Ichiro Ogura's Story

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It was already late morning as a trail of thick smoke puffed quickly through the air along behind the tall figure that walked down the hallway in a rather hasty fashion. His name was Memphis, the newly appointed Headmaster of the Academy – a demon no less who has been put in charge of influencing the young minds of those he was suppose to help and guide in their time at the school. Quick steps echoed through the hall as he made his way to his office, a half-burnt out cigarette hanging over the side of his lower lip as he bit down hard and inhaled a deep breath.

Upon his arrival there had been a few changes put in place which caused some minor issues for the demon to deal with, such as new students arriving and the removal of old ones. Due to this the morning class had been delayed for a short time which allowed the students to wander the academy in the meantime, awaiting some form of structure to their day. However some may notice that some of their classmates were not around and the headmaster could only hope he explained things soon to avoid any unnecessary uprising amongst the youths.

"What a palaver." He sighed and dropped his shoulders, before nudging the door open and heading into his office, though only for a moment. The morning so far had been less than organized and the demon needed to get things on track – which meant getting the students to class and his colleagues in order, especially since he hadn’t met any of his staff yet though he assumed they had been made aware of his sudden arrival – somehow. He quickly made his way over to his desk – well it was his now though some of the prior headmasters belongings were still there – and accessed the academy’s intercom system.

"Attention students this is your new acting Headmaster. I realize this morning has been a bit chaotic but for now if you would, make your way to your designated classroom – that is an order. Mr. Kurayami, Mr. Akigawa and Miss Rayne, you are also wanted at class." Short but to the point. That was Memphis.

The intercom system was connected to every location within the academy, so all the students should have heard him and hopefully would begin to make their way to their classroom. Likewise his staff too. Turning the demon took his leave and exited the office, before making his way down to the classroom. With a shrug he continued on his way down the hallway, raising a hand as he ran it through his hair and unenthusiastically thought of how endless the day already felt. What was he suppose to do with these kids? What were they even like? The demon smirked a little as his curiosity grew and soon enough he arrived at the classroom and made his way in, opening and closing the door behind him as he took a seat at one of the desks. Swinging his legs up he rested the heel of his boots against the surface of the desk, leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms against his chest. After all no one was about so he could make himself comfortable in the meantime, as he parted his lips slightly and let his burnt cigarette fall to the floor, before popping out another that quickly replaced the former and the demon inhaled deeply.

"Well, looks like the fun will begin soon enough." The demon yawned a little and stretched his legs. The teachers ought to arrive soon, and maybe even some students might arrive early! But he wouldn't hold his breath. "Maybe I should plan out exactly what we’re going to be doing for this class – or even what I’m going to say." He huffed, digging into one of his pockets as he brought out a crumpled piece of paper with his crude handwriting scribbled all over it. Looking over the notes he then reached over, grabbing a clipboard with names jotted down on it – presumably the students of the class, and began familiarizing himself with the names and information.

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Cleo was wide awake and already up and about the academy. Since their morning class had been delayed for a wee bit of time, the feline figured she’d grab something to snack on in the meantime until told otherwise. Whilst in the cafeteria the girl prowled around and looked at what was on offer, eyeing up all the goodies before settling on an apple and a packet of chocolaty-treats. After all breakfast was an important meal and the girl was set on not missing it!

“Maybe I should bring something for Buggie and Ichi." She pondered for a moment, snatching up some treats for the boys before stuffing them all into her pockets. Reaching over she swiped another packet of chocolates before walking away contently. As she was about to bite into her apple her ears perked up at that moment as an unfamiliar voice suddenly filled the air – the Headmaster, or rather new one. Did they get a new one already? Didn’t they just start? Cleo raised a questioning brow.

"Attention students this is your new acting Headmaster. I realize this morning has been a bit chaotic but for now if you would, make your way to your designated classroom – that is an order. Mr. Kurayami, Mr. Akigawa and Miss Rayne, you are also wanted at class." It said before falling silent.

Well, it looked like her free time had come to an end as the students were summoned to the classroom. With a shrug the feline bit into her apple before heading out of the cafeteria and began making her way to the room. On the way there the girl couldn’t help but wonder if everyone else got the message, and who would be first? A smile formed on her lips as she thought of her friends and teammates, and a general feeling of excitement filled her being at that moment.

