A Demon's Tale

Fire.

An immense amount of fire.

The house that had once been there, was no longer there.

It lit up the night in a horrifying way, and danced around the survivors, as if laughing at them.

???: [Why…..]

Nothing made sense.

What had been done, that allowed for an action such as this

???: [WHY?!]

A scream, asking the fire why it had decided to engulf what was once there, had roared into the night.

△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼

This boy.

This boy had been different to everyone she previously met.

There was something about him that was completely different from anyone she knew. He was polite, but much more than just simply being polite. He was polite to the highest degree. Similar to this, he had also been incredibly kind. There wasn’t a single trace of any negative emotion in his words or face.

Despite just meeting him, Shiro had felt as if she was able to see straight through him clearly. As if there was nothing else to him other than a genuine kindness for others in his heart.

Shiro: [I see. Well it’s nice to meet you, Nero. My name is–]

Nero: [Ah! I’ve made a grave error! I apologize greatly! My name is Nero Virtuoso! I forgot my last name while introducing myself, so I had to repeat myself once more. Ah! And my sister has the same last name as well of course! I’m very sorry, sister!]

Mena: [That is quite alright, brother! We make mistakes after rushing, so it’s fair to forget things like the extra pieces to an introduction statement! Yes, miss, as you have heard, my name is Mena. Mena Virtuoso. It’s good to meet you!]

Nero: [Ah! Oh no! I barely even noticed I interrupted her before she could introduce herself! I’m incredibly sorry miss!]

Shiro: [It’s fine, it’s fine. This dynamic is a little out of the norm for me so it kinda threw me off a bit anyways. But right, introductions. My name is Shiro Fuloreen. It’s good to meet the two of you.]

While their introductions had been rather odd, Shiro had introduced herself to the kind brother and sister duo that had been standing in front of her, along with the duo fixing their introductions up as well.

Nero: [Well, seeing as we’re late for the bus, shall we all walk together? The next bus seems to be running late from the schedule I had checked. So it likely would be faster to just walk to school.]

Mena: [Plus, that’s great for us! Some extra exercise in the day never hurt anybody!]

Shiro: [I’m not entirely sure walking to school for a singular day would be that insane of a difference on the body, but sure! If the next bus takes a while then I don’t mind having a chat while we make our way to school.]

And so, the three of them had begun to make their way to school on foot. All the while, discussing topics with one another.

Nero: [So, Miss Shiro, I noticed the dark ring around your eyes. Are you perhaps a demon like us, or rather, more specifically, a high ranking succubus?]

Shiro: [Oh? You noticed that pretty quickly. Although I guess it’s kinda hard to not see. But yeah, I am. Not only that, but I was also born with divine chi. So I guess I won the lottery on the succubus creation wheel.]

Mena: [Divine chi?! You’re just like my brother! It’s truly incredible that we were able to meet someone else who has it!]

Shiro: [You have it as well Nero? Gosh, it feels like there’s a divine chi bargain sale going around.]

Nero: [It’s very rare that someone is born with it, but yes. I just so happen to have it as well. So that makes the two of us. That statement however, was odd. Is there anyone else you’ve met with it?]

Shiro: [The girl I’m staying in the same dorm as, Kōkatsu is her name. She has it as well from what I understand. To top it off, she’s also a high ranking kitsune. The type with nine tails.]

Mena: [YOU MEAN THE KŌKATSU?!]

Shiro: [Huh? Is she popular or something?]

Nero: [This is our first year here, but Kōkatsu is a name known quite well around the school. She’s been here for the last two years, and much like the things you listed about her, she’s feared as an unstoppable force.]

Shiro: [Unstoppable force?]

Nero: [There was a group of people in the school who liked to try and pick fights with anyone who had divine chi, or was of a high ranking status. Due to the fact that they acted as a group, they also fought like one. They’d often beat down on those who had such qualities quite easily, and usually, those people would be injured to a point that they’d be afraid to come back. From there, they’d end up leaving the school, or staying in their dorms until they were kicked out.]

Shiro: [That’s horrible…Wait, staying in their dorms till they were kicked out…is that what happened to Kōkatsu? She mentioned she hasn’t gone back to school in a while, and just stays in her dorm. Then again, she also mentioned they probably don’t want to kick her out so now I’m confused.]

Nero: [No, Kōkatsu was quite a difference in scenario. In fact, she’s the reason that group is no longer here.]

Shiro: [Huh?]

Nero: [Kōkatsu had started her first day two years ago. When that had happened, the group attempted to walk up to her and ask her their usual questions. When they found that she fit both criterias, they were ready to beat her down, along with having their way with her given how she had looked.]

Shiro: [Those scumbags! So what happened?]

Nero: [Every bone in their arms were broken, along with their noses. Every single one of them was brutally beaten to a pulp. Kōkatsu beat all of them down to an inch of their life, and had not a single injury to herself. Her final statement to them was something along the lines of, and excuse my language here, “Next time you dumbasses try that shit to me or anyone else again, you won’t be able to tell your face from your ass! Yahahahaha!”]

Shiro: [Shit. I’m glad I got on her good side. I definitely don’t wanna piss her off anytime soon!]

Shiro had silently thought to herself what a terrifying predicament she could have been in, had she decided to anger Kōkatsu enough.

