Nathair1: Thanks. Yeah, like every father everywhere, he's just trying to protect his daughter. I've got something planned for that.
Enjoy the next chapter.
Clara, Iruma and Alice walked down the road to school, Clara hanging her head as a frown painted across her lips. Iruma looked at Alice before moving closer to Clara and whispered in her ear, "Clara? What's wrong? You've been acting stranger than your usual hyperactive self lately," Clara looked up with red eyes and Iruma frowned, "You've been crying,"
"Well I learned my Iruma-kins is going to die sooner than I thought, how am I supposed to act?" Iruma frowned as Clara shook her head, 'I'm sorry, Iruma-kins...but I don't want to think about you dying and leaving me alone like this,' Iruma sighed as he reached over and patted the top of her head before looking at her ranking badge.
He looked at Alive and slightly narrowed his eyes, "Azz, I want to go up a rank," Alice stopped and looked at him with a stunned look crossing his face, "I want to be closer to you and Clara in rank,"
"What? But sir, I thought you were happy with just being Aleph an-" he stopped midsentence and narrowed his eyes before he smiled and clenched his fist, "Very well, Master Iruma, we will raise you up to Gimmel, or even better Daleth an-"
"I was thinking about rising up to Bet for right now," Clara looked at Iruma in confusion as Alice tilted his head to the side, "I just thought I'd rank up to Bet first and see what happens after that,"
"Very well, sir, let us make haste," without warning, Alice turned and began walking away from the two.
Seeing the pink-haired demon fade from view, Clara looked at Iruma and slightly frowned, "Iruma-kins, what are you thinking? I thought you didn't want to stand out? Going up a rank will make other demons notice you,"
Iruma sighed as he shook his head, "I know, Clara, but I want to be as close to you in rank...plus...it might help us with the mortality gap between us," Clara moaned and pouted as Iruma patted the top of her head, "Don't worry, Clara...I'm sure something will happen and Jace and Amirah will help us," Clara moaned and slowly nodded before the two of them turned and began walking down the road again.
XXX
Approaching the school, the two saw as Alice looked back and smiled before he looked forward and shouted, "Attention everyone, Master Iruma will be moving up to the respectable rank of Bet!"
"What? Just Bet?" a demon called out, "That's not very impressive,"
"Who cares?" another demon spoke, "This should be fun to watch," Iruma groaned as he shook his head and he and Clara continued walking over to their pink-haired friend.
A blonde demoness stood in the crowd with a frown painted across her lips, "Oh no, if Iruma moves up to Bet, we won't be the same rank,"
"You know, Eiko, you can always go up a rank too," a green dragon demoness next to her spoke and the blonde demoness hummed and nodded as Alice, Iruma and Clara walked through the crowd and towards the school.
Ameri watched as the three walked towards the school and a faint smile crossed her lips, "So, he's aiming for ambitions without a care. Good for you, Iruma, but this better not cut into our private time," she looked back and saw members of the Student Council staring at her and she narrowed her eyes, "What are you standing around for? Go and greet the students for the new day!"
"Yes ma'am!" the members said in unison before running towards the front gate and began greeting students.
XXX
The trio stood in an underground cavern in the school as Alice walked in front of them and spoke, "The most common way to rise through the ranks is an old tournament known as Execution Cannon Ball," the two looked at him as he continued to explain, "It was originally used to claim territory. Many demons enter a castle and only one leaves after the others have been torn to shreds," Iruma swallowed hard as Clara's eyes widened as she quickly hugged her bond mate and Alice spoke, "But due to high mortality rates, we now play with this rubber ball," he threw a ball at Iruma and Iruma caught it and Alice looked at Clara, "Valac, the cursed dolls please," Clara nodded before patting the pockets on her skirt and summoned a group of cursed dolls.
The trio began throwing the ball at each other and the cursed doll before Iruma high-fived on of the dolls and grunted under his breath, 'This is just dodgeball!'
'What's dodgeball, Iruma-kins?' Clara thought and Iruma sighed as he shook his head, "So what else is there, Azz-Azz?"