A short time later the feline arrived at the classroom and made her way inside, dropping her eaten apple in the bin before taking her seat. Her eyes immediately fell onto the red-haired figure at the desk, who either hadn’t noticed her quite yet – or was just uninterested. The girl sat in silence for at least a minute before leaning forward on her desk and waving to the man that was busy looking over some notes, or something at least.

“Hi! I’m Cleo – are you the Headmaster guy that was speaking earlier?" She asked and titled her head, leaning back in her seat as she watched the figure carefully. However he never answered her question, actually he never really looked to the girl at all. Lowering her ears Cleo slumped her shoulders and focused her attention to the door to see who entered next.

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Ruzik was begrudgingly awake and moving himself around the academy after being informed that their morning class had been put on hold temporarily. He hadn’t really slept and was a little lost as to what to do with himself for the time being. His insides felt twisted and he could already feel his hunger creeping up on him slowly – the only good thing he was really feeling at that moment.

As he walked along he looked at all the students he passed, gradually wondering what exactly was going on that would cause such a delay in their academic schedule. Not that he was really complaining mind you, Ruzik wasn’t exactly the best student the academy had and really the more free time they got was welcomed – albeit he was a bit bored during it. Friends weren’t exactly his forte, he didn’t have many at this point in time, but of course he didn’t want any either! Did he?

As the red-head wandered down a hallway he heard a voice suddenly speak, tiling his gaze up to a speaker held up in one of the corners of the hall. "Attention students this is your new acting Headmaster. I realize this morning has been a bit chaotic but for now if you would, make your way to your designated classroom – that is an order. Mr. Kurayami, Mr. Akigawa and Miss Rayne, you are also wanted at class." So they had a new Headmaster? Ruzik thought briefly over this, smirking just a little. Did that mean he was free of those damn pills? Oh if only. The demon felt a slight twinge in his lower stomach and let out an uneasy sigh in response, as he straightened himself up and continued on his way. Surprisingly he opted to go to class; perhaps it would enlighten his boredom just a bit.

A short while later he arrive at the room and promptly entered, sparing a moment to look at the figure who sat slumped and puffing on a cigarette, though seemed to pay little attention to things around him. Unbothered, the demon then noticed the familiar cat-girl sitting looking in his direction and offered her a small smile. Sitting behind her, he place his elbows on the desk and leaned forward, before tapping her shoulder.

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Cleo turned and faced the boy, ears twitching just a little. She remembered him from the day before and how he stormed off, somewhat crazily. Though hesitant to converse with him the girl decided she should make an effort at least. “Yeah?"

”Looks like we’re first to arrive, and your that cat-girl from the other day?” He asked, though knew he was fairly right in saying it. Cleo was hard to not remember after all, especially with her defining features.

“Uh-huh, and your that demon who stormed off all crazy like, eh?" She teased and playfully twitched her eyebrows. “lookie-here. If you don’t go all moody on me again I may just start to like yah." Sliding round in her seat she faced him directly and rested her arms on the edge of his desk, shifting forward as her ears lowered a rather amusing way. “Let’s start again? I’m Cleo, please to meet yah, Ruzik."

The redhead merely shrugged in a sort-of agreeing manner. Maybe he ought to make some friends, though either way the cat-girl wasn’t entirely bad and was pretty attractive, so it worked for him. ”Sure, alright. Nice to meet you Cleo.”

Smiling, the girl spun back around and moved down in her seat, leaning backwards as she rested the back of her head against his desk and looked up to the boy with an amusing grin. “So, who you betting turns up next?"

The morning was rather slow as Bugby soon awoke in his bed and sat himself upright in a rather lazy way. Forcing his eyes open it took a minute or so for the boy to remember where he was just then, a tired sigh escaping him as he flung his legs over the side of the bed and hopped down onto the floor. As he straightened himself up, the demon then noticed Cleo was already gone as her bed appeared empty. Did the cat really wake up that early? He sniggered quietly before making his way into the bathroom.

