Found Out

Third-Person POV

Diablo, sitting alone in front of the tv at Sullivan's mansion after playing a game with Opera for hours on end, has made an interesting discovery. While flipping through the channels, he happened to stumble across the broadcast of a concert. The same concert his beloved Lord Rimuru is attending today. He initially began watching in hopes of spotting his master somewhere in the crowd but was soon pleasantly surprised by something much better.

Yes. Rimuru's worst fear became reality; he and Iruma were immediately discovered by his biggest admirer and butler. All by coincidence, too, which makes the whole thing even funnier.

He's entranced by the image of his Lord dancing and singing on stage. Having never seen Rimuru like this, he doesn't want to let this opportunity pass by. Diablo think's it's amazing, just like everything else Rimuru does. He wants to spread it around as much as possible to make everyone aware of how 'wonderful' Rimuru is. Rimuru, of course, would want to keep this a secret, but Diablo doesn't know this. It never even crossed his mind, seeing how happy Rimuru looked while performing, so he makes the assumption that this is something to be flaunted and cherished.

Diablo makes a mental recording of the spectacle, planning on eventually distributing it to many others 'thought communication'.

#Kehehe…another way for me to show Guy how superior my Lord is to him. I will make sure to rub this in his arrogant face next time our paths cross!# Diablo says quietly to himself, an evil smile peeling across his face. With him being busy here, Diablo hasn't had the opportunity to get on the Primordial Red's nerves lately with his long-winded stories about his Lord Rimuru, and he's itching to do just that. He loves nothing more but to flaunt Rimuru's achievements in the face of his long-time rival.

Next time he's back home, he'll make sure to spread this little gem as much as possible, but he'll keep his knowledge of it secret for the time being. He wants it's spread to be a happy surprise to his precious Lord Rimuru. For what would be better than to have all the Tempestians praise Rimuru out of nowhere about this upon his return? Surely, his lord will be pleased, is what Diablo was thinking.

As much as Diablo's plan was doing Rimuru dirty, in his twisted mind, he was doing what he thought was best for his lord. So he quietly made note of every little detail of what Rimuru did on that stage and resolved to bide his time until he thought it was best to share it.

**The Next Day**

Rimuru POV

When I arrived at the school early this morning to help with the Student Council's stuff, I was immediately pulled aside by Ameri, leading to me getting some pitying looks from the other members. The only thing this could be about is that demdol concert.

"Is that you?!" Ameri asks, pointing to a picture on her phone. It's of me on stage yesterday. Wonderful…

"Uh…do I really look that small from your perspective? I know I'm a lot shorter than you, but if you think that's me, your sense of scale is waaay off!" I say to her, trying to sound as casual as possible. She doesn't seem convinced, so I continue. "Plus, have you ever seen me wear my hair like that? Yeah, I don't think so."

"Don't lie to me Rimuru." She says sternly.

Well, I tried. I'll have to tell her the truth now since she doesn't look like she's gonna drop this.

*Sigh* "I guess I can't fool, can I? Yeah that's me…what of it?"

"If that you then…the other one must be…?" Ameri says with a strained expression, but can't seem to spit out Iruma's name.

"Iruma. That's Iruma."

"…why?"

"Hm?"

"Why is he wearing something like that?! That…frilly, fluffy dress!"

"Kuromu needed someone to stall for time for her, and he said he'd do anything. The audience wasn't looking for a boy to perform, so the cross-dressing thing was a necessary evil. It wasn't something he enjoyed doing, let me make that very clear."

Ameri's expression softens slightly, looking relieved by what I just told her.

"So…he did it to help someone in need?" she asks.

"Yeah, pretty much," I responded bluntly.

"That sounds just like him…" Ameri says, a faint smile appearing on her lips.

"You can't tell anyone about this either. Hell, don't even mention to Iruma that you know that was him because I'm sure he'll freak out if you do. He's nervous enough about anyone discovering that was him, let alone someone he cares about…like you."