"Well it's quite simple, if you get hit by a live ball, you're out, if you're opponent catches a live ball, the thrower is out and a member of the opposing team is allowed to bring back someone who was already out," Clara looked at Iruma as Iruma sighed and shook his head before he moved to the side as a ball turned the wall next to him into a pile of rubble.
The trio looked up and saw their classmates walking into the cavern and Sabro Sabnock smirked as he tossed a ball in the air, "A challenging game to rise up the ranks? Well thought out, my rival," Clara and Iruma looked at each other in confusion as Alice walked over to the tall demon with narrowed eyes.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Nothing really," Shax Lied answered, "We heard you wanted to raise Iruma's rank and we thought it'll be fun to see how you guys will do it,"
"Yeah," the tall beauty, Elizabetta Ix smiled, "It could be fun," Iruma looked around and saw Kerori Creocell looking away in slight annoyance before Clara pulled him away and the entire Misfit Class began playing and laughing.
Iruma sighed as he and Clara walked over to Alice and Iruma shook his head, "Azz, how am I supposed to get good at Execution Cannon Ball? All I can do is dodge and I doubt that's going to be enough to win,"
Alice hummed as he rubbed his chin, "I suppose there is one that can train you better than I can, sir," Iruma hummed and arched a brow in confusion, "In fact you know him very well, Master Iruma," he turned and walked away before Iruma and Clara started following him out of the cavern.
XXX
Clara and Iruma stood in the front yard of the mansion with Sullivan standing in front of them, "Thanks for training us, Chair-Demon," Iruma said.
Sullivan huffed in annoyance before speaking, "I told you to call me grandpa when we're not in school,"
"Right, sorry," Iruma chuckled, 'I wonder if we really came home to train,' Clara smiled as Sullivan handed Iruma a ball.
Iruma looked up in confusion as Sullivan explained, "Now, I want you to throw that ball at that boulder," Sullivan pointed towards a boulder across the yard, "And as you release the ball, I want you to say Libera,"
Clara watched on in confusion as Iruma swallowed hard and arched his arm back, "Libera!" throwing the ball, the three watched as a bright light surrounded it before destroying the boulder.
Clara's eyes widened as Iruma stared on in disbelief and Sullivan chuckled, "Well with that you will certainly win, now how about we-"
"Actually grandpa...I...I want to win without using your magic," Clara looked at her bond mate as Sullivan hummed in confusion and looked at his adopted grandson, "I want to win on my own without the help of your magic,"
"Hmm, noble, but you'll be at a high disadvantage," Sullivan took Iruma's hands and they watched as they began glowing before Sullivan stepped back, "I increased the strength in your hands so you may catch any ball thrown at you,"
Iruma's eyes widened before he looked up and smiled, "Thank you, grandpa,"
Sullivan smiled as he turned and began walking away, "I'll leave the rest of your training up to Opera," Clara and Iruma looked back to see Opera standing behind them, a cart of balls beside him and the two swallowed hard.
XXX
A beaten Clara, Iruma and Alice slept soundly under the tree in the yard while Clara's parents, Sullivan and Opera looked out the window and watched the trio before Alyssa looked at Opera and frowned, "Did you have to push them that hard?"
"I had to prepare them for the real test. Their classmates aren't going to go easy on them and if I had, they wouldn't be ready, but I can honestly say that the three of them are ready to face this challenge,"
"I hope you're right, Opera," Sullivan sighed as he shook his head.
Alyssa looked at her husband and frowned as she saw him staring at the three with slightly narrowed eyes, "Jack," Jack looked at her in confusion, "Don't tell me you're still upset over them completing the bond the other day,"
"That, along with the fact the kid is human," Alyssa hummed as she tilted her head to the side in confusion and Sullivan and Opera looked at him, "The lifespan of a human isn't very long, plus some demons are going back to basics and if they learn about him, his lifespan with be even shorter than expected and Clara will be devastated," the room went silent as they turned their attention towards the three again, small frowns painted across their lips.
I know there was a whole training montage in the anime, and in the manga, but for time sake, I skipped that. Anyway, a few thing happened here, as well as Iruma's mortality coming to light to the adults. Enjoy.