I didn't expect so many responses over the Clan name. X,D I thought about what would be good shortly after posting and regretted mentioning it at all, lol.

Thank you sensei for that spread in 324.

Hermod has the personality and drama of a Husky sometimes.

xXx-xXx-recreation-xXx-xXx

It was thirteen hours into celebrating their victory and Rank Up within Royal One that Iruma dropped off.

It was inevitable that the effectiveness of the concoction Opera had fed him that morning would wane over time, and considering Iruma had never been one for energy drinks back in the Human Realm, the crash was unexpected, hard, and abrupt.

He'd been settled near Kalego, comfortable in Master's fluff, when the world just… tilted. He didn't feel sick, so he let himself melt into Master's fluff more properly before weakly lashing out towards Kalego with his Mana.

Kalego startled as his Magic took hold of Iruma's, just in time to turn and see his eyes close and head nod off to the side. Kalego frowned and shifted in his seat before using his Mana to press and prod at Iruma's, but all he got in response was warmfluffysoft.

Kalego clicked his tongue. He had no desire to coddle his pup in public, but he had done a good job and had managed to reach Rank He (5), so maybe he could-

"Should I take him to a nap room?" Kalego didn't flinch at Purson's soft question, but he did snap his Mana back to himself, much to Iruma's annoyance. The pup whined softly at the loss of comfort.

Kalego straightened and turned to his illusory student. "Against my better judgment, go ahead." He waved him off tiredly. He was the chaperone of his class, and they simply insisted on continuing to party.

Purson nodded and with a flick of his finger and a silent word under his breath, he used Fractal to lighten Iruma's weight so he could easily carry him. He lifted his spirit-brother out of Master's hold, and glanced between Asmodeus and Clara with a small signal as he walked.

For a while now, after Asmodeus and Clara had returned from retrieving a feather for Iruma's bow, Asmodeus had been acting… weirdly. Purson would say he was bummed, but they weren't the closest for him to make such a call.

Hopefully he'd go back to normal soon, but that was a concern for a later time. For now Purson just didn't want Asmodeus to crisp him.

Clara skipped ahead of Purson to open a nap room's door, and after shoving some piles of fabric around, she materialized a large futon, blankets, and pillows. She grinned as she sang a quiet song to herself while fussing with each pillow's placement, before presenting the center spot to Purson. "Ta-dah! Put Iruma-chi here SoiSoi!"

Purson smirked before carefully settling his friend onto the futon. He kept him upright long enough to get him out of his uniform jacket before whispering to Iruma, "I'm going to remove your clips, okay?" Iruma's brows furrowed before humming with a tiny nod.

Purson nodded and carefully removed Iruma's ear clips, before settling his friend on his back.

Clara was quick to glom to Iruma's left side, leaving Asmodeus to click his tongue at the loss of first choice, and settle into Iruma's right side. Purson shifted and went to pull the blanket over the three friends before Iruma's Mana latched onto his the same second he snatched the edge of his sleeve. "Stay?"

Purson blinked, "Where?"

Iruma grumbled deep in his chest, "Close… closer?"

Purson tilted his head in confusion before Asmodeus sighed softly and moved to behind Clara, hugging both of his friends to himself. Purson didn't get the chance to be flabbergasted for long before Iruma pulled him into his right side and grumbled strange purrs and chirps into his hair before drifting off into a deep sleep.

Purson was stiff and confused for a long moment, before he huffed lightly and burrowed into the comfort Iruma was providing. It was weird, and he wasn't sure how comfortable he was with the present sleeping arrangement, but Iruma's Mana was a gentle and consistent wave of softsafehere that he didn't mind it. Not after the past several lonely days he'd had by himself, lost in his own head.

Purson let Iruma's Mana pull him into slumber, and for the first time in several days, he slept restfully.

xXx-xXx-recreation-xXx-xXx

One of the girls whispered to Asmodeus, 'Is it okay if we sleep in here, too?'

Asmodeus hummed gently, 'You are safe with us.'

Purson barely caught Elizabetta's smiling eyes before she and Kerori made a small nest for themselves nearby. The floor in the nap room was wonderfully cushioned, but making a barrier of sorts probably helped put their minds at ease as they pulled a large sheet of fabric over themselves.

Iruma pursed his lips and furrowed his brow as he grumbled, barely coherent. "Guard."

Purson blinked as a short flash of static across Iruma's body shocked him lightly, before the new sight of Iruma's wolf stretched into existence with a yawn and a shake of their coat. They snuffled around the room a bit before settling between the two girls near the wall and Asmodeus, before flopping down with a grumbly snort.