Shiro: [I guess that makes sense why she’s a large figure around the school. Plus her naturally born abilities, it adds up on why the gods are keeping her here if she’s willing to stay. As long as there’s a slim chance of interest in starting school again, that’s likely good enough for them.]

Kōkatsu was a being like no other. To the higher ups, she was the perfect candidate to become a goddess. Even if she had not enjoyed the idea of doing the boring paperwork, if they could possibly convince her to take the tests at some point in time then that was enough for them. She was righteous, powerful, and despite being slightly rude at times, she was rather kind to those weaker and younger than her.

Shiro: [By the way, Nero. I was curious about something.]

Nero: [Oh? What is it?]

Shiro: [Usually, there’s a general way to tell the races of others pretty easily from defining traits on their bodies. But I’m not too sure what the two of you are. There is one thing though that feels like it’s pointing me in the correct direction. While there are different types of demons, many of us have very little to no noticeable traits at all. Especially for those that rank lower than the high ones.]

Nero: [Oooo, I like where this is going. Do proceed!]

Shiro: [There’s one specific category of demons that don’t have a defining trait, unless they purposefully bring it out. Kinda like how succubi and incubi can bring out their horns and wings. Speaking of horns, that’s exactly what I’m referring to.]

Mena: [I think she has us figured out brother!]

Shiro: [I’m gonna take a wild guess here, and say that you two are oni, aren’t you?]

As soon as Shiro guessed that they had been of the Oni category of the demon race, Nero and Mena had begun to clap.

Nero: [Nicely done, Miss Shiro! I can definitely see you becoming one of the gods with these extravagant deductions!]

Mena: [My brother and Shiro are both truly worthy to become gods! How exciting!]

After hearing their words of praise, Shiro had begun to blush and look away.

Shiro: [I mean I’m not that good or anything. I just tried to make some guesses and stuff. It’s nothing to me.]

Nero: [To fully affirm it, yes. We are of the oni race. I myself, was born with some rather long horns. Thus giving me a high ranking status as an oni. My little sister has some decently sized horns as well. So while she may not have the same high ranking status as I do, she is still great nonetheless!]

Mena: [Being just great or anything of the sort doesn’t matter to me anyways! Because my brother will be the one to gain the title of a god!]

Shiro: [That reminds me. You said you were born with divine chi, right Nero? So if that’s the case, is your sister here to participate in becoming a god as well? I guess there is the whole seeing if you’re compatible thing, but it’s still a little odd from some of the things I’m hearing.]

Nero: [I may be the one with divine chi, but my sister would like to try her luck as well to see if she has what it takes to become one. However, I believe she can do it! One hundred percent! No! One hundred and one percent!]

Mena: [Plus, even if it doesn’t work out, I’ll get to see my brother take the steps to becoming one! I’ll see him go from the fantastic brother I know to the fantastic, godly brother that I’ll soon know!]

Shiro: [I see. Makes a decent bit of sense then. It’s nice to see two siblings as supportive of each other as you two are.]

Not long after Shiro had said this, they had finally arrived at the school. A massive castle-like building waited ahead.

Shiro: [Damn. So this is where we’ll be learning huh? It’s gigantic.]

Nero: [Yes, it truly is spectacular to see! Unfortunately though, we’re rather late now, so I believe we should all head to our homerooms post haste!]

Shiro: [Yeah, you’re right. We should probably do that and fast. Alright, it was great speaking to the two of you! I hope all goes well!]

Nero: [The same to you, Miss Shiro! May we meet again at lunch!]

Mena: [Bye, Miss Shiro!]

As they waved off to one another, Shiro and the two siblings were now separated. The school day had now begun.

△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼

As she got to her class, she noticed that people were still unpacking their things, speaking to one another, and they were not in the middle of a lesson.

She felt relieved that she had technically made it on time for today at least, and was able to put her mind at ease for the time being.

Shiro had gone through the desks to find where her name was, before finding it on the middle desk of the second row.

She sat down, got her things ready, and was prepared to start the school day.

Not long after she had gotten ready, the teacher for the class had arrived.

Teacher: [Alright class. Now this may be our first day here, but we already have quite the special announcement!]

Odd. Normally the first day of school in any class just begins. There’s no special part to it. You just learn the names of your fellow students and teachers, and they learn your name as well.

Teacher: [For the first time in quite a while, we have a student who has decided to join us after quite a long while!]

A student who hasn’t been here for quite a long while? Maybe they were suspended or something by chance? Or they just didn’t feel like coming for a while? Come to think of it, Nero had mentioned to Shiro that Kōkatsu beat up the group of people that had been harassing those with divine chi or were of high ranking status. Maybe one of the previous people who were beat up by that group were still around and decided now was the perfect time to join the class.

Teacher: [Please give a warm welcome everyone…]

Surely that had to be it, right?

Teacher: [...to Kōkatsu Kurami!]

Shiro: [Eh…?]

From the doorway, a kitsune with nine tails had walked in. Orange hair. A blue and white kimono, with the upper part of it open. Sharp orange eyes.

It was her.

She walked over and sat at her named desk with her legs spread open.

The desk directly to the left of Shiro.

Kōkatsu: [Heh. Hey Shiro. ’S nice that we have the same homeroom class, right?]

Shiro: [EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!]

A scenario that she could have never expected, was playing out before her.

Kōkatsu, the woman who hadn’t shown up to class since her first day here, two years ago, was sitting right next to Shiro at this exact moment.

△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