After hearing that, Ameri looks even more flustered than before, which wasn't exactly my intention, but it's still funny to me. When it comes to the subject of that boy, she's way too easy to tease. She quickly hides her emotions, once again adopting that confident attitude that she usually embodies.

"I wouldn't want to do that anyway…I'm sure he's quite embarrassed about what happened. Now that I have the information from you, there is no need for me to confront him."

With that little problem taken care of, both Ameri and I exit her office. I help the council with their daily duties since I'm still not done with this trial period that Ameri dumped on me. It's not all bad though; the other members are pretty cool people that I've been getting along with nicely. Having an extra person apparently made their jobs much easier, so they're pleased to have me around. I hope they're not pissed when I end up doing my own thing eventually.

I, unfortunately, have another issue on my agenda today. Kalego's been trying to get me to meet with him about something. Sullivan implored me to keep an open mind, despite the way Kalego's treated me, so I have to at least listen to what the guy has to say. I agreed to meet him during my lunch period, so I'll just have to see what he wants from me.

I arrive early at my homeroom and sit down in my usual spot next to Keroli, the only person to arrive before me. She's clutching a copy of the school paper, looking not too happy about its contents. The front page is a photo from the concert; one of her, me and Iruma.

"Hey…uh…why do you look so upset, Keroli?"

"I won't be defeated by you and your brother's annoying habit of standing out! I won't let you outshine me again!" Keroli says angrily as she points at the photo on the front page.

"We only did that to help you out, though, so I don't see why you'd be mad at us."

"Well…um…uhh…yeah, I know that! B-but…still! You stole my spotlight!"

Puzzled by her reaction, I take a closer look at the paper and notice what must be bothering the girl. The article's contents are mostly about me and Iruma, and when Keroli is mentioned, it's mostly about the supposed 'rivalry' between me and Kuromu specifically. Her fans are fixated on the two mysterious demdols that opened for her more than the star of the show.

"Haha, it won't happen again, okay? I don't plan on performing like that again if I can help it, even though I had a little fun at the time. You can have all that demdol attention to yourself." I respond, giving her an awkward smile.

"Y-you don't understand! Mal's been pressuring me about you!"

"What? Pressuring you about me?"

"S-she wants you to…#ugh, why do I have to do this?#...She wants me to have a rival demdol to perform with sometimes!"

Wait…what? I'm not sure if I like where this is going…

[[*giggles*]]

"Uhhh…"

"The ratings from that show were unprecedentedly high…she thinks it's a good move for me career-wise to have you as a surprise guest in some of my performances. I don't agree with her, but she convinced me to at least ask you about it…"

[[You should do it, Master! It would be fun for both of us!]]

No, Ciel. You already had your fun, putting me in that awful outfit yesterday! I know I got caught up in the moment and enjoyed myself a little, but that doesn't mean I want to do that again!

[[I have so many ideas for relevant outfits, though! Your performance inspired me, Master!]]

It's still a no. This girl doesn't even want me to do it; I would feel guilty if I agreed.

[[I could even take control of you while on stage, so you would not have to do anything except permit me to do so. Don't let this girl's petty jealousy stop you from showing everyone how wonderful you are!]]

No.

[[Hmph.]]

Now Ciel's mad at me. I'm surprised at how insistent she is about this subject, but I'm not gonna budge on this.

"Heh, yeah, I'll pass on that offer." I finally respond to the offer out loud.

"Good…" Keroli sighs, relieved by my answer.

Our conversation quickly comes to an end as someone joins us in the classroom. It's Kalego, and he doesn't look too happy to see me. He walks up to where I'm seated and looms over me as he begins speaking.

"You have not forgotten your promise to meet me later, have you?" he asks sternly, his eyes all but screaming that he won't let me weasel my way out of this. He's awful close to me (and my classmate) as he says this, likely trying to intimidate me. Even if it's not working with me, it sure is making Keroli nervous. I can tell since she's slumped so low in her seat out of fear that her eyes are barely poking over the edge of the table.