Purson had no idea if the girls were freaked out by the wolf's appearance, but the wolf shifted and snuffled into their nest, causing them a flurry of quiet giggles and coos, before turning and resting their head on their paws.

Asmodeus hummed gently, patted Purson on the arm, and then… he drifted off again.

xXx-xXx-recreation-xXx-xXx

It was after the last of his students had dragged themselves off to rest in the same nap room as Iruma, that he finally noticed a text from Shichirou.

I'm in so much trouble.

Kalego blinked, too tired for this, before finally responding, 'What did you do?'

It was silent, and then he heard a slow shuffle. He looked up to see his friend slowly make his way into his classroom, his posture defeated as he slumped his way over to Kalego.

A notable handwritten sign of 'Idiot' was hanging from his neck.

Kalego raised an eyebrow, "You pissed off Opera?"

Shichirou tried to shrink into himself, "Unintentionally."

Kalego frowned, "What did you even do?" Kalego was the one usually in the dog house with them, Shichirou was always on their good side!

A light giggle came from behind his friend as his mother popped out from behind his larger build, "So this is the fabled Royal One!"

Kalego flinched back into his chair, "Mother-!" He turned to his friend, "You could have warned me!"

"That's what Opera said."

Kalego squinted at his friend while his mother flitted to and fro around his usually clean classroom. The Misfits had made a notable mess of the place, but it was still a spectacular sight to see.

Scáthatch giggled lightly to herself, dressed down in a simple black turtleneck sweater, pants, and boots for the occasion. "Now Kalego, did you think I would pass up the chance to see my first grandson's performance? And not only that, but my own son's class?"

Kalego gave her a suspicious look, "You've never been to any of my other classes performances."

Scáthatch turned towards him and flicked open her fan to hide her toothy smile as her eyes were filled with mirth, "Now how would you know whether or not I'd been there?" She then took out a pair of glasses that she waved at him, and he slouched tiredly in his seat.

Shichirou plopped down on a nearby bench, "Opera's never been this mad at me before."

Kalego was kind of mad himself, but there had to be more about the situation than he knew. "They're that mad about my mother being present?"

Shichirou went terribly silent before shaking his head, "No- I… Their mother and two younger sisters showed up."

Kalego went silent-still before exhaling loudly while slumping in his chair.

He had nothing to say to that, since he didn't know enough about Opera's past home life.

However, he did do the only thing he could think of.

He got up and added a second 'Idiot' sign around his friend's neck before plopping back down in his chair, pleased with himself.

Shichirou buried his face into his hands with a sigh.

xXx-xXx-recreation-xXx-xXx

Iruma didn't really remember getting to where he was, but his classmates had all slowly trickled into the nap room at various hours of the night. The girls were all to Iruma's left, protected by either himself, Asmodeus, or Hermod-

-Which was the entire reason he'd woken up.

Iruma frowned at the strange feeling of glee coming from his wolf, as well as a weird… chewing-drool sound. He immediately became suspicious, "Hermod..?" His voice sounded so loud in the otherwise quiet room.

The wolf made an inquisitive grumble in return, but continued on with whatever they were doing.

Iruma could move, but he was between three bodies and... Comfortable.

He didn't smell blood, so no one was injured or in danger. "What are you chewing on?"

Chimken nuggy

Iruma squinted at the early morning colored ceiling before abandoning comfort to see what in the world they were talking about. He shifted onto his stomach and elbows, barely noting the muffled snickering around him before he saw what Hermod was talking about.

There in their maw was Kamui, passed out and drenched in drool, while his legs were being nommed on by Hermod.

Iruma pursed his lips, "...I probably don't need to ask, but why are you chewing on Kamui?"

You commanded me to Guard, so I'm Guarding.

Iruma slumped slightly with a sigh while grumbling, "I knew I shouldn'tve asked." And then he snuggled back down into his blankets and curled around Purson with a huff.

Jazz couldn't help the small hysterical giggle that bled into his words, "You're not gonna save him? He's been knocked out like that for a few hours!"

Iruma popped an eye open in Jazz's direction, "Did he deserve it?"

Jazz hummed while Sabnock replied, "He did."

Iruma snickered, "Don't pity the slain."

Jazz gasped theatrically, "Iruma!"

Asmodeus sniffed, "Iruma-sama's judgment is spectacular on this glorious morning-hg!"

Clara glomed with a squeeze onto Asmodeus with a tired growl, "Shut up AzzAzz! Sleep!"

