Alright. So, I was originally going to try to keep a chronological order to my pieces but I have come to a decision to abandon this attempt. I will just describe at what point in the story these oneshots take place. I have a lot of pieces that will open up as a result of this choice.

This is one focused on alternate events to those surrounding the flying race. It's darker themed than anything I've written for this story so far but it was impossible for me to ignore when it showed up.

This is a 'what if' that I will warn you is a loose ended one with a couple plot holes (as in it could be the start of it's on AU story kind of loose). I'm saying this just in case a reader doesn't like partial pieces that leave you hanging which will probably will never be concluded. It's actually the beginning for a bigger story idea I ended up scrapping because I ended up deciding not to do.

Grim Findings

Iruma's view of the relationships between animals, more specifically that existing between predator and prey, had always been skewed, to say the least. It had probably started developing with is first memory of following his father to work the day he learned to walk. A day that would see him being used as tuna bait by his no longer so trusted parent.

Yet, despite all the nightmares that came from this, when he was in danger of starving a few years later, he had finally caved and eaten the canned flesh of his first monster. He had to or risk starving to death, himself as his parents were bad at remembering to feed him. He remembered having to work through so many emotions over that. But even as he did, he came to understand that predators, like the fish and the bear he'd narrowly escaped, weren't being mean or vindictive. They, like him in the moment where he cracked the can, just wanted to live and had to have their hunger assuaged.

And although Iruma was still terrified of dangerous animals and looked back on the incidents where he'd almost been eaten with terror; having been in their position in such an unignorable way, he couldn't bring himself to be angry at them. He didn't know if that was good or bad but that's how he was about the whole thing.

His view of the balance between life and death in general wasn't much better. Dodging everything from the aforementioned animals to bullets and struggling to find the balance between much needed shelter and food as he moved from place to place and job to job. And then there were life's 'little curve balls.' Getting sick here, a particularly bad earthquake or storm there. He was lucky that the most debilitating injury he'd taken was a badly sprained ankle because if he hurt himself in many of the situationms he'd been, he would have been done for.

Iruma had sometimes wondered if it was wrong to be willing to pick up such a perspective on life as he had. And then he would realize; if he had enough energy to contemplate it, then he had enough energy to be doing something else. Something that was more productive to his goal; living long enough to reach his next meal, whenever and whatever that might be.

The last several days since he came to the demon world hadn't done him any favors with such thoughts, either. He was living surrounded by beings that were his predators, pretending to be one of them. His new Grandpa, Opera, his new friends; no matter how much he might like them, there was still a part of him that couldn't shake that knowledge, even if the few days since he came here were the happiest he could ever remember.

And then there was the mess with Kalego Sensei which had served as a reminder of what kind of world this was. Despite his fear of the powerful demon, he'd honestly been scared that he'd hurt his teacher during the accidental summoning. When he asked for help from those around him, he instead got praised by his classmates for humiliating his teacher. Then, when turning to Su…Grandfather, was told he and his unfortunate Sensei were stuck like this for the next year.

And then there was the staff member who tried to eat Kalego Sensei. If the demons were so quick to turn on one of the most powerful, well-respected coworkers, what would happen to some weak little human child?

So, during the flying race, when he healed the bird's leg, recalling what he'd found in the nest already, Iruma expected this to be the end. Especially considering how he'd been fought over by the other birds the moment he'd been pushed off a cliff by aforementioned teacher. He knew Kalego Sensei had shoved Iruma with the expectation that he would open his nonexistent wings but it really didn't bode well that the demon didn't hear the commotion when the local wildlife had started fighting over him.

Still, while caught off guard when the bird had nuzzled him, Iruma was also easily able to accept the reaction. After all, he knew that the animals that had tried to eat him were not openly vindictive; they were just trying to survive. There was more to them than their appetites or their fears, even if he almost never got to see it.

Iruma was glad that he wasn't going to be dinner, though.

Before taking letting it take him from the nest, he'd been able to convince the bird he'd healed to give him just a moment.