About twenty minutes later the demon reappeared after having a shower and sorting out his clothes, however as much as he tried to preoccupy himself the boy could not shake the odd feeling that he had experienced a weird dream of sorts during the night. Though what made it weird or rather awkward was that it was of Kou. The rabbit had suddenly appeared in their dorm and…The thought caused him to blush nervously and he quickly tried to forget it, even though the demon wondered what the hell it even meant. His eyes fell onto the mage and quickly he walked over and sat down beside the sleeping mage, before poking and nudging him repeatedly. ”Ichiro! Ichiro, wake up.” He half whispered, turning round as he knelt on the bed and used both hands to shake the mage. ”Wake up now you git.” After a few more pokes and shakes the demon ceased his assault on the poor mage and returned to sitting on the bed briefly, before then getting to his feet once Ichiro seemed slightly awake.

”I’m heading out. Cleo’s already gone and you better get up,” He said in-between fetching and sliding on his coat and stepping towards the door. ”We have class soon so don’t be late.” With his hand on the door handle he opened it swiftly and spun round to step out, before adding in a weirdly playful tone, ”Oh, and if you touch my stuff I will make you suffer.”

Leaving, the demon headed down the hallway and wandered around briefly. He felt hungry though was too lazy to walk to the cafeteria, and the more he walked around the more he felt a little lost. But, he wasn’t overly fussed and in the end decided to venture off to the library for a few quick minutes, for the sake of easing his oncoming boredom that he felt. It didn’t take long for the demon to make his way there, and once arriving he had a little stroll around the area to familiarize him more.There was all sorts of categories and genres to choose from. However Bugby was more interested in facts and learning material than anything else and soon found himself in amongst such books. When picking one and flipping it open he suddenly heard a voice from above. "Attention students this is your new acting Headmaster. I realize this morning has been a bit chaotic but for now if you would, make your way to your designated classroom – that is an order. Mr. Kurayami, Mr. Akigawa and Miss Rayne, you are also wanted at class." Blinking, it took a minute or so for him to register the new information.

”A new headmaster?” He didn’t know quite how to feel about it, however when realizing that he was to head for class the demon did as such. Keeping the book he held Bugby left the library and made his way to the classroom, though decided to keep on reading as he did, as his attention was quite captured by the book and what it had to offer. It was a book about copying things, the art of acting. How to truly mimic something. It was hardly surprising to find him reading it.

When arriving at the classroom the demon lightly bumped into something after stepping into the room, causing the boy to lower his book and realizing it was Kou in front of him. He felt somewhat awkward all of a sudden, hesitant to speak for a brief instant but the demon tried to regain his composure. ”Oh, hello Kou.” He side and shut his book before holding it at his side. He wondered why the the girl was standing around, though perhaps she had just arrived like him and was debating where to sit. ”Are you going to join us?” The demon thoughtlessly asked suddenly, glancing away momentarily as he looked to Cleo and the familiar redhead. ”I mean, you can sit with us if you want. Y-You don't have to I just, ah... you get the idea.”

Maybe the girl didn’t want to sit with them, maybe she did. Bugby didn’t want to force the girl, but he figured it was nice to give the offer at least. They had gotten along the other day and it was better to have friends than enemies in the class, after all. Regardless of the answer she gave, the boy then made his way over beside Cleo and sat down. Setting his book on the desk he turned to face her and gave a slight smile.

”You got up early.” He said, before turning round more to look at Ruzik. So far he appeared nice enough and Cleo was chatting to him rather friendly, so the boy couldn’t help but feel slightly more at ease around the redhead. ”Hey, Ruzik.”

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Laurence gave an uneasy sigh as he struggled to find his way around the academy. He had arrived quite early that morning and was somehow expected to navigate himself around the place. Sure, a member of staff had provided him with a map and all the necessary papers, but it still wasn’t quite as good as having someone to show him the way. What made it worse though was a few students messing him around, pretending they were going to help him but instead lead him down the opposite way!