Asmodeus huffed before burying his face into her hair, "Stupid Clara."

"Hmph!" Clara rubbed her face into his chest while grumbling complaints only Asmodeus could hear, which seemed to amuse him more than injure.

Iruma couldn't help but grin before settling for a light doze, before someone forced them to get up.

xXx-xXx-recreation-xXx-xXx

Kalego stared in silent horror and panic at the huge wolf happily chewing on one of his students while the rest of them slept or dozed.

How… why had Iruma let out his wolf now!?

Scáthatch popped up beside him and cooed, "Aren't they precious?"

Kalego swallowed his mounting hysteria, "If you mean revolting at such an early hour, then sure."

Scáthatch snickered as she made a few clicking noises towards Hermod, "Come child, show me your prize."

Hermod lifted their head and looked at her before grumbling with a shake of their head.

Scáthatch raised an eyebrow and snapped her fingers at them, and they huffed before mouthing their prey to bring the poor soaking thing over. Hermod dropped Kamui at her feet before they sat down and wagged their tail noisily on the floor as they lolled their tongue at her, proud of their catch.

Scáthatch hummed at the poor bird demon before stepping over him to get closer to Hermod. She pulled their snout close and cooed softly while making little rumbles at them, "Such a good pup-" and "You've grown so much!" to "Who'sa good puppy, you are, yes you are!"

Kalego wanted to escape the embarrassment of his mother praising Iruma's dog, but he'd have to endure it for his pup. "Iruma."

He heard a gasp before Iruma sat upright while pulling Hermod back in.

Scáthatch caught herself as the wolf she'd been loving on suddenly whisped out of existence. She pouted at her son, "What'd you have to go and do that for?"

Kalego gave her a glaring side eye, and Scáthatch huffed lightly as she crossed her arms before looking to Iruma, "Have any of your classmates met your protector before?"

Iruma was stiff as he bowed his head and clasped his hands in his lap, "Uhm, other than Purson.. Azz-kun and Clara… knew about them. On accident."

Scáthatch nodded with a hum, "That's it?"

Iruma nodded, "That's it."

Scáthatch turned to Kalego, "Then I guess now's better than later, right?"

Kalego turned to his mother aghast, however, before he could say anything she waved her hand flippantly, "The dogs aren't meant to be caged, pup!"

Kalego flashed his fangs before sighing, "Fine." He glanced over his too-curious students, "Breakfast is ready, you brats. You have five minutes to get downstairs to eat, or I'm sending you home."

He shouldn't have said that, because of course all of his students would leap up and slam into him to get out, while Lied screamed, "You can't stop the party that easily Eggy-sensei!" While the others screamed similar epitaphs.

Scáthatch snickered after them, and stepped over Kamui in slight disgust before offhandedly speaking to Shichirou nearby, "Shi-chan, please give that birdbrain a bath ASAP. We don't allow slobber at the table."

Shichirou sighed as he lifted Kamui by his foot between two fingers. "...Yes, ma'am."

xXx-xXx-recreation-xXx-xXx

After a day and a half of partying, Iruma finally found himself standing in front of his home's gate. He made a note to message Asmodeus later, and stepped through the front door, "I'm home."

Balam-sensei stood unexpectedly at the entryway to greet him, "Welcome home, Iruma-kun."

Iruma blinked up at him as he slid off his jacket, confused, while noting the two handwritten 'Idiot' signs draped from his neck, "Uhm, thank you?" He glanced around before looking up at his teacher-friend-second-father-person questioningly.

Shichirou took his jacket and put it away nearby, "You have some unexpected guests."

Iruma raised an eyebrow as he held his hands curled into his chest, "Oh..?" His tail swayed with a touch of anxiety. He'd chosen to walk home without hiding his secondary features, and it'd been both liberating and frightening all at once.

Opera popped out of the living room doorway, "Oh, Iruma-sama. Welcome home." They quickly moved over to him before guiding him to where they'd just left.

"Uhm, where's Grandpa..?"

Suddenly a bar rang out across the house from Lillith's Red Carpet, and Iruma lifted his head with a smile. He ran ahead and stood in amazement at the transformation of the piano, before bowing to it and joining his grandfather at his signal.

Together they played through Lilith's Red Carpet, high and low notes mirrored. Once done Sullivan hugged Iruma with proud tears while Opera clapped nearby.

"You did splendidly, Iruma-sama."

Iruma grinned at Opera, "Thank you, Hahaue."

