A Small Problem

Iruma POV

With our first pop quiz graded, I'm in the Magical Apparatus Battler along with Azz, Clara, and Rimuru so that we can discuss grades and study plans. I'm not enthusiastic to share my results though because to say I did poorly is an understatement: I was utterly crushed.

Azz and Rimuru probably did amazingly, I hope they're not too harsh on me…

"How'd you do, Iruma?" Rimuru asks, but my dread must be plain as day as she quickly follows with "Actually, you don't need to answer that…"

"I'm sorry… I've never had the opportunity to properly study before, so I'm not very good at it…"

"I know, I know. But try your best, okay? Now let's see what your grades are…"

Rimuru takes my graded papers with an encouraging smile, that immediately turns into shock as she sees the grades.

Clara snatches the papers from the now-frozen Rimuru and reads them aloud. "5%, 0%, 2%, 3%, 6%!"

Everyone is now looking at me in stunned silence.

"I'm sorry!" I apologize, feeling terrible for letting down their hopes for me.

"Huh! No, no, I'm sorry! I had no idea our pop quizzes were giving you this much trouble," Azz quickly says.

"This is bad. Can you even read, Iruma-chi?" Clara asks accusingly.

"I can…"

Right, Grandpa's magic translates the demon language so that I can read it. But…

"Question: When you're in a battle using verbal magic and a taboo spell other than those assigned is used, what is the range of those powers?"

I don't understand anything it's saying!

"You're so hopeless, do you want Big Sis Clara to give you some lessons?"

"Hey, you can't just claim my spot in the family like that!" Rimuru protests.

"Then we're sisters too!"

"We're not!"

Meanwhile, Azz is looking through Clara and Rimuru's grades as well, apparently more concerned with all of our grades than his own.

"Valac, how are you supposed to teach him? Your grades are abysmal, a 15% average," Azz says, immediately deflating Clara's big sister energy.

15% is still far above my scores, I'm the dumbest person in the room…

Rimuru gives a proud chuckle. "See? I'm the one who should be teaching," she says, but she's quickly shot down by Azz.

"Actually, Rimuru, your grades… Well, on average they're much better than Clara's, but that's only because there are certain areas you excel at while you're worse than her in other subjects. Have you just been studying the things you find interesting and avoiding any other topics?"

Rimuru looks sheepish and stays quiet.

"I mean, look at this: You perfectly described the scope and efficiency of all of the spells we've been taught thus far, but you couldn't answer who the 'Lord of Seduction' is?" Azz sputters.

"I think I know who it is, but I didn't wanna say since it'd be very awkward if it was wrong."

"It's Asmodeus Amaryllis, my own mother! You've met her!"

"Aha, I knew it!"

"That's not good enough! A demon of your rank should be far more familiar with the politics and nobility of the Netherworld."

"Even I knew that, that's just awful, Riri," Clara says with her arms crossed.

Rimuru has no retort and just takes the criticism with an embarrassed smile.

How come she had trouble with the test? She may be new to the Netherworld as well, but Ciel could probably tell her all the answers… Did she decide she wants to take the exam fairly?

Somehow, the fact that she's in this together with me feels motivating; she's probably not used to facing challenges in the same way as everyone else though, so I offer her a fistbump in encouragement.

"Don't worry Rimuru, we'll both get much better grades by the time of the exam, I'm sure!"

"Uh… Yeah!" she replies, accepting the fistbump.

Asmodeus POV

How puzzling…

I always saw Master Iruma and Rimuru as two intelligent demons yet they are struggling with these tests. This doesn't sully my view of them but is definitely something I find surprising.

Also, what did they mean when they said that Master Iruma has not had much opportunity to study? Surely Lord Sullivan would give him ample availability to education. Perhaps I should ask him about this.

"Master Iruma…what did you mean earlier when you said you 'never had the opportunity to properly study'?"

"I…uh…"

"It has to do with the viewpoint of our father from before we were adopted."

Iruma looks over at Rimuru, appearing to be slightly surprised for some reason before suddenly looking sad.

"Um…yeah…he thought school wasn't worth it for me and instead just had me do manual labor…" Iruma admits with a pained expression.

"Not…worth it? But you are an incredible person, Master Iruma, so why would your own father think such a thing?"

"It has to do with how we inherited our bloodline magic," Rimuru explains. "We're from a mixed lineage, and while I got both bloodline magics, one from each parent, Iruma only inherited one of them. So, there was a pretty serious bias in how we were raised."

"You have two Riri?!" Valac loudly interrupts.

