline, Professor Robin."
"Huh?" The bubbly green haired demon looked shocked and so did the rest of the class including the cat familiar.
"What are you doing?" Kalego asked the student. As he had already observed, Izumi was not one to shy from work nor did she care to be last in anything even if that is a petty competition so her reluctance was jarring.
"Your lesson plan clearly wasn't thought out." She grumbled, though their was a softness in her voice. She had heard his practiced speech earlier. She knew he had put time and excitement into this. "You have to take into account every student, especially in something like this. These tasks you are giving us are unfair and counter productive."
The greenette tilted his head confused. "Unfair? Counterproductive? What do you mean?"
The blue haired girl gritted her teeth, but made an effort not to hurt the teacher's feelings. "What I mean by unfair is just that. It is not tailored to the students rather it is just a broad group of games for… demon comradery." She had almost said human but quickly changed at the last second. "But you haven't taken in the fact that my familiar is smaller than me and has four legs. He won't be running, he'll be jerked around. That doesn't invoke feelings of trust and bonding. It in fact does the opposite. Which is counterproductive. Az's familiar has no legs and is much bigger than him." She pointed to the large snake.
"I see." The professor placed a hand under his chin. "Then what do you think we should do instead?"
The question was an innocent one but it put the girl on the spot and she regretted speaking up. Her confidence and anger withering on the spot. "I…I don't know. I mean he's a cat so maybe curling up in the sun and reading…" She trailed off realizing that cats don't read. But he wasn't a cat but their teacher. "I mean it's to bond right…so doing things that both parties enjoy…"
"Amazing Master Izumi." Az cheered heartily.
Kalego looked up at the young woman who was his master for the next year and his mate for life and realized that it might not be so bad. Perhaps, he was starting to see what Shichiro saw in her.
The classes changed from little tasks to more relaxed and productive bonding sessions. Tailored to each creature. Kalego and Izumi were sitting furthest from the mob of cuddly students and familiars. It was odd and yet efficient.
Kalego peered at her with golden eyes. He breathed deep before speaking. "I've misjudged you." he told her looking anywhere other than at the female. The words were hard to get out of his mouth. "I thought you were a smaller version of your grandfather, chaos and inconsideration." He admitted. "Or perhaps I thought that if I was hard on you I could somehow change you…or avenge my pride…But you don't purposefully cause chaos, do you?" He said slower and lower. "It's merely a byproduct of you." He still didn't' look at her and she didn't' look at him. "I want to see you become an elite demon… if you will keep me I will not go out of my way to…antagonize you further. But I will not coddle you either."
Izumi finally looked a thim. It was not an apology, but it wasn't not one either. She could see someone trying to mind what he had broken. And she had had worse for an apology.
"I prefer actions to words, Professor." she told him, but not unkindly.