He took a second to find what he was looking for and then removed his jacket, careful not to touch it directly again as he wrapped it up and hugged it to his chest. Although he knew what he'd seen the second he'd laid eyes on it in a logical sense, there was still a part of him that hadn't accepted it. It was to be a prop. It couldn't be real.

He knew better.

Iruma held it tight as he was tossed onto his new friends back. He tried to be as careful as he could with the bundle as he also clung to the birds back as it flew off somewhere with a single-minded purpose.

But then they'd reached their destination and Iruma saw Sabnock cornered by the Guardian of the Valley. At that moment, he could no longer deny anything about what he had wrapped in his jacket. He knew exactly how that fight could end and as soon as he was close enough to make the jump, he leapt to the ground and rushed to protect the blond demon.

Luckily, it turned out his new friend was the guardian's baby. So, Iruma. with the baby's help, he was able to diffuse the situation. The Guardian had even given them a ride the rest of the way back to the meet up point at the end of the race.

When Iruma was struggling to climb up the Guardian's back, only using three limbs due to the bundle he still held to his chest, Sabnock helped him. He did so easily while scaling the giant creature.

As Iruma settled in, Sabnock asked in a curious tone, "What've you got there."

"Something for Kalego Sensei," Iruma said quietly.

"I don't think apology gifts would work with thy teacher."

Iruma repositioned the bundle, feeling a sharp point dig into his side. "I wish it was that simple."

Sabnock looked like he was about to ask something else but thankfully, the Guardian chose that moment to take off.

-/

The moment the Guardian left after dropping off the students it had been carrying, Kalego turned to silence the rowdy brats behind him, already thinking of how to punish his tardy troublemakers. Before he could say anything however, he surprised to find Iruma was standing immediately before him, cradling something in his hands that he'd bundled in his coat. Without looking up, the child held it out to him. "I found it in the Guardian's nest. Don't let the others see."

"You shouldn't have been in cutthroat valley in the first place."

"It wasn't my choice. I got caught by a bird and carried there. If the Guardian's baby hadn't scared it off…"

The joke Kalego made earlier about Sabnock after the idiotic teen had slipped off into Cutthroat Valley now felt like ash on his tongue. "You do realize what the purpose of familiar summoning is, right?"

"I forgot," Iruma said quietly, which really didn't inspire any comfort for Kalego. "I'm used to being on my own in situations like that. "

Kalego was about to scold the brat… or maybe question him about what he meant but he saw something in the boy's demeanor that made him hesitate. This surprise grandson of a demon who had no known children. A look of carrying a burden he shouldn't know. Iruma suddenly resembled someone who might have escaped wilderness after being trapped there for years or having managed to crawl off the battle fields after several close brushes with death on it.

"Go join your classmates so that I can start the ranking ceremony, already."

The boy flinched but declared, "you need to attend to this, first." He pointed at the bundle.

As Iruma began to turn away, Kalego was about to snap at the boy for something that sounded dangerously close to a command. But then, for some reason, he found himself staring at the child's receding back. In that moment, his anger was forgotten as he found his eyes drawn the way his fabric of the shirt rested across it without the looser jacket that usually covered it.

There was something off but he couldn't put his finger on it. Was the boy injured? He didn't look it, there was no blood nor did he move like he was in pain.

But something was wrong, even if he couldn't say what.

As Iruma joined the others, they started making jokes about the boy bringing gifts, trying for forgiveness or a position as a teacher's pet. Kalego decided that he could leave whatever was setting him off alone for the moment.

Instead, he focused on the bundled object that the boy had given him. He lifted away enough of the fabric to see a horn and felt his heart plummet. He opened it a little more to see a demon skull.

And it was so small.

He quickly covered it back up before he glanced back at the boy, who several other students were now crowding around.

"…honestly, the Guardian and it's baby were very nice. Once I came across a hurt bear and it certainly never gave me a chance to help it. It chased me and would've killed me if it had caught me."

"What's a bear?" Clara Valec asked.

Kalego had a feeling that he should know the answer to her question, himself. He'd heard the term "bear" somewhere…

As Iruma glanced back at him for the smallest fraction of a second while he continued to talk, Kalego realized the boy was actually buying him time to take care of this. He was not only purposefully drawing the other students attention away by describing fleeing said 'bear.'