"Don't interrupt Rimuru, Valac! This is important!" I quip.

Valac just giggles at my scolding, leaving me even more frustrated, but thankfully, Rimuru doesn't seem too bothered by her rudeness and simply nods in agreement.

Rimuru then goes on to explain both bloodline magics to us, Doppelganger and Overwhelming Crisis Evasion Capability.

"That explains how incredibly elusive you both were in our duel soon after meeting…but also having the ability to split your body into multiple? Absolutely astounding! So Master Iruma lacks this Doppelganger ability but has inherited the other alone?"

"Exactly Azz."

"Wow, Riri! Show us your other Riri!" Clara pleads, jumping up and down with excitement at the idea of multiple Rimurus.

"Valac! How dare you be so rude, if you are going to ask at least do it more politely!" I scold her.

"Can we get back to studying? I think I need as much time as I can get…" Master Iruma mutters sheepishly.

"Yeah, we should get back to that, I agree," Rimuru adds.

Rimuru POV

Even after my explanation, Azz doesn't seem fully satisfied…or is that really what's going on in that head of his? It's hard to tell. He's staring at Iruma with eyes glittering with curiosity and inspiration as if trying to figure out some kind of enigmatic part of the boy. It's the same expression he wore when Iruma and I were up on that silly throne inside the Royal One.

What's this boy thinking right now?

[[Would you like me to probe the indiv-]]

No mind-reading, please and thank you!

[[Hmph.]]

Setting that option aside, I'm still left curious, but as far as I can tell, it's just Azz admiring Iruma as he usually does. Maybe a little more now after winning the Royal One? That would make sense.

Meanwhile, Clara has whipped out a fake mustache and glasses and is playing teacher for Iruma, acting smug and superior. Obviously, this is just her messing around, and Iruma doesn't look fully convinced but is going along with it for Clara's sake.

Trying to ignore that nonsense, I glance at Azz who's still staring at Iruma, which he quickly notices. We lock eyes for a moment before, with literally no warning, he bursts into tears.

"What's wrong, Azz?" Iruma asks concernedly, Azz's outburst distracting him away from Clara's antics.

"Mark my words, I will ensure that you both get perfect scores!" Azz declares to both me and Iruma, dropping down on one knee at Iruma's feet.

"Uhhh…" Iruma sputters out, caught off-guard by Azz's dramatic act.

"Let us have daily study sessions after school and I promise I will do everything I can to help you with the parts you don't understand!" Azz continues passionately, fully invested in helping us succeed.

How nice of him…he really does care about Iruma, doesn't he?

I'm left with a warm, fuzzy feeling seeing that Iruma has gained such a loyal 'subordinate'. That's what Azz claims to be, although I don't think Iruma sees him like that. Even so, Azz is both Iruma's friend and subordinate; I know from personal experience that those relationships aren't mutually exclusive.

Clara seems just as excited about helping too, although I don't think she'll be able to do much. I mean, I know my scores aren't good on the subjects I've been ignoring, but Clara's are crappy all the way around, so I don't see her being much help even if she tries her best.

I guess when it comes to studying I'll stick with these three. I'm fairly smart when I try, but Azz is a natural prodigy, excelling in pretty much all subjects. Even though it's a little humiliating to have a teenager help me study, I'll take what I can get and he seems enthusiastic about assisting.

With Iruma in higher spirits after Azz's declaration, we might as well get started.

Iruma POV

With Azz and Clara helping us both, Rimuru and I seem to be improving. We've been working for a few hours at this point but I'm really starting to feel burnt out from the effort. I'm now getting the impression that Rimuru isn't very used to studying either and she seems to be getting frustrated.

Why do I think this?

*Bam…bam…bam…*

The sound of Rimuru hitting her head on the table repeatedly as Azz reads aloud a lengthy history lesson. Azz seems to be ignoring this and is simply continuing the recounting of events.

Trust me, I'm feeling the same way as Rimuru, but we need to do this for the sake of our scores, especially since Azz explained that insufficient grades can cause our ranks to go down. The opposite is possible with good scores, but still, we can't slack off on this.

"Uh…Azz? Can we maybe take a break?" I ask, interrupting my friend's lecture.

"Surely, Master!" Azz says, putting down the book he was reading from.

"C'mon Azz-Azz, let's go get some snackies for everyone!" Clara suggests, and without waiting for a response, starts tugging on Azz's arm to pull him out of the room.

"Can't you make those with your magic, Valac? Why must you force me to leave Master Iruma and Rimuru's side?!"

