Another day, another chance for Iruma to make me lose my mind. That boy was like my own flesh and blood, but sometimes he could really get under my skin.

"Iruma, you're so bad with directions…" I sighed and glanced around. "Now, where the hell am I?"

Obviously, I was still in the school. It was a courtyard. Did I somehow find myself back to the one from yesterday? Hmm, no. This one looked different.

"Son of a…"

I brought a hand to my face and sighed.

"Hans?" All it took was a whisper and the blue penguin seemed to appear out of thin air.

"What's up, boss-man, dood?!" he shouted, bringing a hand to his forehead. Was… was he saluting me?

"Mind figuring out how to get back to the front of the school?" In situations like this, I'd always told Iruma to head to the entrance of the building and wait. I would end up finding him sooner or later.

Thankfully, Alice was with him.

We had our differences, but he was dependable enough. Still, I'd have preferred not to leave Iruma alone with a Demon.

"Humans will undoubtedly be ripped apart by the denizens of the underworld."

That old geezer's words still rung deep within my mind. Like hell I'd let anyone touch him.

"Dood? Do you hear me, dood? Are you having another internal monologue, dood? You need to stop with those, dood!"

"You're being obnoxiously loud," I said with a sigh. "What was that you were saying?"

"Finally, dood! Been calling you for a while, dood!"

He swung around and pointed his flipper off into the distance.

"I don't know how to get back, dood, but maybe they know?"

I traced the path he was pointing to and found a trio of Demons chatting amongst themselves. It was right at the edge of the courtyard.

"I guess beggars can't be choosers," I said with a sigh and started walking.

"Ain't that the truth, dood…" Hans said and then crawled toward my pants. "I'm going to take a nap, alright, dood?"

I gave him a nod and watched as he spread one of my pockets open and crawled into it. The scene left a shiver running down my spine. It was unnatural.

"Shit reminds me of a snake crawling down a drain…" I said with a shudder.

Everything in this place was terrifying.

———————

"And so I told him- get your own meal or I'll knock your block off!"

"Hahaha!"

"Not funny. Your jokes are shit."

Three idiots talking shit. Sounded about right. Even the Demon Realm couldn't avoid that stupid stereotype.

"Hey," I called out, grabbing their attention.

"Huh?"

"Oh! Aren't you that honor student?"

"Yeah, good to see you again, bud."

Did they know me?

I raised a brow and stared at them.

"Remember? We met yesterday!"

Let's see. There was a regular-looking one, a lizard-looking demon, and one that looked like the "traditional" depiction of a demon. Fairly generic in my opinion.

"I have no idea who you are."

Still, I did remember running into some people yesterday. That must have been them.

The apparent leader flinched.

"T-That's fine," he said with a laugh and scurried closer. "I see that you don't have that trashy gremlin following you around?"

Gremlin?

"You sure like to hear yourself talk," I said with a sigh. "Got no idea what the hell you're talking about, so mind giving me directions to the front of the school?"

His brow twitched.

"You know. That green-haired dispenser? I know you were only hanging around with her cause of her powers, but there's no need to pretend."

This guy…

"No one would ever give her the time of day, so she has to go around bribing everyone with those powers of hers," he continued with a large grin on his face. "It's pathetic, you know?"

I took a breath and sighed.

"Are you an idiot?" I asked. "When the hell did I ask about her?"

"H-Huh?" he took a step back.

"I asked for directions and you go off on this stupid tangent about someone who isn't even here."

I shook my head.

"Keep your opinions to yourself, man. I don't know who you are and I could care less about what you think."

Personally, Val was fine in my books. She was damned weird but didn't seem like a bad person.

"And unless you have some crazy power like her, I'd steer clear for your sake."

His face turned as red as a tomato. It was hilarious.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he hissed, even as his cronies tried to surround me. "She's a stupid girl who can pull juice out of her pockets. How the hell is she ever going to hurt me? Are you alright in the head, buddy?"

"I ain't your buddy," I said. "And if that's what you think, then you're even more blind than I thought."

I shook my head.

Idiots.

"You talk a lot of shit for-"

I reached out and shoved two fingers into his open mouth and then pulled down. Hard. He hit the floor a moment later.

"Look, If you ain't going to help, then I've got no business with you."

They'd just been a massive waste of time.

"Don't follow me or you'll kick your asses."

I said and started walking.

Surprisingly, they didn't follow me.

Yeah. That's what I thought.

——————————

The school had to be magic or something. I'd gone past the same hallway at least three times, so that was the only possible answer to that weirdness.

I rubbed my brow and took another right, this time finding myself walking into yet another courtyard. This one was different from the last and I quickly spotted a few familiar faces.

"What the hell do you mean no?!" a certain demon and his friends were cornering Val. Did my tongue-lashing get their panties in a bunch?

They just didn't know when to stop, did they? Either way, Val probably knew the way back. Besides, we were looking for her.