Holding the map in front of him the young mage walked around using it as a literal guide as he wandered about somewhat clueless. There were awkward moments when he walked into someone, or he tripped and fell flat on his face. But Laurence laughed it off and just ran as fast as could round the nearest corner, acting as if it never happened. However when hearing a voice suddenly the boy jumped a little and nearly lost grip of his map. "Attention students this is your new acting Headmaster. I realize this morning has been a bit chaotic but for now if you would, make your way to your designated classroom – that is an order. Mr. Kurayami, Mr. Akigawa and Miss Rayne, you are also wanted at class." Great, he knew where he had to be just not how to get to it! Somewhat disheartened-ly he walked on.

It also didn’t help when a lot of people towered over him, just a little! Laurence always felt like a little kid when around tall people, and some even treated him like one. At some point he found himself in the large entrance hall and stopped beside the large map that was pinned on the wall, figuring out where exactly he was and where the classroom he needed to be was located. Tracing a finger along, or as far as he could reach at least, he trailed it along and retraced his journey until that point.

”Ok, so I go that way and I ought to be there in no time!” He quietly cheered with a look of achievement as he figured out the route to take. Taking a step back he tucked his map into a pocket before setting off. The little venture itself wasn’t long, and the boy could’ve sworn some people were following him in a bid to find out where they were to go and decided to follow after the mage for a short amount of time. But, once on his own, Laurence found his classroom and quickly entered.

He quickly noticed a red-haired male sitting at one of the desks, smoking and seeming quite comfortable in his seat. Though the man was a bit intimidating, or at least the mage didn’t feel confident enough to talk to him immediately and thus decided to take a seat towards the back of the room. He had noticed the small group of students sat towards the front but the boy felt a little uncomfortable approaching them right now, so made his way into a seat at the back and looked out the window for a brief moment.

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Ichiro groaned as he woke up to being shook by his faithful alarm clock of a teammate. Bugby seemed to be using his secret art of pestering to wake up the mage. Rubbing his eyes while looking at the Demon with a sour expression. "Some people enjoy a thing called sleep... wait did you call me a git? What even is a git." Saying with a confused look. Before he knew it Bugby was already heading out making an attempt to remind him not to be late to class, while Ichiro through his blanket over his head to block out the light. Though Bugby's comment about touching his stuff made Ichiro let out a evil childish laugh. "Muahahahaha." Though a few moments after the door closed a worried look crept on Ichiro's face as he jumped out of bed rushing over to the door throwing it open and running into the hall still wearing his night clothes which consisted of only a pair of shorts. "Wait Bugby don't leave me." He shouted down the hallway to no avail. Dropping to his knees as he remembered the likely hood of him finding his way to class by himself was almost zero.

After he few people walked by giving him strange glances Ichiro decided to re-enter their room take a shower and make the great journey to the far away lands of the class room. Ten minutes later he emerged from the shower golden particles drifting towards him like a magical magnet, as they formed into clothes. Ichiro roamed around for some time before giving up and deciding to just ask for help as he had already missed breakfast as he heard the announcement. "A new headmaster already seems like their's a new top dog." Saying to himself with a smirk. Though quickly refocusing making sure to find his class before getting ahead of himself. Looking around their were quite a few people around, though he spotted a group of girls and decided to ask them as he always felt more comfortable talking to women over men, though he never quite knew why. After two of them walked him to his class he thanked them giving them a sweet smile before opening the door to the class room. Looking over he saw what he could only assumed to be the knew headmaster who might he say looked pretty cool. Taking a quick glance around the room it seemed he was one of the last to make it to class again, before looking back at the new headmaster. "Ichiro Ogura, reporting for duty oh great and powerful. I hope you decide to spice up our classes." Saying before turning towards the seats.

The new headmaster interested him greatly. While Midora was plenty dangerous Ichiro never got that challenger vibe. Though this knew headmaster overflowed with it, the rugged appearance his posture, almost everything about him came across as someone who's a fighter a real challenger. Ichiro got a little tingly thinking about it. As he turned to look for his group all those excited, happy emotions washed away as they were replaced by spite. Looking over he saw Bugby and Cleo chumming it up with that red haired Demon from the previous day. Ichiro didn't quite know why he didn't like the Demon, but from the moment he walked over to their table the day before Ichiro felt peeved in his presence. Was it the way he acted? Or maybe the way he talked? In the end it didn't matter to much to Ichiro first impressions are everything to Ichiro and his first interaction wasn't even direct with that Demon, but Ichiro hated him already. Watching him just laughing it up Cleo made Ichiro clinch his hand into a fist, he couldn't bare watching the two be so friendly. Oh, but watching him be friendly with Bugby annoyed him a bit as well.