'You're no fun, Azz-Azz! I wanna get them from Camu Camu's shop!"

"Aren't you banned from the school store?! I will not take part in your pointless rule-breaking!"

Clara just giggles and that's the last thing we hear as the two leave to go 'raid' the school store for snacks. I hope Clara doesn't cause too much trouble…

"Thanks, Iruma…" Rimuru mutters in a muffled voice since her face is planted on the table. "I forgot how much studying sucks…"

"Let me guess, your 'partner' isn't helping you with this?"

Rimuru nods after lifting her head off of the table.

"Ciel is amazing, but I shouldn't rely on her for everything, you know. I wanted to do this on my own for once…especially after what happened with that investigation. It's just been such a long time since I've done something like this before, so I'm struggling a bit."

"Don't you have that thingy where your thoughts speed up, though? That would make things easier for you I'd think."

"Not using it. I might as well be human when it comes to learning right now since I disabled the skills that'd give me an advantage."

"So we're on an equal level right now? No wonder you're not having as easy of a time as usual…with the way I've seen you burn through those documents, writing with both hands and stuff, it's strange seeing this from you."

"Mmph." Rimuru grunts as she once again lets her face slam onto the table.

Our conversation comes to an end from both this and my friends returning with many snacks in their arms. Clara's hair is a mess for some reason.

"What happened?" I ask, wondering why she looks so disheveled.

"Valac got chased off and whacked with a broom while attempting to get these snacks. I had to go by myself to purchase them afterward, Master Iruma."

Clara doesn't seem at all bothered by it since she's smiling widely, holding the snacks out to me. I gratefully take them and quickly open a bag of chips.

"Thanks, you guys!"

Rimuru rushes over faster than I could see and takes her share of them too, also looking thankful for the junk food after our long study session.

After we all gobble down the snacks, we get back to work. Rimuru seems to be in a better mood after our little break and I'm the same. So, with renewed energy, we dive back into our studying.

Rimuru POV

**The Next Day**

Iruma and I show up to school at the same time as usual along with Azz and Clara, but this time we're greeted by something unwelcome; the angry glare of Ameri.

Iruma was about to go greet her but quickly noticed the unhappy expression on her face and hesitated.

"Why does she look so mad?" he asks nervously.

I shrug despite knowing the answer; she texted me last night wanting more help with the Student Council, but I ignored it. I've been bustin' my ass studying for the first time in decades, so I don't have time to play subordinate with her little minions today.

Does that sound harsh? Well, I'm not in the best mood at the moment since I've been regretting this whole 'do the exam by myself' decision over the last few days. It's much harder than I remembered; learning stuff without the assistance of my skills, I mean. It's so goddamn exhausting! I'm glad I don't get physically tired since the mental fatigue has been plenty enough for me!

But back to our current predicament; an angry Ameri.

"Why did you not respond to my message?!" she asks.

Iruma looks at me, even more concerned.

"I was busy prepping for exams, I don't have the time or energy to assist you at the moment," I reply casually.

"You could have at least responded with that instead of not at all!"

"As I said, I was too busy."

Ameri doesn't seem satisfied.

"Rimuru, I hate to interrupt, but could you not use your bloodline magic to resolve this issue?" Azz asks.

Oh yeah, I told him about that didn't I? I told all of the misfits about it since Kalego practically forced me to after I shared the info about it with him and Balam.

Still, he poses a good point, one that sparks the perfect idea in my mind.

"Yes, I could, couldn't I?" I say with a conniving grin.

And with that, I give off a puff of smoke to hide exactly what I'm doing. I can tell that this startled everyone around since they didn't expect it, but oh well.

Holding 'something' behind my back, I approach Ameri after the smokescreen clears. She gives me an incredulous look before I reveal what's behind me.

"What are you doing? I do not like that smile you're wearing, Rimuru. If you're planning some kind of prank I want none of it!"

"Prank? No pranks, I just came up with a way I can 'help' you without compromising my study time!"

I then pull out my compromise/prank, a toddler-sized version of myself, courtesy of my fake bloodline magic.

This mini-me was actually created by a derivative of Parallel Existence, Parallel Fragment. It's an easier-to-use skill that makes another 'me', but with limited skills and less strain on my mind, courtesy of Ciel, of course.

As with Parallel Existence, these clones are separated from me mentally, though Parallel Fragment has the difference that I have authority over them and can reabsorb them from anywhere. They're still 'me', of course, but only a fragment of lower status. Ciel is connected to them all too, so if one starts to misbehave she can easily step in and stop them.

