The Student Council
I find Iruma waiting for me at the gate to the school with Azz and Clara. I half-expected them to head home without me since my meeting with the Student Council took longer than I expected.
"Hey! Sorry I kept you waiting!" I call out to them.
"It's fine. What's that?" Iruma asks.
He points at the uniform I'm holding in my arms.
"Wait…is that a Student Council uniform?!" Azz asks with an amazed look on his face.
"You've got it, Azz! I joined the Student Council!"
Iruma looks utterly confused since I think he's picked up on the fact that Ameri doesn't like me much.
"That's amazing Rimuru! What an honor…very few students can say that they are a part of such a prestigious group." Azz continues.
"Riri's so cool!" Clara says.
I just laugh awkwardly at their compliments, not sure how to respond.
"Rimuru…why? Why did you join?" Iruma asks, still confused.
"Well…let's just say I was repaying a debt to their president and leave it at that…"
"A…debt?"
"Yeah…Hey, don't give me that worried look!" I say, noticing how anxious Iruma is about this.
"But, won't you be too busy to spend time with me? The Student Council is very intense, you've said that yourself!" he says, sounding almost scared.
By 'spend time with me' he really means 'have time to protect me', but that isn't a concern. I can always keep an eye on him from a distance and now that I'm gonna teach him 'thought communication' there's even less reason to worry.
"Everything will be perfectly fine! I've made special arrangements to make sure of that." I reassure the boy.
After a few minutes of walking as a group, we arrive at Sullivan's mansion and split from Azz and Clara.
"So, wanna do that training I mentioned this morning?" I ask Iruma.
"Can you tell me what kind now?"
"You know how I can use a type of telepathy?"
"Yup."
"That's what I'm gonna teach to you! You'll be able to contact me at any time with it, so you don't have to be so scared if I'm physically not near you."
Iruma's eyes light up with excitement. I'm not surprised, since he's always so nervous, having a built-in SOS he can use anytime, anywhere should be a reassuring thing for him.
"That's great!" Iruma exclaims, his voice full of excitement.
"Alright, so this is gonna work a bit different from the other skills. You kinda activate it with intent, if that makes sense." I say, trying my best to explain the somewhat abstract concept.
"It doesn't…" he responds regretfully.
Great. Let's try this again…
[[Would you like me to take care of the explanation, Master?]]
Nah, I got this. I just need to give it another shot!
"Okaaay…so, you think words while having the intent of them reaching me. That's what opens the thought communication channel. Think about it like the difference between talking out loud to yourself and another person." I give Iruma a more thorough explanation.
Iruma struggles for a few minutes, closing his eyes and wearing a strained expression as he attempts to make it work, but he never pulls it off.
[[May I propose an alternative, Master?]]
Go ahead. I've tried explaining it to him but it isn't clicking. What's your idea?
[[I could once again modify the boy's ring, this time directly embedding a thought communication channel into a new setting for it.]]
Would that be easier for him to use?
[[Certainly.]]
"That's enough, Iruma. We're gonna try something else instead since this is too hard of a concept for you to grasp. Give me your right hand, please." I say before holding out my own hand to him.
"Why?"
"I need to mess with your ring again. This won't take more than a minute or so, so please just give me your hand."
"Mess with…m-my ring?" he stutters, looking nervous about the idea of his ring being worked on again. He didn't enjoy the experience last time, so I'm not surprised by this reaction.
"Instead of you using the skill directly, I'm gonna add a setting to the ring for you to use," I say, giving him my friendliest smile.
"Is this going to be like last time? Like…when you…you know..." he trails off, sounding unsure.
"Yes, but quicker. C'mon Iruma, just let me see that ring of yours! Don't you wanna use that new skill? You were so excited earlier!"
"Fine, fine…here…" Iruma says, finally giving in to my urging.
Ciel begins her work on the ring, only taking control of my hand while I'm left there standing awkwardly close to Iruma as we wait. He doesn't seem as bothered by the experience this time, although he's not enjoying it.
"Still feels weird…" he complains.
"Sorry, but that can't be helped."
An awkward moment of silence ensues before Iruma abruptly asks me something off-topic.
"What're they gonna do to Kiriwo? Did they tell you?" he asks, breaking the silence.
"He's still on your mind, huh? Well, his fate isn't decided yet. They're holding a hearing soon, is what I've been told, but I'm worried he might get off lightly."