He was clearly practiced at the art of distraction, drawing in attention of the few who weren't originally focusing on him, subtly drawing them together, away from Kalego and the bundle.

The story of his flight surpisingly seemed to have no actual flying.

Iruma had hesitated at the cliff edge.

Kalego had pushed Iruma off the cliff because he thought the boy was just nervous but now he suspected he was missing something.

He promised himself he'd talk to the child later, when this was cleared up.

For now, the skull in his hands was the highest priority.

Kalego used the communication network spell the staff had set up for emergencies. "We have a code 738," the code they had for a dead body. "It's old. No current students have been harmed nor are in immediate danger." He then assured, so as not to cause more distress than necessary. Almost everyone who worked at Babyls had heard this code at least once, being used in reference to a student. Even at its safest, there were still dangers in the netherworld.

And today could have ended with just such an incident multiple times over. Two had rode back on the beast that was now confirmed to have a taste for demon flesh. "We are to suspend the use of our usual course around Cutthroat Valley and find a new flying race location immediately. The animals here are far too acclimated the presence of demons." He glanced back at Iruma, who had claimed to nearly be eaten by another bird before being deposited in the Guardian's nest. On top of the guardian of Cutthroat Valley's diet, it had been willing to carry two children, along with it's own baby, right to the plateau where Kalego and several more students were. It had even acknowledging his presence. "I also need someone to be waiting back at the misfit classroom when the students get there and others to come out here immediately. Iruma will remain under my supervision until Sullivan can collect him, as he's the one who found the remains and carried them back to me. I am placing him on Wicked Phase Watch immediately." Without even hearing the full story, it was clear that the boy had been through so much trauma since the start of the race that it was a wonder his pupils weren't already slitted.

Speaking of Iruma, he walked over and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder to get his attention and momentarily tensed even as the boy jumped. But with the motion, he could feel exactly what was wrong through the shirt. Forcing the realization to not cross his face, he quietly declared "You are to stay here when the others leave."

The boy nodded.

But Kalego barely noticed, his attention already to what he felt beneath his palm.

And just to be sure of what he was feeling, rather than lifting his hand to pull it back, he dropped it so it ran down the top of the boys back. A completely smooth back with no interruptions from wing roots.

In response, the boy momentarily stiffened. Or maybe Naberius imagined it as the child went right back to chatting with the other students with the smile he always seemed to have.

Kalego used the half a second to take in other details; no horns, no wings, thin, flesh colored, blunt, flat nails. Now that he knew to look for it, he could see that beneath the boy's blue hair were rounded ears.

Then there was the boy's smell.

Shichiro would be going nuts if he were here right now.

Kalego slowly walked past Iruma and positioned himself between the human and the rest of the class as he summoned the transportation tent. "There's been a change of plans, you'll be ranked later. The owl will be able to remember you, so your earned positions won't be lost in that time. Go back to the classroom."

The kids started objecting.

"Silence!"

He glanced back to find Iruma slowly making his way to a cliff face that tapered away slightly quicker than the rest which might offer more handholds. "And you stay right where you are."

Iruma froze.

Kaelgo didn't need this; Sullivan's Grandson riding in on the back of the Guardian bringing him a skull was bad enough; A wingless legendary creature Sullivan dropped in his care, that he proceeded to kick off a cliff, which then convinced the most powerful beast in the valley to carry him to the drop off point with aforementioned skull?

He wasn't paid enough for this before his pay cut.

The second the other students left, Kalego turned to deal with Iruma, only to find him already over at the edge of the cliff, nothing but his head poking over. The boy glanced back and as they made eye contact, there was a moment where time just seemed to stop as they stared at each other. The brat's fear was obvious but Kalego had the distinct feeling that it wasn't the 'I'll surrender and do whatever you'll say' type he was used to dealing with.

Next thing Kalego knew, the brat proved him right by dropping out of sight.

The moment ended and the demon moved. He rushed over, already drawing his wings out of their roots.