And there's one more quirk to the skill. Since they are simply a fragment of my consciousness, the other-selves created by this skill tend to be more childlike, especially when it comes to making tiny ones like this one. This isn't a problem, all I'd have to do is dedicate more energy to one to make them on par with my normal self, but I don't need to do that this time.

This is a downgrade from the skill it's derived from, I know, but that's not the point of it. It's made for ease of use and I don't need anything close to my full power while in the Netherworld, so these fragments not being as strong isn't an issue.

Everyone looks surprised, of course, Iruma a little less than the others, but he still wasn't expecting this; I mean how could he? Yes, he's seen me change my size before, but never in front of other students like this or with one of my other-selves.

"It's a mini Riri!" Clara exclaims, very excited by this.

"What in the…Rimuru, what is that?" Ameri asks.

"'That'? It's another me; a smaller one, but still a 'me'."

"Rimuru is able to make copies of herself with her magic, Miss President of the Student Council." Azz explains for me.

"Why a smaller one though, Rimuru?" Iruma asks, puzzled by my choice.

"Because it's easier for me this way," I reply.

I then hold out my toddler-sized self toward Ameri.

"Here, take 'em with you. They won't bite."

"I won't bite!" the smaller me adds in a higher-pitched voice.

Why am I doing all this? Because I missed out on the chance to do the same a few months ago, that's why! This is my second attempt at my 'pretend to be a small child' prank I cooked up to embarrass Diablo when I first came to the Netherworld, but now Shuna isn't here to tell me not to. Plus, her reasons for telling me this was a bad idea don't apply to this situation, so it's fine.

Yes, I know I won't be directly doing the prank since my other self might as well be a separate person right now, but I still get the memories of what it does after the fact.

So, I set down my mini-me and they run right up to Ameri and stare up at her.

"Can I have a mini Riri too?! Why does Lady Redhair get one?!" Clara protests, looking jealous.

"No, Clara, I'm not making another one just for you to play with," I reply bluntly.

Clara pouts, looking disappointed that I won't give in, but I won't let that affect me.

"Well, have fun with her. I have classes to go to and studying to finish. I'll come to pick her up later, okay?" I say while turning to leave.

"Wait, Rimuru, this is not what I meant when I said I needed help!" Ameri complains as I start to walk away.

"I can help! I can help!" my mini-me says excitedly, bouncing up and down a little.

"See, she'll help so you have no reason to complain. That's a hard spell to use, so be thankful I did it for your sake." I say with a smile, looking at Ameri from over my shoulder.

And without waiting for a response from Ameri, I leave with Iruma, Azz, and Clara.

Ameri POV

What am I supposed to do now?!

Left alone with a toddler version of Rimuru, staring up at me with cute golden eyes.

"What should I call you? Do you have a different name, or am I supposed to just call you Rimuru?" I ask, feeling weird thinking of this small child as the same person as Rimuru.

The girl thinks for a moment, and then gleefully answers. "Rimu-chi!"

How is she so cute?!

I know Rimuru is pretty and adorable, but the mini version of her, Rimu-chi, is cute on a whole other level. Cheek-pinchingly precious, making me want to scoop her up and hug her like a stuffed animal.

Then, as if she is reading my mind, Rimu-chi holds her arms up, trying to get me to pick her up.

Should I? I am the Student Council President so I need to be an example for the other students but, if I don't pick her up, will she start crying? If she causes a scene it would create problems.

While I'm considering this the mini Rimuru suddenly grabs my leg, is she going to try to climb me!? What if she falls?

Then she does something even worse, something even cuter that threatens to break my self-restraint, tempting me to pick her up even more. Rimu-chi looks up at me while gripping tightly to my leg and tilts her head slightly, eyes practically glittering.

She is much too good at that…those puppy-dog eyes are borderline irresistible!

Sighing and realizing I have little to no choice, I kneel down and quickly scoop the little version of Rimuru up behind me, the self-proclaimed rimu-chi, letting her cling to my shoulders and swiftly standing back up, my naturally long hair concealing her from view with exception of the small hands on my shoulders. Unless you are staring you won't notice it, and as long as I move fast, I can get her inside unseen.

I sneak into the Student Council's room with my little stowaway, not sure what to do next with her. This is Rimuru, but at the same time not, so I'm not sure how well I can get her to help. Rimuru is normally very capable but this mini version of her seems to act the same age as she looks and NOT with the same level of maturity as the original.

"How should I have you help…" I ponder out loud after setting her down in a chair. Her eyes barely peek over the top of the table, but I'm sure we can make this work.