"Why?! He almost killed hundreds?!" Iruma shouts and moves suddenly in exasperation. I'm forced to grab his wrist to keep his hand in place since his movements can mess up Ciel's modifications.
"Hey! Sit still, will ya?!" I sharply say, trying to get the boy to stop squirming so much.
"S-sorry…" he apologizes.
*sigh*"It's fine, I get how you feel about him. No matter how wrong his actions were, legally, he's considered a child and there were no casualties caused by his crime. I did a bit of studying in regards to the laws here, and according to that, he'll likely get a short sentence. Maybe a few years in jail at most? It's hard to say since it depends on the judge in charge of his case."
"That's not okay!…after what he did…"
"I'm pissed about it too…trust me, but it is what it is. Part of me wishes I roughed him up a bit more when I had my hands on him, but that's in the past now. We shouldn't dwell too much on it, or he'll win, in a way. He wanted to see you suffer, right? Don't give him that satisfaction, even from a distance."
Iruma nods his head, but I can tell he's not completely past this issue yet.
I'm trying my best to help Iruma with this since I can tell what happened is heavily weighing on him. There's a fine line separating learning a lesson from a negative experience and being permanently scarred by one, and if possible, I want to avoid him taking the second option. I feel personally responsible, to a certain extent, for Iruma's current state of mind since I did let things progress right up until the end, which caused this issue.
"It's done," I say after realizing that Ciel has finished.
The only difference I can see with the ring is to the left of the 'normal' setting is the abbreviation 'com', standing for communication.
Iruma is holding out his hand with his fingers spread apart, eyeing the ring with a curious look in his eyes.
"So, I rotate this bit just like I do for the other settings?" he asks.
"Yes, the main downside is that you can't use other skills while using the 'com' setting. It also only works for talking to me, since it's dependant on the connection I formed between us." I say, parroting the explanation Ciel gave me in advance. "Anything you think will be 'audible' to me while it's active, so keep your thoughts in check if you don't want me to know something! Hahaha!"
"I don't like the sounds of that…"
"Well, it's mainly for emergencies, so you don't have to worry too much. How 'bout you give it a shot?"
He reaches towards the ring and changes the setting to the new one.
{{I wonder if it worked?… I don't feel any different…}}
{{Oh, it worked all right!}}
{{So, you can hear this stuff?}}
{{Yes.}}
{{This is weird…but kinda cool!}}
{{Go ahead and turn it off before you think something rude! Hahaha!}}
{{I wasn't gonna, but okay…}}
"You can use that outside of emergencies if you want, but just like the other skills, it'll wear you out if you use it excessively," I warn him.
"Thanks, Rimuru! Sorry I dumped all that emotional stuff on you…"
"Don't feel bad about that! I said I would be here for you if you needed to talk about something." I say as I give the boy a reassuring smile.
"Heh, yeah, I guess you did…" Iruma replies sheepishly.
With my promise fulfilled, we call it a day. I'm still worried about Iruma, but after letting his feelings out he might start feeling better.
**The Next Morning**
I didn't bother sleeping last night, since I wasn't exactly in the mood. Too much is on my mind, and when I sleep while I'm like this, the dreams I have end up being disturbingly weird. Thankfully I don't need the stuff to function, so avoiding it is no problem at all.
I leave my room earlier than usual since I have to be at Babyls two hours earlier than my usual schedule. I replicate the Student Council uniform using my aura, just like I did with the normal one. I'm happy to finally be allowed to wear pants to school. I'm sick of wearing that stupid pink skirt every day.
Hah, lookin' good! I could get used to wearing this! I think to myself as I look at my reflection in the mirror.
[[Master, would you like me to arrange your hair for you?]]
Sure, if you want to.
Ciel's always loved messing with my hair. I'm not sure why it's so fun for her, but I don't like messing with the stuff myself, so it's a blessing that she enjoys it. I let her take control for a minute and she arranges my long hair into a single braid. I've been going with a ponytail while I'm here, but this seems more appropriate for this outfit. I wish I could just cut the stuff since it's so damn long, but I can't. Trust me, I've tried! The problem is that, since it's just an imitation of human hair, it's still a living part of my body made of the same stuff as the rest of me so it just regenerates within seconds of being severed. Ciel won't let me directly change its length either, since she considers my human form 'perfect'. I'm pretty sure the fact that she loves playing with it is also a contributing factor to her refusal.
