Chapter Text
When the blue-haired boy approached him for the last time, with the intent to finally finish the duel, Asmodeus Asmodeus did not have the strength or the willpower to fight back at all.
The pain in his neck was the greatest pain, but the blows to his head and face were extremely disorienting. He could hear the crowd on every side of him, and Iruma’s voice mixed in with it in a way where he couldn’t distinguish where Iruma’s voice was coming from, all he could use to find the boy's direction was a blue blur through his teary eyes that seemed to be approaching. He saw the figure too late to do much, if anything.
“Goodnight.” Was what the blue-haired boy said loud enough for the crowd to hear.
“I’m sorry.” Was whispered to Asmodeus right after.
Only after an unknown amount of time did he wake up. He had been expecting to wake up in the courtyard with the other boy sneering down at him, the winner always stayed at the site of the duel with the unconscious loser after all, to show everyone that he had won, and to gloat about his victory. The time at the site of the duel was the most important for any demon who at least valued their own image above others.
Usually the victor would demand the loser become a servant the moment the loser woke up in pain, at the site of the duel.
Despite everything that had transpired, Asmodeus woke up in the infirmary of all places.
They had fought, Asmodeus had started arrogantly with the intention of reclaiming his lost honour and pride. Iruma had fought to defend himself, despite not knowing why at first. That in itself was strange, he should have known the pride of the Asmodeus family knows no limits. Though, he seemed to know their arrogance knew no limits, and they were kind of the same thing.
Another thing the Asmodeus heir was expecting was for his bag to have been damaged or stolen, to the victor go the spoils after all, yet his bag was placed neatly at the end of the bed. It was the right of the strong to bully and harass the weak, and Asmodeus was clearly weaker than Iruma. By a large margin as well.
“Ah, you’re finally awake. You wouldn’t believe what happened to you.” The person in the infirmary said.
“I understand that I lost the duel between myself and the honour student, Iruma Suzuki Sullivan. Can you tell me what happened?” Asmodeus asked the black-haired man on duty that morning.
“Just under an hour ago, Iruma carried you here, followed by a blonde girl with your bag. I don’t understand why, only that that was something that is highly unusual among winners of duels. I checked your bag and nothing seems missing, as far as I can tell. You have your notepad and pen, your pocket money, a planner for your schedule and even your hellphone. If I had to guess, I don’t even know why anyone would carry their opponent here, especially you. You were a strong opponent, so he should have been especially focused on showing off the fact he beat you.” Blushenko informed him.
“I recommend asking him, he doesn’t seem like an unreasonable type, and I have reason to believe he hadn’t wanted to steal your chance on stage earlier as well.” The nurse explained. “He said his grandpa was the one who had written the script and that he had given you multiple opportunities to back off and stop fighting as well.”
Asmodeus looked back on the fight that he could remember with shocking clarity, and remembered that Iruma had in fact told him about his grandpa, and about just stopping the fight and parting ways.
“Was I a moron, professor?” Asmodeus asked meekly.
With all of the grace and professionalism he could muster, the nurse nodded. “You were.”
Asmodeus had, in fact, been a moron.
“The kid didn’t seem to want to hurt you and acted in self defence, from what I gathered. The public would disagree though, due to the rumours about the duel spreading far and wide.”
Asmodeus remembered the crowd that had surrounded the battleground where the duel happened, a small but open courtyard. They had, at first, been on his side, but had quickly switched.
He should have listened to Iruma, it was clear by his continued dodging up until the last minute that he hadn’t wanted to fight despite being a stronger demon, and most likely a better fighter. Everything about the fight pointed to that conclusion.
“Very well then. Thank you professor, for your honesty. I’ll go and try to find him, to make amends.’ Asmodeus got up from the bed he had been put in and dusted himself off. It seemed, though, that his uniform had been cleaned and repaired using magic while he was asleep.
“That’s a smart idea. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you again, now that you’ve set aside your arrogance. If you don’t find him as soon as you’d like, try the cafeteria or the chairdemon’s office.” The nurse advised, and Asmodeus left.