I know I can't assign this much more child-like Rimuru anything too serious, so perhaps she could handle sorting some papers for me?

Just as I'm about to grab something for Rimu-chi to work on, her small voice calls out to me.

"I wanna beat up bad guys!" she says, waving her hand excitedly.

I give her an incredulous look.

"Ignoring all the other problems with that, can you even fight?" I ask, not at all convinced that's possible.

She looks all fired up when I ask the question, and without warning, she begins to manifest a sphere of black flame between her hands.

Despite being a decent distance away, I can still feel the heat emanating from the mysterious dark-colored flame. Even though I cannot put a name to whatever it is, I can still surmise that this is some very intense magic; nothing you should play around with. It's the same flame she used during the entrance ceremony, now that I think about it.

"Woah, hey, this room is full of flammable stuff! Don't fire that off in here!" I immediately protest, hoping that she's capable of dispelling it without damage being done to anything or anyone.

"I won't! It's for the bad guys, not the room, silly!" Rimu-chi giggles as the flames grow in size and intensity.

"Wait, you can't just-" I continue to complain but she seems to be ignoring me. But, I'm interrupted by something surprising happening; Rimu-chi's fireball vanishes into thin air. She looks surprised, and tries doing various movements with her hands, but not so much as a spark appears.

"You suddenly lost your powers? Well, thank goodness for that, that was about to be a disaster…"

Suddenly though, another disaster looms: Pouting lip quivering, tears welling up in the corners of her golden eyes; at any moment she's about to cry!

"Wait wait wait! Don't cry, please!" I plead.

Desperate, I rummage through my drawers and then quickly give her a plushie to hold, the emergency measure seeming to calm her down. Crisis averted!

"Iruma…" she says in a quiet voice, still looking at the plushie.

Oh no!

In a panic, I had given her a plushie of Iruma, something that I had Eiko make for me when I saw that she had made one for herself. It's one of my deepest darkest secrets, and I went and revealed it to Rimuru (or at least some version of her)! She doesn't know about it yet, but Rimu-chi knows, so it's only a matter of time.

I'll surely be teased later, but what I see next makes it almost worth it: Rimu-chi is hugging the Iruma plushie tight, with a wide smile on her little face.

"I'll protect you, Iruma!" Rimuru-chi says gleefully.

Even this version of Rimuru is intent on protecting Iruma…how heartwarming…but I can't let her keep that even if it is absolutely adorable watching Rimu-chi hug that plushie.

"Rimu-chi…I need that back now. We can't let anyone else see it."

She responds by hugging it tighter and glaring at me, her cute content smile morphing into a defiant frown.

Then I reach to grab it with force, knowing that this kid won't give it up willingly. But just like full-sized Rimuru, Rimu-chi is faster than she looks. Every time I try to grab ahold of the Iruma plush, she turns away quicker than I can move, evading every attempt.

This quickly devolves into me chasing her around the room, trying to grab either her or the plushie without an ounce of success. She's just too fast! And the entire time she's giggling as well as smirking in the same way Rimuru does when she's messing with me.

I'm starting to panic as I realize it might not be possible to take the toy from her this way.

Then I hear the door open meaning that one of my members is returning from patrol. Quickly, I run over to the door and stop it from opening all the way.

"President? Is something wrong?" Smoke asks through the cracked door.

"Go buy some candy! The biggest, most appealing confection at the school store!" I shout desperately.

This is my only idea for how to get the plushie away from Rimu-chi without calling in Rimuru to help. Rimuru is a glutton, same as Iruma, so Rimu-chi is most likely one as well; this makes candy a perfect trade for my precious plushie's return.

With a salute, Smoke agrees and runs off.

I don't think she caught sight of what Rimu-chi was holding, thankfully. Rimu-chi herself is explainable but a plushie made to resemble Iruma is most definitely not.

I guess I'll try one more thing before resorting to giving her candy.

"Rimu-chi, I really need that back now," I say sternly, but she's unaffected by my tone.

"Why?" she asks.

"Because it's important to me," I explain.

"Why?"

"Because it looks like Iruma."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted it to!" I say, starting to lose patience with this repetitive conversation.

"Why?"

"Because Iruma i-is…he's m-my…" I start to say but struggle to get the words out. I'm getting all flustered again just thinking about Iruma and Rimu-chi isn't helping at all with it.

Why must she probe me on this subject of all things?!

Rimu-chi tilts her head to one side curiously, waiting for me to finish, but then the door opens again.

"Don't come in yet!" I shout and run to the door again.