-/

Iruma had known he'd been recognized the moment he felt Kalego 'drop' his hand along his back.

Iruma had no idea what Kalego was capable of, either in actual abilities or what he was willing to do to a human child on a moral level. Either way, he didn't want to stick around and find out.

The moment the tent had appeared and Kalego had turned his attention to the other students, Iruma had begun examining his surrounding and thinking about what resources he had.

He quietly made his way over to a cliff, knowing his classmates wouldn't be concerned enough to point it out; they all had wings. Heck, they probably thought he'd just insulted Kalego and were letting him get a head start.

Glancing over the edge, Iruma noted the few plants he saw clinging to it, he pulled the wrap off his hand, tucking it into his pants pocket, not wanting to just leave that much blood lying around. Even as he had his stare off with Kalego, Iruma open and closed his hand into a fist, irritating the wound just enough to get it to start bleeding again. It might come in handy.

So, even as Kalego rounded over the lip of the plateau, Iruma was already approaching a sad looking specimen of one of the plants he'd seen as he was carried across the valley. It was comparable in size to the tiny cacti someone might find in the pots at a grocery store.

It wouldn't be that small for long. The thing would make a good distraction from him.

Iruma rubbed his bloody hand against it. As it started growing, he grabbed the back of one of its flowers, weighing it down as another extended upward toward a surprised Demon, causing him to reverse his descent, coming out of his dive and awkwardly flapping his wings as he did something that caused the flower reaching for him to blow up. Iruma hoped that the plant didn't feel pain.

By the time the Demon had recovered, Iruma had put several meters between them on the back of the plants lower flower and more flowers were blooming out . The birds were also already coming, as they had earlier, ready to fight each other and everything else for their juicy morsel.

Iruma was hoping that, now ready for the attack, he could use the confusion to give the slip to everything, be it plant, bird, or purple haired demon.

Several of the birds actually attacked the part of the plant where Iruma had wiped his blood, right in Kalego's way. And to make an extra barrier, the plant was recovering as quickly as the birds were attacking it, still powered by said blood.

"What the hell?" Kalego growled as he knocked three birds down at once, trying to get to Iruma. The boy was relieved to see them fly off, hoping they weren't too hurt because he chose to run.

Then Iruma was distracted from the scene as he felt a lurch and realized the plant had gotten too big to hold to the cliff.

As it fell, him clinging to it, one of the birds swooped in and grabbed him, this time, its claws momentarily grabbed his torso.

For a moment, the fight was almost a play by play of when Kalego had kicked him off the cliff earlier as others began to squabble over him, except this time, the demon was weaving through between the birds.

Then, a giant floral maw snapped closed in the middle of the fighting birds, barely missing the one holding him.

Startled, the bird holding him let go and he dropped. A moment later, he found himself clinging to a stem as wide as a tree limb

The plant had grown more…

He looked down to see that his hand was bleeding faster than before. Then he saw more flowers coming toward him and began sliding down the plant stem. The spines it was covered in either weren't naturally stiff or they were so fresh that they were still soft as hair.

The first floral maw missed him because it had grown so fast it misjudged where to grab. The second one was blown to a mist by what looked like an electrical blast from above, from Kalego. But, even as Iruma slid down the stem, the ground fell further and further away. The plant was growing that fast.

Then one of the petal covered nightmares grabbed him and started sucking him, up to his waist in a second.

Only to be decapitated by a gigantic, three headed dog. One head biting off a stem as the other two held onto the flower, itself.

Still, Iruma felt the plants grip weaken and he slid out.

Even as he fell, facing skyward, he could see more 'flowers' trying to engage with the golden beast just to be torn apart.

And then that was blocked from view as a familiar figure swooped in and wrapped his arms around Iruma. He instinctively clung into whatever he could grab as he heard and felt the vibration as Kalego snapped his wings wide and changed the dive into a glide.

"Cerberion, get back!"

As one arm lifted from Iruma's back and the other held tighter, Iruma peeked to see the demon left his free hand and pointed, blowing a gigantic chunk out of the center of what had become a writhing mass of spiny vines, each tipped with a floral mouth, many of which were attacking the sparking, three headed dog.