He wanted to sit with his team, but couldn't stand having that Demon behind or even around him. Choosing to sit as far away from the Demon as possible, locking onto the perfect seat, but sadly either by luck or following the same plan as his own it seemed that seat was already taken by if he remembered correctly a fellow mage. As he walked over to his group he tried to cover up his disliking of their new friend by putting up a half smile. "I'm having a little headache right now so I'm going to sit more by myself today." Saying half halfheartedly, before even waiting for a response he started to walk away. Dropping the whole act as he walked past the red haired Demon shooting him a glance of pure disdain. Proceeding by, hoping no once else noticed the glance he just gave. "Oh I hope we do some sort of one on one or team on team battle so I can stab that smug look of his." Ichiro said to himself as he proceeded to walk over to the seat next to one of the other mages he trained with from the other day. Grabbing the chair as he looked over at her. "I hope you don't mind me taking this seat, you seemed to snag the best one in the house." He said as he awkwardly sat down. Looking around it seemed everyone else seemed to be sitting in their teams though a few looked like new faces. The only person who appeared to be sitting without a team was the other mage which made him feel a little less out of place sitting away from his group. Glancing at the female mage before trying to start a conversation. "I'm sorry I never caught your name yesterday. My name is Ichiro nice to meet you. I assume your just waiting for your team to show up right." Not to sure as what to say since he felt as if he was bothering her as she waited for her group to bail her out.

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As Lili regained her composure she noticed another mage walk in the room. It was the one that was without clothes after his bout with Midora. She never thought too much of the mage. He seemed like a lady-killer and his confidence, unfortunately, outweighed his skills to back it up. But as he walked past Ruzik Liliane noticed the mage give the demon a hard look. Then next thing she knew he was walking in her direction.

"I hope you don't mind me taking this seat, you seemed to snag the best one in the house." Was his purpose the same as hers? Did he also feel great malice towards the Incubus and felt the need to sit as far away from the demon as possible?

"I'm sorry I never caught your name yesterday. My name is Ichiro nice to meet you. I assume your just waiting for your team to show up right."

"Nice to meet you as well. My name is Liliane. We haven't had much time to talk as fellow mages in the past twenty-four hours. I'm afraid I have no team. I slept in an empty room last night. Both of my team mates have been removed from the school program." Lili looked towards Ichiro's teammates and back at him. She leaned closer to him and kept her voice down. "That Incubus bothers you as well." It was more of an observation than a question. "I saw the look of distaste as you passed by. I don't know if your reason is similar to mine for our dislike in him but we share the same opinion of the demon. What has he done to garner your dislike? Is he stealing the girl you had your eyes on?" If she could make her voice drop with a hint of playfulness then she would but the point was that Liliane and Ichiro seemed to share a common enemy.

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Memphis had paid little attention to all that occurred around him. Though of course knowing when a student arrived he did little to acknowledge their presence for the time being – he was too busy thinking to do much else. However when one redhead in particular gave him grief over his smoking the man did little but shrug in response, though similarly when a blonde-haired boy approached him the demon simply uttered a faint, "Yeah." One by one student came to the door and took a seat, and even the two mage teachers arrived in good time too. Once a general majority of students were present the demon began to move himself up and off his seat, though he’d give it another 5 to ten minutes to see if the remaining students showed up before doing anything official.

The demon walked around and sat on the edge of the desk before turning his attention to the two mage teachers who sat at his side. Crossing his arms he leaned in a little closer to them and said, "My master has spoken of you two though I only know you by name. My knowledge of yourselves goes no further than that." Indeed the elderly mage had mentioned the two mages and spoke quite highly and fondly of each, though he never really divulged any more information to the demon, other than they were friendly and he should get along with them. "I too wish for us to work well together, and I assume that you know by now that I am a demon and not a mage?"