At the hallway intersection there was a sign board that gave directions to the nearest facilities and classes. He quickly skimmed it, and at the bottom it said that the administration wing was in the direction of path D, back past the infirmary in the opposite direction.
‘Arts… A
Astrology… A
Classroom Lectures… B
…
…
…
INFIRMARY, PATH D
ADMINISTRATION WING, PATH D’
He doubled back on himself and passed the infirmary again, heading straight to the administration wing.
As he walked, he overheard people discussing the latest news about the duel. Some snickered upon noticing him, but none said anything too loudly. The duel was over, and the winner was decided. Only the cowardly would target someone who had already fought someone that day, as it was believed that a duel a day was the most a person could reasonably handle, and by targeting an exhausted person you were already proving some kind of weakness.
He approached the most ornate door in the administration wing and knocked, silencing the conversation that was happening just inside.
“-The Misfit Class! That’s where you’ll be going, alongside-” Was all he heard before he knocked, but despite Sullivan putting his grandson in the Misfit class the chairdemon actually sounded pleased, instead of angry or disappointed.
It was almost guaranteed that the chairdemon was the one who had forced his grandson onto the stage after all.
Asmodeus only entered when he was told to enter, and he entered with his back ramrod straight.
Iruma, the honour student, was sitting in a chair near the back of the room, out of the way, and instead of greeting the chairdemon, Asmodeus followed the protocol for his exact situation. He spoke to the person who had won against him before anyone else, as was dictated by the ancient code of conduct.
Alice Asmodeus, the heir of the Asmodeus family, dropped to one knee elegantly before the honour student after nodding to the chairdemon and crossing the room.
“Iruma Suzuki Sullivan, I am here to formally declare my loss to you. In our duel, you beat me, fairly and thoroughly. As the loser of our duel, by the Laws of the Netherworld that each citizen and inhabitant must follow, I am to become your servant and serve you with utmost loyalty for the rest of my life. Upon my name, Alice Asmodeus, and the honour my name and lineage bestows upon me, I solemnly swear, Master Iruma, to serve you with every fibre of my being.”
The honour student appeared mortified at the revelation. It was natural he’d feel anger or revulsion, Asmodeus had attacked him repeatedly in the ‘duel’ that Iruma hadn’t even wanted to be a part of.
“Please, um, Asmodeus, stand up?” The other boy ordered hesitantly.
Asmodeus raised his head and stood up slowly. The other boy appeared nervous, for some reason, so Asmodeus avoided any sudden movements.
“As I was saying, darling grandson, after your victory and with young Asmodeus here now being your servant, I am putting you two in the same class.” The chairdemon said cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to the mood.
Master Iruma swallowed and the little ‘gulp’ sound could be heard in the entire room.
“I see, that’s reassuring at least. Is there anything else I should be aware of?” He asked.
In Asmodeus’s opinion, such a question was a good one. Being prepared was something he admired, and as such, his admiration for the boy who had beaten him deepened.
Sullivan grinned beneath his handlebar moustache.
“Actually, my boy, there is! The classes are just about decided, we’re finalising the classes after lunch, as well as the groups of classes that will prepare for the school year. There will be four groups of about 40 students who’ll all be preparing to summon their familiars and stuff tomorrow! Also, something I recommend you go and see is the diabotany tower! Professor Suzy has the infirmary covered when it comes to medicinal plants and other plants for various battlers, or ‘clubs’ as you’d be more familiar with, such as mana replenishments for the magic battler, stamina boosters for the various sports and combat battlers, and even some exotic mushrooms for the torture battler! She’s also known to help first-years often, by giving directions or writing letters of recommendation for certain after school activities.”
“Ohh, diabotany sounds like a useful subject, will it be an optional or mandatory class?” Iruma asked.
“That, my boy, is something you can ask Suzy Stolas herself! As for your servant here, the servitude of a duel loser usually actually starts the following day despite being declared after the duel, so you don’t have to take Asmodeus here under your wing yet.” Sullivan informed his grandson. Master Iruma sighed and smiled.