Opera flushed lightly as their tail swayed happily behind them, "I've prepared a feast, but first…" Their countenance dropped into shadow, their ears and tail drooped, and they glared out in front of them, "I must introduce you to my mother and two sisters."

Iruma blinked, "Uh, eh?" He looked around, but the only other person he could see was Balam-sensei, miserably taking the full brunt of Opera's glare.

The front door slammed open as Scáthatch yelled out, "Opera-ch~an! I brought my unwilling pup to celebrate my adorable Grandson's spectacular achievement!"

Opera sighed as they shifted their gaze to the side, "Welcome to the House of Sullivan, My Lady."

Scáthatch entered the living room while dragging Kalego by his collar, "Now, now little kit, don't take my presence so poorly!" She had a blinding shit-eating grin before glancing around, "Now where's 'Ran-chan..?"

Iruma felt like he wanted to puke, "Hold up." Suddenly there were several eyes watching him, including a new set of gold, green, and blue as he continued. "Dont- Dont ever use -chan for us. It's-" He shuddered as he covered his mouth while glaring at Scáthatch, "It's disgusting."

While Opera didn't like the use of -chan for themself, something was wrong with Iruma's response. His Mana felt… bleak, for lack of a better word, and their parental instincts flared in confusion. Their ears pulled back as they spoke gently, "Iruma…"

Scáthatch was shocked for only a moment before she settled and gently brushed her Mana against Iruma's prickly barrier. "I apologize, pup. I will make note of it from now on."

Iruma stayed tense for a long moment before slowly relenting with a stiff brush of his Mana in return, before backing up into Opera's space.

Sullivan hummed. That was not a good sign, and was rooted in something Iruma probably hadn't even realized.

A cautious investigation for another day.

He stood as he cleared his throat, "Well then, Ladies. I believe it would be good for you to introduce yourselves to your newest family member..?"

Soprano blinked before she met everyone's eyes. She then turned towards Iruma with a small smile, while trying to push comforting Mana his way. Re'mi gently squeezed her wrist, and Soprano clasped her hand back in return as her guard spoke first with a slight bow, "I'm Re'mi Catshie, Opera-san's nineteen year old sister."

Her youngest spoke next, "I'm La'ti Catshie, Opera-san's eleven your old sister."

Soprano spoke as gently as she could as La'ti gently signaled against her wrist how to control her voice, "I am Opera's mother, Soprano. It is my pleasure to meet you, little one." She bowed slightly, before straightening.

Iruma tilted his head and felt his ears twitch. Something was… off.

He glanced up towards Opera, and they nodded with encouragement to introduce himself.

Iruma glanced at the floor, doing his best to recall what he'd learned in the past and hoping he wasn't totally wrong, before Signing and speaking at the same time. "...Hello, my name is Iruma." He wasn't sure how to sign 'of the House of Sullivan,' and he was rather rusty with his Sign Language from his previous jobs. He'd learned a good chunk of basic Sign for his theme park and theater work, and it'd been a bonus for the mall troops as well.

Anything he could use for the sake of bettering his work experience was always a plus. He was even halfway decent at English, considering his abysmal previous schooling.

Iruma observed Soprano who blinked at him in surprise, before tilting her head and twitching her ears.

Soprano… hadn't been able to read his lips. However, somehow, the way he'd moved his hands had made some sort of sense to her, even if she couldn't fully grasp it.

Iruma was written on the performance flyer. She smiled warmly, "Iruma…kun?"

Iruma nodded happily and Signed, "Yes!"

Re'mi clasped Iruma's shoulder tightly with a slightly manic look, "What sort of magic are you weaving with your hands!?"

Iruma shrunk into himself at the thorny brush of Re'mi's Magic. "Ah-uhm, Sign Language..?"

Re'mi squinted at him, before Soprano placed her hand on Re'mi's shoulder to gently pull her back while wrapping her Mana around the stressed teenager. Her voice was louder than intended as she spoke, "Calm Down, Re'mi. He means no harm."

Re'mi breathed through her nose before pulling back with a sigh.

Opera pulled Iruma back into their chest, "Well then, with that out of the way… Let's celebrate Iruma's victory with a feast, shall we?"

Soprano giggled, "I get to try Opera's cooking!" She waved at Scáthatch, "Skadi-chan, can you believe it!? My Opera knows how to cook!"

Scáthatch moved over to her friend while taking her hands into hers gleefully, "They certainly can!"