"I said I'd be there, so I'll be there. You have my word on that, Professor." I respond calmly while looking up at his face, staring directly into his dark eyes. Not in a disprespectful or aggressive way, mind you, I'm just letting him know that I'm not shaken by his actions.

I'm actively trying to not piss the guy off, since if he's in a better mood, the meeting we're having later will be more bearable, or at least that's the idea. Since I agreed to it, I might as well minimize how infuriating it ends up being.

He gives me a sharp nod before returning to his desk at the front of the classroom, glaring at me as he walks away, looking not entirely convinced by my response.

As the classroom slowly fills with students, I discover that everyone's talking about the concert. The boys seem especially interested in the identities of the 'mysterious duo' from yesterday. Nobody seems to have made the connection that that's me and Iruma like Ameri did, though, so we're in the clear.

Iruma also enters the classroom, followed closely by his two friends. He looks more nervous than usual, probably bothered by people talking about him. I wouldn't be surprised if there's just as much buzz about us out in the hallway too. He approaches me, leaving Azz and Clara at a distance far enough that they can't hear our conversation.

#Still worried about people figuring it out?# I ask Iruma quietly.

He just nods his head in response, his eyes still darting around the room, looking for anyone that's figured out our secret.

#They're all talking about us…we're even on the front of the school paper again!# Iruma whines softly.

#I know, but we don't have anything to worry about. Nobody's put the pieces together.

This is somewhat of a lie, but if I told him that Ameri knew, he'd be mortified. Since she's not gonna say anything about this to him anyway, I think it's better for him to believe that nobody else at school knows.

Iruma looks relieved by my words and calmly sits down in his chair.

After a few minutes of lowkey eavesdropping on my classmates' conversations about the concert, class starts.

"All of you; outside," Kalego commands. It's been a while since We've had an outside class, at least with this guy.

We all file out of the classroom and end up walking to an open field to the side of the school.

"Due to Professor Momonoki being absent, I will be covering today's 'Magic Basics' lesson for this class," Kalego explains. "Observe."

"Raffire," Kalego says flatly as he points toward the sky with one index finger. A baseball-sized plume of fire erupts from his finger, resulting in the class getting excited.

"Wow, that looks cool!" Iruma says, sounding just as excited as his surrounding classmates.

"Yes, it is much like my bloodline magic, although less versatile." Azz adds, whipping up a little flame on his own finger as an example. "You can do something similar, can you not, Rimuru? I vividly remember you performing at the entrance ceremony, though at the time I did not grasp the full beauty of your magic."

"Yeah, I can, but cool it with the dramatics, alright?" I respond to him, his wording reminding me of Diablo again.

"Yeah, how did you two do that anyway? I still remember how sweet that stuff was back then." Lead says, butting into the conversation.

"Silence! I am still teaching, you imbeciles!" Kalego yells irritated that we're not paying much attention to his lesson. "This spell may not be for combat, but utility, but that does not mean you can be careless with it! Pay attention and listen to my warnings!"

Kalego then gives us a fire-safety rundown that I barely paid attention to, followed by an explanation of how we will be practicing it. It will be an exercise in precision; creating a flame and making it as small as possible without it going out, then holding it like that for as long as we can. It's less for practicing the spell itself and more of an exercise in magic control. Should be simple enough.

We're allowed to use similar spells too if we want to, so that means Azz can use his superior version instead; the same goes for me.

#Psst…Rimuru!#

#What?#

#Can you let me try that skill you used that the guys were talking about a bit ago? I wanna try it!#

#No. It's too dangerous, sorry. Just stick with the spell that Kalego just taught us. Maybe later I'll let you try it out away from people who can get burnt.#

#Okay…#

I'm not sure why he wants to try out the harder version when he has a perfectly good spell that's just been handed to him, but if I said that, that would make me a hypocrite. I'm myself using 'black flame' instead of 'Raffire' since I'm more familiar with it.