After getting ready, I prepare to depart for school. Since Iruma isn't coming with me, I don't have to walk! I want to just teleport there but decide against it. The chance of being seen popping up out of nowhere is slim, but I nonetheless decide to fly instead. It's only marginally slower than teleportation in this case, and it won't grab any unwanted attention, so it's not a big deal. I also happen to like the feeling of the wind hitting my face as I go, I think it's refreshing.
I whip out a pair of wings just for show in case anyone happens to spot me and take off in the direction of Babyls. The cool morning air blows past me as I fly at a moderate speed, taking my time a little to enjoy the sunrise.
"Ahhhh…this feels nice…" I say out loud to nobody in particular as I enjoy the experience of soaring above the clouds as the sun peeks over the horizon.
I get to my destination in just a few short minutes and land outside the entrance before absorbing my wings back into my body. Someone I recognize is waiting for me outside of the school. It's Smoke, the purple girl I met yesterday.
"Hello, recruit!" Smoke greets me.
"Good morning! What're you doing out here? I thought I was a bit early…"
"The President instructed me to lead you to the Student Council's room since you weren't shown it yesterday. I needed to get out here before you arrived, so I got up early."
I did only see Ameri's office yesterday, but still…it's damn early right now! I hope she hasn't been waiting for me very long…I wasn't exactly hurrying on my way here today.
"Well, thank you."
"There's no need to thank me, I'm just doing my job." She says while giving me a small smile.
I follow her into the school and to the Student Council's room. We still have a few minutes before the other members are supposed to arrive. Ameri is off grabbing the other members from the dorms they're staying in so it's just me and Smoke in the room until then.
With nothing else to do, I look around the room, and am greeted by my mortal enemy…paperwork! Large stacks of the stuff piled on one of the tables. I've had to do shit-loads of this kind of stuff as the leader of Tempest, and I despise it!
"Um…what's all that?" I ask, pointing to the paper and hoping I'm wrong in my assumption that that's what we're going to be doing today.
"The Student Council is in charge of filing non-confidential paperwork and forms for the school. Some of those stacks need organizing, others need to be photocopied, and some need to be shredded. Taking care of those will be your first task as a recruit." Smoke explains.
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"By myself?"
"Correct."
Goddammit!
"Should I…get started? Before the other get here, I mean." I say, trying to hide how reluctant I am. I don't want to make a bad impression by complaining about the first thing they ask me to do.
"Go ahead. That stack right there needs to be copied, take them next door to the copy room and use the copier." She instructs and points at one of the stacks.
"S-sure…"
This looks like it's gonna be annoying to carry as is, being all loose…
I bind the stack together using some of my thread so it doesn't topple over mid-trip. Normally, I would just temporarily store the stack inside my stomach, but I'm standing right in front of this Smoke girl, so I need to be a bit more creative.
"What is it that you just did?" she asks, looking surprised by my solution.
"Well, the stack seemed a little precarious, so I bound it so it'll be easier to carry," I say casually, trying to gloss over the specifics of what I did.
"I understand that, but how? I've never seen magic like that before."
I guess I can't completely hide what I did. I'll just give her the simplest explanation possible.
"It's just a thread I made with magic, nothing too special," I explain casually, trying to make it seem completely normal.
"Do you intend on carrying that whole stack at once?"
"Yeah? I don't wanna make two trips. That'd be a waste of time, wouldn't it?"
With the instability taken care of, I scoop up the comically tall stack of papers in my arms. Even though Smoke's eyes are covered by her hair, I can tell she's surprised with how easily I lifted the 3-foot (AN: ~1 meter for all you metric-using folk) tall paper tower.
"Most of us don't take all of them at once like that, they're quite heavy after all. I'm surprised at how strong you are."
"Yeah, I don't look the part, do I?" I say with a chuckle while poking my head around the stack of papers in my arms so I can look her in the eyes.
"I wasn't going to go there, but yes." Smoke replies, laughing a little herself.
I carry the paperwork to the copy room.
This is gonna take too long…
A simple copy machine would take forever to go through this behemoth of a stack, so I decide to approach this task unconventionally.
Ciel, let's just copy this stuff inside my body. What do you think?
[[Yes, that would be much quicker than the alternative.]]