Iruma looked to his mother in confusion, before Opera rolled their eyes and hooked their arm into theirs so that they could cart him off, "I avoided such things before leaving home. It is my pride now, but I didn't much care for it in my youth."

Iruma blinked, "Oh." He nodded, "Makes sense."

Kalego stood in the hallway with Shichirou beside him, "...Why was I dragged here again?"

Shichirou gently clasped his shoulder, "Moral support."

Kalego rolled his neck with a satisfying crack, "What a pain in the ass."

Shichirou nodded, "You don't know the half of it." Opera had been sending him one order after another all day.

He was tired.

xXx-xXx-recreation-xXx-xXx

Celebrating his Rank Up and championship had been an entire ordeal during dinner. He had three grandparents cheering for him, his mother proud of him, his two father-figures there for him, and… two Aunts that have opted to shift to the term 'cousins.'

'Cause being the same age range as two 'older' family members was… weird. For all of them.

So Re'mi, La'ti, and Iruma declared for themselves a cousin truce.

And now Iruma had to figure out how to teach Sign… which wasn't a Netherworld thing apparently, to his family.

While still… learning… Common.

He should see if he could get ahold of some (illegal) books to refresh his memory for Sign…

Iruma flopped down onto his bed, stuffed and happy.

(He had played video games in rounds, and well… when not facing Opera, he had a chance of winning. Except when facing his two grandmothers. They were…

They were actually pretty brutal about winning. He now understood where Opera got their competitiveness from.)

He lifted his hand tiredly, wiped from so much social interaction as he mumbled to himself, "I want to talk to you… Ali…san…"

Iruma dreamed about his companion who he missed so much.

It'd been over a month since they'd last held a conversation, and then his dream made his worst fears a reality-

Iruma jolted awake while reaching out across his bed, "Ali-san!"

"You called?"

Iruma stared at the large figure lying nonchalantly on his side on his bed.

A familiar figure but…

"Eeeh!? Ali-san!? Eh?! You're huge!?" Iruma sat up in surprise.

Alikred waved his hand flippantly, "Yeah, yeah, it's just your usual old Ali-san…" He cupped his chin, "Or should I say.. New Ali-san?"

Alikred shifted to cross his legs while wearing a teacher's uniform to explain, "Alright, listen up. For some reason after you got Rank 4 I got super tired! Like Sleeping Beauty in a deep slumber, when all of a sudden, next thing I know there's this loud sound that woke me up! I barely rubbed my eyes and you were Rank 5!" He shifted to act like Thumbelina emerging from a flower with a rose on his head, "I felt like a butterfly emerging from chrysalis! And then-" His clothing changed back to normal as the rose fell away, "-I was filled with power!" He observed his partner, "I feel like I can somehow do a lot more Magic now, so thank you Iru-boy!" Alikred blinked as he observed his Master, "What's up with you?"

Iruma couldn't help but sit limply as he smiled stupidly at him while happy, "Eh?" He pulled himself together slightly, "It's just… I'm so relieved, and happy too of course… I thought you'd left…"

Alikred frowned to himself before pulling Iruma close and tucking him into his side, "Iru-boy, listen. I am not your family, your friend, a teacher, or a love interest."

Iruma shrunk slightly, "Uhm, yeah-"

Alikred continued, "Without each other we cannot survive in the Netherworld." He gently tapped Iruma's nose, "We are very unique partners." He made sure to make eye contact with his Master, "There is no way I could leave you, because we are inseparable."

Iruma sighed in relief before hugging Alikred close to themself, "Yeah… Thank you Ali-san!"

Alikred popped back into his previous size, "For convenience I'll stay my usual size most of the time, and you're used to this version, too!"

Iruma blinked as they finally noticed something new, "Oh… it looks like you're no longer tethered to the ring."

The two paused before Alikred turned towards the window, "WHOA I'M FREE! HELL YEAH! BE RIGHT BACK!"

Iruma reached out towards the window Alikred escaped from, "Wai- Ali-san!"

Iruma could only watch as Alikred moved several feet out the window before they abruptly realized he was coming back-!?

Iruma felt Alikred's body slam into his as he hit the side of his bed and slammed into the floor. "...Looks like you can only go so far."

Alikred was kind of pouty as he responded, "Yeah… looks like we really are inseparable."

xXx-xXx-recreation-xXx-xXx

A/N: So, IRL had a situation where my Grandma had married someone with two sons a few years older/younger then me, and my brother and I decided with the younger one that we'd go with cousins instead of uncle/niece/nephew.

I tried for a fluffier/sillier chapter this time! Let me know if you enjoyed it!