"Here you are, President. Do you need anything else at the moment? You seem to be quite frantic about something." Smoke says while handing me an oversized lollipop.

I recognize that this is one of those 'infinipops' that are quite popular, a candy that never runs out as long as you supply it with a small amount of mana. It's multicolored and appealing in appearance; the perfect treat to grab a small child's attention. It seems a bit big for a small child, but it will do the job nonetheless.

"I'm just fine, Smoke. Go ahead and go to your classes, I believe it's about time for those, yes?"

"You're right. I shall see you later then, President Ameri."

"Thank you for getting this so suddenly."

Smoke gives me a small bow, leaving me alone again with Rimu-chi.

Closing the door, I turn to Rimu-chi with bait in hand, ready to propose the trade.

"Okay, Rimu-chi, if I give this to you, you must return the toy to me. Does that sound fine?" I ask nicely.

But, by the time I look in her direction, she's sitting on the floor holding an infinipop looking happy as pie. Meanwhile, the Iruma plushie is nowhere to be seen.

What the-

I look at my hands and see the missing toy instead of the expected candy and it takes me a few moments to realize what just happened. The infinipop has somehow been swapped with the plushie without me noticing.

"How did you-?" I start to ask but am at a loss for words.

As well as snatching it faster than I could see, Rimu-chi has somehow fit the entire thing in her small mouth; which I thought was an impossible task considering that it's almost as large as her head. Her cheeks are cartoonishly stretched by it and she's drooling a little, unable to fully close her mouth with the candy inside.

She tries to answer with the pop still in her mouth but it comes out as a garbled, incomprehensible mess of muffled syllables.

"Never mind…" I mutter, not wanting to truly know the answer. If normal Rimuru can do insane stunts it makes sense that a smaller copy of her would be able to do similar. Thinking about it too much will only give me a headache.

Ignoring the toddler-sized girl, I stuff the plushie back into its safe spot in the drawer, swearing to never make the same mistake again.

I'm already exhausted…is this how it feels to be a single parent? As someone who was raised by my father alone, I pity him and regret any troubles I've caused him in my childhood.

Although I don't dislike the idea of having children…especially if it was with Iruma…nononono, that's not okay!

Shaking my head, I immediately cut off that line of thinking, realizing that I was letting my imagination get the best of me again!

Looking again at the child, I see she's smirking at me again, staring at me with a knowing look in her eyes while holding the candy in both hands.

"You were thinking about Iruma, weren't you?" she asks amusedly, giving the infinipop a lick without breaking eye contact.

"N-no!" I immediately deny it.

Rimu-chi just giggles cutely at my answer and continues enjoying her candy without care.

The candy definitely did the trick of keeping Rimu-chi occupied since she was fairly quiet over the next hour, simply wandering around the room and not causing nearly as much trouble as I worked.

"Can I go on patrol?" she suddenly asks.

"No."

"Why not?! You let me before! Is it because of how I look right now?"

"No, it has to do with how you are acting."

Rimu-chi pouts, crosses her arms, and plops back onto the floor, angry that I won't let her run off like the normal Rimuru.

"Can I have you help me in some other way? That is why you're here, after all."

"Oh, yeah!" Rimuru-chi exclaims as if just remembering that's her purpose for being with me.

Rimuru POV

After hours spent with Iruma, studying, and attending classes, I decided it was about time I retrieve my mini-me.

"Well, I better go check on Ameri. I'm sure my other self has been plenty of help to her in my place."

"Mmhm." Iruma hums, still trying to focus on what he's working on. He's really trying his hardest to learn all this abstract Netherworld stuff but is having a hard time remembering it all, more so than me, and I wouldn't say that I'm having an easy time with it myself.

I've been strictly focusing on the stuff I don't like since those are my main weak spots, but Iruma is struggling all-around which means he's been having to focus on a much broader amount of information.

Arriving at the door to the room I know my other self is in, I knock politely.

"Don't come in!" I hear Ameri's voice call out, sounding a bit desperate.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Oh, it's you Rimuru! Finally! Come in."

I walk in and see my mini self sitting on the table, stamping forms for Ameri. The thing looks way too big for a toddler and the mini Rimuru is having to use both hands to easily maneuver it.

"I see this little one has been a good help, hasn't she?"

Ameri gives me a look that tells me that's not entirely true.

"Right now? Yes. Earlier? Not so much. I had to bribe Rimu-chi with candy in order to get her to behave this well." Ameri grumbles while staring at the toddler still happily stamping forms for her.

"Rimu…chi?" I ask.

"That's what she calls herself," Ameri responds in a tired voice.