“Very well. Alice Asmodeus, for the sake of our mental health, I’d like you to take the rest of today to look around the school normally as previously planned. I will be doing the same. Then, tomorrow, we can catch up with each other and discuss our findings. If we happen to bump into each other in the hallways, we can talk briefly then as well. Does that sound acceptable?”
Asmodeus was the other boy’s servant, he shouldn’t have a say in whether his Master’s commands were acceptable or not. Sullivan watched on in rapt interest.
“That’s more than acceptable Master Iruma!”
“Then it’s settled. You may go and continue your day, Asmodeus.”
Asmodeus finally left Sullivan’s lavish office. On any other occasion a demon had to address the highest-ranked demon in the room first, but due to an old law, the first conversation between a newly-formed pair with the master-servant relationship had to take priority. Therefore, he couldn’t prioritise the chairdemon or even speak to him much at all. It was weird, but it seemed that the chairdemon was also willing to respect the rules and let his grandson and Asmodeus talk for a while. He was grateful, though, in a sense.
He could tell that his new Master was a magnanimous demon who treated all others with some modicum of respect, and such a demon would make the perfect master, someone who’d treat their servants with respect and dignity. He couldn’t have lost to a better demon at all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime introduction.
Not that their first impressions of each other were absolutely skewed in Asmodeus’s disfavour.
However, he had been told that he had to continue his day as previously planned, and that meant he had to walk around various classes, and also retrieve his textbooks from the storeroom on the first floor of the first-year building.
He could think about his new Master some other time.
Right? Right???
Actually that was wrong, he knew he’d find himself thinking about his Master anyway, so he realised that holding back would just be frustrating. He still had to visit the torture classroom and the astrology tower, and after that he’d be getting his textbooks. He had plenty of time to think.
He wondered what classes Master Iruma would be taking. For every demon of strong lineages, combat classes were a must.
Art was also helpful as it gave demons more history lessons in the form of art history, context behind paintings and even helped them form broader opinions about more of the world.
Would he take combat classes focusing more on his body or magic?
Diabotany or pharmacology? Or both?
What magic would he decide to specialise in? Asmodeus had chosen fire, and most other demons usually stuck to one, maybe two elements for combat spells.
Has Master Iruma already chosen an element and is already proficient in it?
If so, why keep it a secret?
Or why not keep it a secret? After all, knowledge is power, and if people knew, they’d be able to use it against him.
Was he built for speed, endurance, agility or strength?
Could he actually be focused on healing, hence why he didn’t attack with magic, but fists? Actually that made little sense. If he could heal, he’d have healed him at the scene to flaunt his power more, and to avoid having to carry him.
Or would he? Truly he couldn’t grasp everything about the other boy from his actions alone.
What if Master Iruma was vaguely proficient with every element, all eight? It was rare but not unheard of.
Perhaps he preferred extreme elemental combos, like fire and ice, or earth and lightning? That way he’d never have his element nullified in a fight. That was also rare, but not unheard of.
What was his favourite weapon? Torture device? Food?
What classes would he be taking?
Which classes would be his favourites?
Would he like demonic history or be bored by it? Asmodeus himself found it nice if the teacher had a certain vocal range and type, but professors with tired or dull voices made him feel drowsy. Not that he’d ever show it.
Would he see seduction as a class that was only essential for women, as it had stood for centuries, or would he be the type to ask if anybody knew of any seduction classes for men, just to better woo a potential partner in future?
How would he see astrology? Essential, optional, or redundant at the very best?
Zoology? Asmodeus disliked the focus on creatures that didn’t exist, but whenever a class cropped up about animals in the demon realm he enjoyed it. His enjoyment of that subject essentially depended on if the teacher taught the mythical part of ‘mythical’ zoology more than the actual ‘zoology’ part. Real animals were helpful to know about for ingredients, pelts and other materials. Mythical animals were useless to him.
By the time he had finished that train of thought, he had located where his classes would be, picked up his textbooks and was already waiting by the diabotany tower, hoping to ‘accidentally’ cross Master Iruma in the hallway.