After consuming the papers I need to make copies of, I find some reams of paper sitting in the corner and absorb them too so I can use them to make the copies. Ciel then goes to work on them, making the needed copies in just a few seconds. I spit out the completed product, along with the originals. With the two identical stacks, carrying one in each arm, I return to the room I started in. I find it empty, so to save me the hassle of doing them in a way that looks normal in front of others, I take care of the other tasks Smoke mentioned. I swiftly organize the papers into neatly bound stacks of different categories and instantaneously destroy the papers that need 'shredding' by consuming them. Ciel takes the liberty of analyzing every single paper I've touched in the last few minutes since she's an info hoarder. It's mostly a bunch of useless stuff, but it may come in handy later for all I know.
Just as I finish, the door opens and the rest of the members walk inside, led by Ameri.
"Good morning everyone! I took care of all those papers just like Smoke told me to." I say while giving them a friendly smile. They all just stare at me with puzzled looks on their faces. "What's wrong? Did I mess up or something?" I ask, wondering why they're all gawking at me for just completing the task I was assigned.
"No, we just didn't expect you to finish so quickly. Smoke informed me that you left with the papers less than five minutes ago."
"I'm just that efficient?"
"But that copier…it is impossible for it to finish that fast! And you finished the other tasks as well? How are you already done?"
Whoops. I guess this is what I get for being impatient…
"Hehe…I have my methods."
Ameri shows a hint of irritation on her face at my non-answer.
"Well, since all that was taken care of ahead of schedule, that gives us more time to spend on our morning exercises. All of you, follow me outside!"
" " " "Yes, Boss!" " " " the four respond in unison.
Once we get outside, Ameri instructs us to run laps. Learning from my mistake with the copying a bit ago, I intentionally sync my pace up with the others to avoid suspicion. I even went the extra mile and pretended to be out of breath afterward! Mimicking sweating and making my face turn red with the help of Ciel, I think my performance was damn convincing! Yet, Ameri still looks unhappy with me?
We continue to perform different forms of exercise. Push-ups, sit-ups, etc. all in large quantities, by human standards. I haven't done anything like this since my reincarnation, since exercise doesn't do anything for me. Exercising for exercising's sake isn't productive for a slime, unlike the swordcraft training I did under Hakuro's instruction. Despite the irrelevance of the activity, I go along with it, keeping up my act of getting worn out by all this 'intense' training.
"Wow, Recruit! Nice job keeping up with us!" Johnny says.
"Yeah, you're quite athletic, aren't you?" Kimaris adds.
"I guess…" I say, still not knowing how to take compliments from these people. If I act all haughty, with being the newest member, it'll probably look bad. I don't want to outright ignore their praise though since that would be rude too.
The other members seem genuinely surprised that I was able to do everything that they did, which was not what I was going for.
Was I supposed to struggle more? I thought my acting was perfect!
[[The average demon at this school would not be able to tolerate such an intense routine without greater difficulty than you let on with your 'acting'.]]
That explains their reactions at least…
Lastly, now that other students are arriving, the Student Council is gonna do their morning patrol. Apparently, a newbie like me normally wouldn't be allowed to tag along, but since I 'proved myself' at the battler party, I'm an exception.
Ameri starts giving me a spiel about what to look out for and how to behave, but I only half-listen to her. We're supposed to be a 'shining example for the student body' blah, blah, blah…I do my best to appear like I'm listening. If she says something important, I'm sure Ciel will let me know. I'm much more focused on my surroundings than her words, which I believe is more important since this is a 'patrol'.
While she's going on and on about stuff I don't need her to tell me, something grabs my attention. It seems there's a fight among students in an adjacent hallway. None of the other Student Council members seem to have picked up on it as I have, so I say something.
"Hey, President?" I ask, interrupting her speech.
"What is it?"
"If I discover students fighting, can I intervene?"
"Yes, that is one of our duties."
"Okay."
And with that, I run off towards the fight, curbing my speed some so it doesn't look too ridiculous. Ameri has nothing to complain about if I do since I got permission. She can't stop me from doing what I want, but that doesn't mean I want to deal with her whining either. It would also mess up any rapport that I've built up with the other members if I pissed her off too much.
When I get there, I find an extremely lopsided situation. A group of four students is beating down a single one. Slamming him against the wall, punching him in the face, kicking him in the groin, you know, brutal stuff. I don't recognize any of the people involved, but they all look like older students.