Leaning back he let a thick puff of smoke escape the side of his mouth before turning to face the students who sat in front of him. For a minute he looked at each of them carefully, studying them almost, as he mentally guessed who he thought was the stronger and weaker of the class. "As you may be aware there are some changes made to the groups. Mr. Kurayami your group is still the same, though Mr. Akigawa instead of Hive you now have Kou, the rabbit demon. I expect you both to keep your students under control and out of trouble, for their own sakes. So far I am being lenient but once this class officially begins I will not tolerate it." He added quietly.

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Ruzik shifted his gaze from the feline for a moment as his eyes fell onto the familiar figure of the rabbit-demon who stood by the door. At first he didn’t do anything but instead merely looked to the girl for a moment, before raising a hand and beckoning the rabbit over to the desk next to him. ”Kou, come here!” It wasn’t an order as such but rather a friendly calling, at least in Ruzik’s own way it was. It was only then that he spotted the familiar green-haired boy who entered at that moment and spoke briefly with Kou, before sitting beside Cleo. When the demon greeted him the redhead replied with, ”Hey, bug-boy.” Just then he saw the teachers enter and Mikari grinned at him with a wink and the demon uncontrollably smirked straight back at the blue-haired mage.

Cleo looked to her teammate with a warm smile and quickly wrapped her arms around Bugby in a brief hug, before settling beside him and giggling a little. “Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep too well so I got up super-duper early and went for a wander – I see you two never had any trouble." Sliding round and sitting on the side of her seat the feline looked between Bugby and Ruzik, of course noticing Kou and giving the girl a smile before the redhead summoned her over. Hopefully the rabbit would join them as the cat-girl could use some female company too. “Oh here." She said, digging out a packet of chocolate treats as she handed them to Bugby. “I brought some for you and Ichiro – I bet you never got any breakfast, did you?" Placing the packet on his desk the girl then looked to Ruzik and offered him some from her already opened packet. “Want some?"

”I don’t eat that stuff.” He waved his hand in front of him and turned the snack down, though the feline gave him an odd look of disbelieve. What weirdo didn’t like chocolate? Clearly Ruzik. As a girl passed the redhead he couldn’t help but notice her glare directed straight at him – what had he done to her? For once nothing! He hadn’t done a single thing to that girl and yet she had the nerve to look upon him with such displeasure. Whatever. He wouldn’t lose the rag just yet, after all it wasn’t like he wasn’t use to it.

Cleo also noticed this but refrained from saying anything as not long after Ichiro appeared at the classroom. Another smile filled her lips as the mage soon approached the demons, though a questioning look quickly fixed itself onto her features as he said, "I'm having a little headache right now so I'm going to sit more by myself today." Before she could even say anything the boy had already walked away and sat further back next to a girl who she believed was a mage. The feline couldn’t quite believe his excuse for not sitting with them, she couldn’t help but wonder why their mage didn’t want to be near them. Not to mention she didn’t get a chance to give Ichiro the chocolates she had got him.

“Bugby what did you do?!" She elbowed the boy in the side before sighing and dropping her hands to her lap. For a moment she believed her teammate was the reason for their mage distancing himself, but then once rethinking it over, Cleo realized that Bugby could never doing anything that serious to cause Ichiro to avoid them. “Sorry Buggie, I didn’t mean it." She sheepishly giggled and rubbed the back of her head.

”Face it, mages stick with their own kind. Why else would he dump you two and go sit with her?” The redhead spoke up a little, resting the side of his face against his hand that propped him up. Ruzik wasn’t stupid, he had seen the look the other mage had given him too, and was starting to get a little irked by it. ”Do you think that mage really cares about you – a demon? No, he doesn’t. You’re just some demon he’s grouped with, and sure he may say he’s your friend and all, but who’s he sitting with at the end of the day? Not you.”

The feline lowered her ears a little and looked out the window for a few moments. She didn’t like to think of Ichiro as some lame mage who cared little for demons, considering how much she had come to care for him over the past day – the girl was surprised how immediately she had grew fond of the boy, but then again he did remind her of the old mage who looked after her. They were both kind and fun to be around. She turned to Ruzik with a smile and confidently said, “Nah, Ichiro is totally not like that at all." At least she hoped he wasn't, but given how he had walked away from his two demons the cat-girl was in a slight moment of doubt. Did he prefer mages over demons? With a huff the girl slumped in her chair, ears lowered with a visible pout forming on her lips. Maybe Ruzik was right.