I guess using a different name made things less confusing.

"You gave a toddler candy? What kind of babysitter are you?" I ask in a teasing tone, not surprised at all that my mini-me was able to weasel some sweets out of Ameri. I mean, look at that cute little face!

"Babysitting?! She was supposed to be helping me!" Ameri shouts, exasperated by my questioning of her methods.

Ignoring Ameri's complaining, I approach my smaller self and ask in a whisper "How'd it go?"

"It went great! Look what big sis Ameri gave me!" 'Rimu-chi' exclaims excitedly as an oversized lollipop appears in their hand. "Score! Right?"

"Uh…sure, but 'big sis'?"

My toddler-looking self nods happily before jamming the entire oversized candy into their mouth. It honestly looks grotesque seeing how that large thing fits in such a small mouth, only enabled by my slime stretchiness.

Uuuuh…is that okay?

Anyone would think that looks strange and it could arouse suspicion, especially when it comes to someone with Ameri's personality. Worried, I glance at the girl to see her reaction but she seems completely unfazed.

Is she really at that point of acceptance already? Usually, it takes a while for people to get used to me in that way.

Astonished that she didn't even flinch seeing something so odd, I decided that it was about time I put an end to this little prank.

"Okay, that's enough. Time to 'come home'." I say to my mini self.

"Huh?" Rimu-chi makes a small confused noise through a full mouth but it's too late. I place my hand on the top of their head and they seemingly disappear in a puff of smoke, along with the treat. This is, once again, just for looks, but either way, they're gone. I reabsorbed them, that's all.

Ameri looks a little sad and shocked, if only for a brief moment. I guess the little tyke must have grown on her, which I can hardly judge her for.

Then, hours of awkward memories come flooding to me, the unfortunate consequence of using Parallel Fragment; the embarrassment of it all causes me to bury my face in my hands. My other self truly acted like a little kid, which I expected, but still.

I expected some annoying things from my mini-me, but what actually ended up happening was completely outside of my expectations. The whole point of this was to annoy Ameri a little, not completely humiliate me!

Plus, Ciel had to disable their skills and everything after they nearly lit up the school with black flames! I guess I should've expected that from a copy with a toddler's level of self-restraint.

Then, I notice something else; a soft whisper in the back of my mind.

[[I made Master cry…I made Master cry…]]

Over and over, Ciel is muttering this.

It's fine, Ciel! Obviously, you needed to step in and stop 'me' after I almost burned Babyls!

[[...are you certain?]]

Yes! I told you to keep an eye on their behavior just in case, so you did your job perfectly.

This seems to have calmed Ciel down, thankfully.

But, back to reality.

"Oh goodness, I really did all that? I'm so sorry, Ameri." I apologize to Ameri after reassuring my partner.

"Uh, don't think about what happened too much! Just forget it ever happened…" Ameri waves off my concerns, looking almost as embarrassed as me for some reason.

It only takes me another moment before I realize what she seems bothered by; a certain memory of an Iruma plushie surfaces and I can't help but chuckle.

"You really do like him, don't you?" I ask with a smile, giving a brief glance toward the drawer that contains the plushie.

Ameri's face immediately turns bright red once I reveal that I remember that specific detail.

"Ugh, you remembered it... Don't tell anyone, got it?" she pleads and I nod.

"I guess we both can keep quiet about today then, it makes us even."

"Yes…even. Neither of us owes the other a favor over this." Ameri says in a way that makes me think this is important to her.

"Sure thing," I reply casually.

**Later That Night**

We're eating dinner, trying to relax after an intense day of studying. Iruma is looking burnt-out but I think he's fine. He's been working so hard at this so I don't blame him for being a bit worn out.

"It looks like you're studying hard, my precious grandchildren. I'm very proud of you!" Sullivan comments.

Iruma gives him a nod while shoveling his dinner into his mouth.

"But promise me you won't work too hard."

"Yeah…okay…" Iruma responds tiredly.

"We'll be fine," I added reassuringly.

Sullivan furrows his brows in doubt while staring at Iruma in particular, looking very concerned by how tired the boy looks.

"You both pulled an all-nighter yesterday, didn't you!" Sullivan accuses us both and he's not wrong.

"You know I don't need sleep, Gramps," I reply in place of Iruma.

"Yes, but Iruma does! Your grandpa's worried!" Sullivan pouts, sounding very worried for Iruma's health.

"Uh…I promise I'm fine, Grandpa. I'll make sure to get some sleep tonight." Iruma says with a slightly-forced smile.