"Look! The Student Council's here!" a spectator shouts after noticing me.
"But I don't recognize this one, are they new or something? They're alone too." Another adds.
"Wait…isn't that Rimuru Tempest? The Chairdemon's granddaughter and the highest-ranked first-year?" a third recognizes me.
"Yeah, I think she is! When did she join the Student Council?" a fourth spectator asks.
"I have no clue, but she sure looks good in that uniform!" the third answers.
Upon my arrival at the scene, some bystanders are showing fear, others are curious, and a few have less…savory views of me.
I'll never escape this kind of attention…I was hoping now that I'm not wearing that awful skirt that these dudes would stop with this shit, but it seems like it'll be unavoidable…
Ignoring the peanut gallery witnessing the fight, I concentrate on the aggressors and call out to them.
"Alright guys, that's enough!" I say sternly to the group. They all turn to look at me with anger burning in their eyes.
"What're you gonna do about it, little girl?" the leader asks tauntingly, not caring about the uniform I'm wearing. He then turns around and continues to pound on the poor victim, despite my presence.
Even if I wasn't much of a threat to him, wouldn't behavior like this piss off Ameri? The students here are terrified of her and won't act up when she's around, so disrespecting her newest subordinate is something you shouldn't do, or at least you would think that would be the case. I conclude that this guy's too thick-skulled to think that much ahead based on his crude reaction to my intervention.
From what I can tell, simply talking them down isn't gonna work, they're much too agitated right now. That leaves me with two viable options; intimidation or violence. Let's give the first a try, since beating up children isn't my thing. I've done enough fighting lately, so I want to avoid it if possible. Once I've calmed them down, they may be more willing to listen.
Ameri POV
You've got to be kidding me?!
As soon as I answered her, Rimuru just bolted off out of nowhere! She was so fast that I couldn't even follow her with my eyes, she was just a blur of motion before vanishing. I thought it was ridiculous that she kept up with us earlier during our run, but if she can move this fast, that must not have been the extent of her physical abilities. I can only speculate on why she left so suddenly, but based on her sudden question, she must have somehow detected that a fight was happening nearby.
Why does that girl keep outdoing me?! It's incredibly frustrating!
My subordinates are all standing still, shocked by Rimuru's sudden disappearance.
"President?"
"It seems our recruit has noticed that a fight is happening nearby, she is quite observant, which is part of the reason I had her join us." I hide the fact that I'm not happy with the situation and give my orders.
"But, how? I've never seen anyone notice something like that before you, Boss!"
"I am not infallible, that is why I need a team of capable people," I explain, still trying to hide my frustration.
"Still, I'm shocked at how well that girl is doing at every task. Rimuru is a remarkable individual, as to be expected from a descendant of one of the 'Three Greats'."
"Let's stop the chatter and follow her. She may need backup, especially since this is her first day." I say to my team, but I don't completely believe my own words. Rimuru can handle herself in breaking up a simple fight, so our assistance is likely unneeded.
We all run in the assumed direction Rimuru went. This takes some guesswork since she's so fast, but I could discern the general direction Rimuru moved. When I turn the corner, I discover a tense situation; a standoff between the small blue-haired girl and four large upperclassmen. I stop at a decent distance, along with my group, and decide to observe.
One of the four is clearly the leader and likely the instigator of this confrontation. There is also a fifth student slumped against the wall, beaten and bloodied. A large group of innocents is watching this unfold, curious as to how this issue will be resolved by a lone Rimuru. She's quite famous, especially among the underclassmen, having earned a reputation as someone you shouldn't mess with. Surprisingly, the culprits seem to have not gotten the memo and are treating her like any normal student.
Rimuru briefly glances in my direction and gives me a thumbs-up, indicating that she has this under control. I'm reluctant to just stand around, but I did agree not to interfere if Rimuru says that she can handle something without help. I could give the excuse that she never clearly stated that she didn't want my help, but that would just make her mad, which is counterproductive to accomplishing my goal.
"I said, that's enough! Back down and surrender!" she commands the four upperclassmen.
"No way!" one of them shouts in response.
All four of them begin to lunge at Rimuru but are abruptly frozen in their tracks a mere couple of feet away from her. I feel a cold chill and see an almost unnoticeable amount of dark mist emanating from my newest battler member. The feeling I get is reminiscent of the strange phenomenon that happened at the battler party, that incredibly oppressive aura that nearly brought me to my knees. Yet, this time it's exponentially weaker, not permeated by the same level of anger as before, making it much easier to tolerate.