"You… I-I heard everything you said," she whispered. "I knew you didn't like me that much, but I thought…"

"Thought what?" the idiot boy scoffed. "Just give me my damned juice! Or do you want me to stop talking to you?"

He laughed and his friend soon joined in on that.

"Then you'll really be alone," he said quietly. "You're just a weirdo and everyone knows it. We're the only ones who'll give you the time of day, so why don't you face reality?"

Val lowered her gaze.

"So, again. Give. Me. Juice."

I slowly made my way to the trio. Val… she was shaking. Her hands were balled into fists. It was as if I were looking at a volcano about to pop.

For a brief moment, her small form was replaced by a similar figure. A young boy smiled blindly to the world, holding back all the foul thoughts and doubts in his heart.

I sighed.

God damn it.

"I…" Val's voice broke. She let out a quiet whimper and started to slowly reach into her pocket. What she would pull out was something only she knew, but-

My hand landed on her shoulder. She didn't bother looking up and I didn't give her the time to.

"Punch him in the face," I said plainly. "You'll feel a lot better afterward."

She took a sharp breath.

"Ah…"

And then she sent that curled fist flying straight into that idiot demon's face.

"Gah!" he shouted, clutching his nose as he fell on his ass. "Y-You punched me?! You bitch!"

He was back on his feet a moment later.

"I-I've had enough! This is w-what I get for trying to be nice! Let's teach this bitch and her damned sympathizer a lesson!"

Ha! It was about damned time.

"Should have just fucking given me my damned directions," I said and launched myself forward, darting past the leader and straight to one of his friends. My open palm crashed into the boy's face, sending him flying.

Val looked on in shock and uncertainty. She stared down at her hand and then the bloody nose she'd caused.

Still hesitating?

"Well, do you feel better or not?" I ducked as one of the goons tried to kick me in the face. These guys were faster than any human, but still so damned sloppy.

A devilish grin spread across Val's face. She chuckled and then reached into her pocket.

"Yeah…"

In the next instant, she charged forward toward her bully. There was a flash and she'd pulled out an entire damned fridge.

"What the fuc-"

And then promptly smashed the thing onto him. She didn't stop there, though. Next up was a vending machine, which she threw hard enough to send my opponent crashing straight into a wall.

He'd only just gotten up too.

"Hehehe, this is kind of fun!" Val exclaimed as she looked around for the last guy. He'd wisely turned tail and started running.

"Hey! Where are you going?!"

It looked like he was the only smart one out of the group. He kept running and didn't look back.

Great. Maybe I could finally get some god damned directions.

"Lee! There you are!"

…

Are you serious? Are you fucking serious?! I was just about to leave this damned place!

Iruma stopped in his tracks, eyes going wide as he looked around.

"Did you get in another fight?"

"Likely something these ruffians deserved," Alice said with a huff.

Val looked away, a sheepish and guilty look on her face.

That girl was far too bubbly for her own good. There wasn't anything to be ashamed about.

"Yeah, but they had it coming," I said with a shrug. "Also, I found us Val. We were looking for her, right?"

"Oh! That's why you vanished?" Iruma asked with a smile. "I thought you got lost again."

My brow twitched.

"You were… looking for me?" Val asked timidly as she looked up at the lot of us. "W-Why?"

"What do you mean?" Iruma asked, furrowing his brow. "We said we'd play with you today, remember?"

I nodded.

"B-But it…" tears started to build in the corner of her eyes. "But I-I don't… wh-why do you want to play with me?"

Like a dam about to burst, it was clear she was only holding on by a thread.

"I-I'm not good f-for anything but my snacks and toys and-"

"I don't care," Iruma cut her off. "Lee doesn't either, right?"

Val's eyes darted from him to me.

I shrugged.

"Your powers are pretty scary, but If you're worried I'm like them-" I pointed my thumb at the unconscious idiots. "Then I'll let it be known that I don't need your weird crap."

Iruma nodded.

"Honestly, you're a bit energetic at times," he said with a sheepish smile. "And you also go overboard, but it's fun playing with you."

"Eh… r-really?"

He smiled and nodded.

"Right, Lee?"

Why was he putting me on the spot?

Val turned her gaze back to me. It was as if I were looking down at a cute puppy with big, sparkling eyes.

"Like I said, you're weird, but everyone in this damned world is weird," I said with a nod. "Your games are also crazy, but I can tell you're a genuinely friendly person."

She was also pretty vicious.

"And you've got some nice moves too," I said, flashing her a small grin and motioning to the idiots. "I think we'll get along just fine if you still want to be-"

"Friends?!" she cut me off.

Ugh. She really was like a damned dog!

"Sure," I said with a shrug.

"Yeah, friends!" Iruma beamed.

And then she started crying. This girl was a damned fountain! Without hesitation, she pulled us all into one big hug and wailed for the next few minutes.

Those lungs of hers might as well have been deadly weapons too.

At the very least, she was on our side.

At the very least, she was on our side.