Sullivan thinks for a moment before he springs up from his seat.

"You know, I'm not above favoritism! Shall I give you the test questions early? Or…I could just make all of your questions easy!"

That's downright cheating! If I wanted to do that, I'd just have Ciel do the tests for me!

Just as I expected, Iruma is not on board with this plan at all. Opera, also not pleased with this proposal, interjects.

"Sir if I may…that will not help either of them. Shortcuts like that are tantamount to cheating."

"Exactly the point I was about to make," I add quietly.

"And besides…I am certain both of your grandchildren will do splendidly through their own hard work. One is an otherworldly anomaly while the other is an earnest, intelligent young lad. Have more faith in them both, they will both likely get near-perfect scores."

Did he just call me an 'otherworldly anomaly'? I guess he's not wrong.

I give Opera a questioning glance about the term he just called me by and he shrinks away, probably thinking I'm angry about it or something. Not wanting to intimidate him, I refrain from commenting on it and go back to eating.

Iruma, on the other hand, is looking a little sick. Opera's high expectations laid on more pressure and he's not handling it too well. He's been trying hard, but still, near-perfect scores are not what he's going to get.

"Yeah, you're right! I'll go get ready for our celebration then!" Sullivan agrees with Opera's prediction, making Iruma even more uncomfortable.

After a moment, he puts down his sandwich and leaves the dinner table, escaping from the overbearing expectations of these two demons.

"I agree that Lord Rimuru will certainly get the highest scores in the school! If one of those insolent instructors were to take off a single point, I would go over there personally and-" Diablo adds from the sidelines.

"Diablo, don't." I sternly order, not wanting him to do anything crazy.

"But you only deserve the best, Master!"

"I'll get what I get, whether that's a perfect score or a failing grade. You don't need to do anything about it no matter the outcome."

"Yes, of course, Lord Rimuru. I will praise you nonetheless, but on your orders, I shall not intervene!"

Good enough.

I nod and return my attention back to my meal, happy that I once again avoided a disaster.

Iruma POV

After that uncomfortable conversation, I want nothing else but to hole up in my room alone. But, just as I'm about to flop onto my bed, Ali pops out.

"Oh, Ali…is something wrong? I ask, noticing that he looks a little downtrodden.

"Thank you for taking such good care of me," he says solemnly.

"W-wait…wh-what now?!"

"Well see…I only got this body since you reached Gimmel rank, Iruma-boy! Which means…" Ali says, holding back tears that soon burst out of his single eye "When you fail your test because you're dumb, you'll lose a rank and I'll cease to be!" he sobs.

"I-it's gonna be okay…" I respond, forcing a smile onto my face.

"Oh? You know for sure you'll get a high score?" Ali probes, not sounding convinced.

"Well, I probably won't fail…at least…" I mutter, unable to hide my doubtfulness.

"You don't seem very confident, hence my concern," Ali replies with folded arms.

Yes…it's not just my grades on the line but Ali's life as well…

"Right! I'll at least avoid failing these exams!" I declare loudly to myself.

"Why're you yelling in here?" I hear a voice ask from behind and see Rimuru poking her head into my room.

"Oh, look, if it isn't the false sister, Rimuru!" Ali says after noticing Rimuru.

"Hi, Ali…are you the one getting Iruma all worked up? He's already trying his hardest, you know." Rimuru says to him, sounding annoyed.

"Yes, of course! I am simply worried that a drop in rank will result in me being wiped from existence!" Ali explains quickly, nervous from the displeased look Rimuru's giving him.

"Hmmm…yup, that's what'll happen if Iruma drops a rank. Ciel says so." Rimuru says nonchalantly right to Ali's face, causing him to fall to the floor defeatedly.

"Ngh!" I let out a surprised, horrified grunt.

"But no pressure!" Rimuru quickly reassures me.

"I will retire for the night, do your best, Iruma-boy," Ali says before retreating into my ring.

"Didn't mean to scare ya with that. I'm sure that if that happens Ciel could work out some way to stop Ali from disappearing; she doesn't like to let go of her toys after all." Rimuru says, trying to reassure me after confirming my worries.

"She considers Ali a 'toy'?" I ask.

I hope that's not how she sees me…Ciel is a scary person…

"Apprentice! I mean apprentice!" Rimuru quickly corrects, but I don't completely believe her.

"Okay…"

"Uh…get some rest as you promised, I can tell you need it. Sweet dreams!"

"Goodnight Rimuru."

The door closes, leaving me alone again.

So Ali will disappear if I fail…I can't let that happen!