Having quickly the connection between the two incidents, my level of apprehension when it comes to the subject of Rimuru Tempest has skyrocketed. I knew she was powerful, but if she was responsible for that surge back then, that means that I underestimated her still.
"Hey, all of you just standing around watching! This isn't a show, so move along!" she says, her words piercing like icy daggers. The observing students quickly disperse, not wanting to deal with her intimidation.
"Now that the crowd's gone, I can teach you a little lesson. You know that this type of fighting is against school rules, let alone screwed up in general. Four on one is a dirty way to fight; if you wanted to settle your differences, stacking the odds so highly in your favor is a scumbag move." Rimuru begins to lecture the four like a teacher or parent, embodying that demeanor perfectly, despite that terrifying air about her still being present.
The perpetrators have nothing more to say in response, still petrified by Rimuru's intimidation factor. My subordinates and I watch on, curious about her handling of this.
"It's not very productive either. Beating each other up doesn't help the other party understand your viewpoint. Words are much more effective for stuff like that." She continues.
Rimuru's intimidation fades, causing everyone in the vicinity to breathe a sigh of relief. The anger in the perpetrators has subsided, leaving behind an eerie calm in the hallway.
"So, why'd you do it?" she asks, now sounding much more amicable as she attempts to get the leader to open up about his motive.
"That asshole…made moves on my girl…"
"I…didn't even know she was dating anyone!... I swear!" The victim shouts after hearing the head bully's justification.
Rimuru frowns and rolls her eyes, looking annoyed by the moronic and immature reason for such a vicious beating.
"So this was all over some stupid high-school love triangle? Well, let me give you some advice; if your girlfriend's a keeper, she'll brush off his advances and stick with you. If you're so insecure that you feel the need to round up your groupies to beat the shit out of someone for something like that, your relationship has more problems than outside parties trying to interfere."
The boy accepts her words, now looking sullen at that realization. Any anger or aggressiveness in his demeanor is long gone, leaving behind regret.
She not only diffused the situation but is attempting to fix the root of the culprit's motivation? How is someone her age able to make such cool-headed decisions in this tense situation?
I'm amazed by the finesse that Rimuru showed in handling the confrontation. Her language was somewhat crude, but the message she got across with it was genuine and well thought out, showing a maturity beyond her years. She also embodied the meaning behind her own words, solving the situation with dialogue and not violence. Rimuru may have used some kind of magic to intimidate them, but still avoided physical means to reach her goal of diffusing the situation.
"Hey, I think we should grab the teachers so they can punish these guys. He needs to go to the infirmary too since those wounds are no joke." Rimuru says, finally directly addressing me and my team.
"Yes, that is the proper procedure. Grave, take that boy to the infirmary." I command.
"Yes, President!" Grave responds dutifully.
"Wow, Recruit, you've impressed me again!" Smoke says.
"Eh, she might've done better, I just did what I felt was right." Rimuru shrugs and gestures towards me.
Rimuru POV
The warning bell suddenly rings, indicating that classes will start in 15 minutes.
"Oh, it's time for that already? Well, am I dismissed, President Ameri?" I ask.
"Yes, all of you are dismissed." She says, causing the members to disperse. "Thank you for your work this morning. I will see you during lunch period, we will have our meal as a group."
"Uh, is it okay if I sit with Iruma? He probably missed walking to school with me today, so I should spend some time with him."
"If he misses you, he can join us today…if he wants…" she says, now looking noticeably more nervous. Her cheeks are bright red from just thinking about Iruma. How cute.
She really does take every opportunity she can to spend time with that boy, doesn't she?
"Oh, so that's the angle you're gonna go? Smooth move, Ameri!" I reply, giving her a knowing grin.
"Stop that! Don't call me that in public!" she protests, now blushing even more.
"Nobody's around, so it's fine! If you wanna spend time with him that bad, I suppose I could ask him if he wants to."
*clears throat* "Yes, please do." She says, trying to reestablish her proud demeanor.
"Haha, okay, see ya later then!"
I can't help but find it funny how much she changes when the subject of my 'brother' comes up. Despite all that effort she puts into being serious, one person's name being mentioned is all it takes to completely shatter that façade.