Although most instantly stopped, a few, probably close to where drops of Iruma's blood had touched, turned into their own plants at the base of the cliffs, albeit none as big as the original monstrosity.

The remaining birds immediately scattered, squawking and cawing as they flew off, seeming to decide that no matter how good a meal Iruma was, he wasn't worth this trouble.

As Kalego quietly flew back up, Iruma realized he was trembling and couldn't stop. After a moment, he felt a lack of movement that meant they had landed but he still couldn't bring himself to relax his hands that were bunched in Kalego's robes.

The moment Iruma felt his feet touch the ground and felt the grip on his back loosen, he opened his eyes and looked up at Kalego. The annoyed looking teacher had a few minor cuts and scrapes but otherwise looked no worse for wear.

He also wasn't making any moves to hurt Iruma.

Meaning, in that moment, it was the first time outside of Sullivan's mansion that he could be sure he wasn't in danger. Iruma felt like his legs had turned jelly and he began to sink to his knees. He had no reason to hide how overwhelmed he was right now. His body began to tremble as he curled in on himself. Still, he forced out a , "s-s-sorry… I-I couldn't be sure what you'd… the way everyone talks about…the way they…ever since I signed Grandpa's contract…no, since he came, after my parents sold me to him…everything's just…"

Iruma felt a hand on his back again and this time, he leaned into it as Kalego knelt next to him.

-/

At first, once he landed, Kalego had been furious at the stupid human child who'd plunged over the edge and somehow caused one of the plants to grow to monstrous proportions in his idiocy. Then the boy broke down and things became a lot clearer as he stuttered fractured sentences out.

He knelt next to the child, unsure what to say or do. So, instead, he focused on what he did know how to do. He looked at the boy's hand; the injury obvious scent coming up from it. It looked like a small enough injury for him to deal with. "Let me see your hand. We need to get it healed and cleaned before the rest of the staff get here."

Iruma looked up but held out his hand, nonetheless. "Be careful, my blood…"

Too late, Kalego had touched a smear on the boy's hand and as a bright light erupted from the point of contact, he felt a surge of power run up his arm. He pulled his hand back, even as he felt the scrapes and cuts he'd gotten in the fight disappear. It was pure mana, he realized. Magic without direction.

And that had been barely anything. He looked at the boy again, a new understanding of why wars had been fought over these creatures.

It was, of course, this moment that Sullivan chose to appear.

-/

This feels a little messy but I worked really hard on it and felt it had a lot of good parts to it, so I still wanted to post it.

Although I was already thinking about it before, I would be lying if I were to say that I wasn't inspired to write this chapter, in part by another story I read on the AO3 Fandom called Fallen Petals by Icy Pheonix. It focused on incidents that Naberius might have witnessed where students died at Babyls. If you are looking for an emotional piece that digs takes a serious look some of the darker implications of things that happen in the series, I'd recommend it.

I don't know if everyone in Japan is personally experienced earthquakes or not, but Iruma's reaction when everything shook after Kiriwo released the energy he stored and used his blood ability showed a fear that hinted toward him having personal experience.

738. Using the phone, you can get the latters S,F and U; I did it to represent Six Feet Under. A little dark, but so was the topic.

I decided to cut this off where I did because otherwise I would have gone on for a while and I know that ,wherever I stop, it will feel incomplete, anyway. As I said above, I doubt that I will ever come back to this particular storyline. I hope that you enjoy it.

Iruma's perspective on predator/prey relationships: Iruma grew up fighting for his life, including animals both scared of him and wanting to eat him, as well as dealing with starvation, himself. I think it would give him a different perspective than most people. One that would have major implications for why he's able to connect so well with some of the demons, despite knowing that he is considered a legendary delicacy.

Sullivan's slow reaction: I feel like Sullivan is a bit disconnected to stuff related to death if there isn't an immediate threat. I also don't think he'd be good at considering how such things might effect Iruma negatively. He might not see the immediate need to rush over because Iruma found a demons remains.