After turning Iruma's request down, I do as I was told. Teeny tiny black flame on my fingertip, even smaller than the flame of an average candle. It's barely visible, actually, but it's there.

Many of my classmates are struggling much more than me, though. Camui actually scorched his little owl face when he got distracted by Elizabetta and lost control of the spell. He's alright though, only having cooked his feathers a little.

Iruma's doing well, though, managing to get his 'Raffire' down to around the size of a candle's flame and holding it for a good ten minutes. Azz was having the easiest time out of everyone in the class, excluding myself. He effortlessly held his flame at a similar size to mine and got bored enough that he whipped out a book and started reading it with his flame-free hand.

Clara managed to catch the grass on fire, but Professor Kalego quickly put it out with some kind of water magic. I wasn't paying attention to her when she did it, so I'm not sure how she managed to do it. The grass is still wet with dew, making it hard to catch on fire unintentionally, yet that girl still managed to do it somehow.

Class ends up finishing early after Kalego, frustrated by the chaos some of his students caused, stormed off. Most of the class leaves with him to do whatever they want to before the next period, but I stay behind since Iruma seems to still want to practice that spell a bit more.

"Let's keep messing around with that spell, maybe we can see who can make it the biggest instead of the smallest?" Jazz proposes, grinning. I recognize that glint he has in his eye.

"Let me guess, you wanna make bets on who'd win, am I right?" I ask, already knowing what his answer will probably be.

"Exactly!" He says with a wide smile.

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, Jazz. What if someone gets hurt?" Iruma asks, concerned.

"Hey, don't be a party-pooper, Iruma!" Lead says, slapping him on the back.

"B-but isn't this breaking some kind of rule?" he asks, still sounding worried.

"I don't think so. If any teachers ask what we're doing, we'll just say we were practicing what we learned in class. As long as we're careful, I don't think anyone will complain." I respond.

The gambling part is likely a problem, though, but I think I have a solution that'll fix it.

"Okay, how 'bout whoever votes incorrectly has to buy snacks for the winners?" I suggest since it's less sketchy than gambling actual money.

"Deal." Jazz says, agreeing.

It seems like the debate's between either me or Azz winning, so the four others vote between us. I'm not exactly thrilled about being roped into this, but I guess showing off some flames won't hurt anyone.

It's two and two, with Iruma and Lead voting for me; and Clara and Jazz voting for Azz.

"Go ahead and go first, Azz. Then I'll try to beat you. Is that okay?"

"Yes, that is satisfactory."

I do it this way since I could easily engulf the whole school in flames if I wanted, so using full-strength is a no-go. I just want Azz to set a bar so I can beat it by a reasonable margin.

Azz raises one hand in the air and a cone of pink flames bursts from it. The mass of magical flame reaches around thirty feet above the boy's head; an impressive display when compared to the other students. It's well-known that Azz is a prodigy of sorts, so I'm not surprised.

After watching Azz do his best, I feel a little bad one-upping him, but if I held back enough to lose, that would make this an empty win for him. With how fond he seems to be of Iruma and me, I'm sure he won't be upset if I win.

I decided that raising the bar by around 25% should suffice, so I raise my hand in the air as well, standing next to Azz as he continues producing his flames.

Out shoots the skill that I'm quite familiar with, forming a similar cone to Azz's, but a different color and a little larger.

"Wow! I guess Rimuru's the winner then." Jazz says as he stares up at the two spells, squinting to see which one reaches higher.

Afterward, we go get those snacks we talked about. This little break was a nice distraction, especially since I have to go meet with Kalego later. It's been weighing on me, since I don't know what to expect from him, but I'll just have to suck it up and go just like I promised.


AN: Sorry for this chapter being short and kinda filler-y, but life got in the way and made it hard for me to make time to write. (The day I planned on focusing on this got eaten up by something unexpected) I'll try to do better next week. Thanks for reading!