Well, time to go ask Iruma what he wants to do. I start heading towards homeroom, which is with Kalego, of course. When I walk in the door, he's the only person inside, since most of this class tends to show up at the last second. Upon noticing me, he looks me up and down while wearing a disgusted look.
"Hey, ogling students is a no-no, ~Professor~!" I say teasingly, trying to annoy the jerk.
"I was doing nothing of the sort!" he asserts, flustered by my accusation.
"Hahaha! Suuure…~whatever you say~…" I continue to needle the guy, causing his face to turn an even deeper shade of red.
"You impertinent little-…I was just making note of that uniform! Why would they let a troublemaker like you join the Student Council?!"
"You know what happened at the battler party. That should be enough of an explanation for you." I say, having dropped the obnoxious tone.
"Tch."
I sit down at my table near the back of the room, waiting for the other 'misfits' to arrive. The first one through the door is Jazz.
"Sup!" he says. I notice that he's staring at me, so I comment on it.
"Hey, Jazz. Are you thinking about trying to steal this again?" I ask, holding up my hand with my Demon Lord's ring on it. I'm mainly just teasing the guy since he hasn't tried anything since the time I stopped him.
Despite his bad habit of snatching up anything that's not nailed down, Jazz isn't a bad guy. From what he's told me, his family has a strong compulsion to steal things, it's in his genetics, so it's not his fault he's like this. I've tried to get along with him better since I feel a little bad about scaring him.
"Oh, hell no! I've learned my lesson, trust me! I'm just looking at that uniform, it's seriously cool!"
"Thanks, man. It's my first day wearing it."
"How was it? The Student Council, I mean. They're pretty damn crazy about rules and regulations, so I'd think it'd be a drag."
"Not as bad as you'd think. Earlier, I broke up a fight where four upperclassmen were wailing on one guy. They were fighting over a girl."
"By yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Damn; that makes you even scarier!"
"No need to call me that; I was just doing my job! I know I got mad at you before, but as long as you don't pull shit like that, I'm not a scary person!"
"It's not something you need to be insecure about! Being talented at intimidation is something you should be proud of. It's something all demons need to be good at to a certain degree." Jazz responds.
"Hey, you two! What're you talking about?" Lead interrupts.
"Oh, good morning Lead." I greet the boy. I've been talking to him more too since he's close friends with Jazz.
"We're just talking about how Rimuru here joined the Student Council." Jazz says, pointing at me.
"Hehe, good luck dealing with their President. She's a tough cookie!" Lead responds.
"I'm sure Rimuru can handle her, though, she's tough too." Jazz retorts.
"Yeah, nobody can mess with her, not even the Professor!" Lead adds.
Kalego is now glaring at us from the front of the room, not amused by their comments. Having already pushed him to the edge, more irritation will just cause problems.
"I already pissed the guy off earlier, so I think you two should stop provoking him."
The two boys just laugh, but listen to my warning and take their seats. The rest of the class files in over the next few minutes, including Iruma. A few more of them comment on my new uniform, but our interactions are brief.
"Iruma!"
"Yes?"
"Ameri wants you to eat lunch with the Student Council today, are you up for that?"
"No! I won't let Lady Redhair steal Iruma-chi from me!" Clara says aggressively, now clinging to Iruma's arm.
"Calm down Clara, it's fine." He pats the girl on the head, but she doesn't let go. "But I don't know any of the other members. Are you sure they will be okay with me being there?"
"I know I just met them recently, but they're not bad people. Since Ameri likes you, I'm sure they wouldn't mind you joining them for lunch."
"I guess I could…I feel a bit weird about it though…"
And with that, it's decided. I have Iruma text the girl to let her know he's agreed to join us at lunch.
Author's Note: I've had a bad habit of cutting out the side characters, and I'm regretting it. I plan on adding more interactions with Rimuru and Iruma's classmates to flesh them out a bit to fix those issues. Some of them are one-note characters in the source material, but I think I can come up with some clever scenarios with them. The main plot will probably get dragged out a bit, but I think that's fine. If anyone has any favorites they want me to focus on, when it comes to side characters, I'm up for suggestions.
(Don't suggest Eiko, I know I haven't written anything about her in a while (sorry), but I have some plans in mind for her. I might even do an entire 'extra' chapter about her in the next few weeks, or if I don't do that, an entire custom mini-arc of some sort? I haven't made up my mind yet.)