The demon just rolled his eyes and slid round in his seat as he looked over to the two mages in question. Ichiro and what’s-her-name, those two who had looked to him with such disgust only a short time before. Resting one arm against the chair he faced them directly, raising his other hand as he gave the mages a cheeky wink and blew them a kiss in a rather taunting manner.

However his smug exterior was only short lived as a sharp pain in his gut caused the demon to quickly turn around and face down at his desk. His inner hunger was beginning to stir after a long night of slumber, but the demon wasn’t entirely prepared to deal with it. The heartbeats of those surrounding him grew louder ever so slightly, and the more he thought of those damn mages the more the demon felt the urge to rip their hearts out. Just the feeling caused a smirk to fill his lips as he imagined it all in his head.

Bugby listened to the feline though couldn’t help but still appear quite surprised by her early awakening, and even more so, the boy appeared surprised still as the girl handed him some sort-of chocolates that was placed on his desk. ”Uh, thanks. And yeah, I skipped breakfast if you must know.” He picked the packet up and stuffed it into one of his pockets, figuring he’d get them later.

Over the course of a few minutes he noticed a few more students entering the room, one of which being Ichiro. When the mage approached the demons Bugby could already see Cleo’s face lit upon his arrival, however even he was surprised by what the mage said. "I'm having a little headache right now so I'm going to sit more by myself today." Raising a brow, Bugby watched as the mage left the two demons somewhat too quickly and sat himself further back in the classroom, next to a mage. Watching the blonde boy for a moment, the demon then felt a sharp knock to his side and quickly spun round to face Cleo.

”I didn’t do anything! He’s not that sensitive is he?” He huffed with a sulk before rubbing his side a little as it now hurt to a degree. A moment later Cleo apologized and the boy gave a nod of acceptance. ”Yeah, whatever. Just don't make it a habit, eh?”

Sitting back in his seat the green-haired boy sighed quietly, before hearing the redhead behind them talking about their mage, which caused Bugby to look round at him. Surprisingly Ruzik had a point, and Bugby still couldn’t grasp why their mage had ditched them so suddenly, more so as he could clearly see how much it disappointed Cleo. ”You have a point, I guess. But Ichiro isn’t that bad he’s just an idiot mostly, heh.” Turning back round on his chair the demon got to his feet and walked towards the back of the classroom towards the idiot mage he had been grouped with. Though if things were to work out for the team then they had to stick together, not be apart.

Ichiro was sitting next to some mage, though Bugby was unfamiliar with the girl and had no reason to disturb her. However, once close enough to Ichiro, the demon sucker-punched him in the shoulder suddenly though wasn’t too forceful. Just enough to make his point, and perhaps get a little payback from Cleo hitting him for the dumb mages departure! ”You idiot, that’s for ditching us.” He muttered with his common bored look, before turning round and calmly walking off back to his seat, before sitting down and leaning back in his chair.

Looking to Cleo, the boy reached his hand up and tried to nudge her ears back upright to their more happier position. Though the cat-ears just dropped back down every time and the demon gave a sigh. ”Cheer up, alright? He'll be back.”

Tilting his head a little he looked to Ruzik and Kou who had returned to being perched on his desk. He couldn't help but get a weird feeling that those two were connected to one another in some way, but he didn't wish to pry. He noticed the rabbit demon offer a lollipop to the redhead at that moment. It gave him an idea then. Rummaging around in his pocket the boy dug out the packet of chocolates that the feline had given him earlier, but this time held them out and offered them to the girl in a bid to cheer her up a little. ”Go on, have some. You know you wanna?” Attempting a smile, the demon tried to use a more friendly tone of voice as he waved the packet right in front of the cat.

---

Laurence was a little caught off-guard as a girl approached him in the classroom shortly after his own arrival. He had been too busy staring out the window that he almost jumped, but once regaining his composure the boy looked to the unusual looking female. ”I am your demon Etelka Lantos, a pleasure to meet you m'Lord.” She said, and the boy looked quite surprised. M’Lord? He wasn’t a lord and never expected anyone to refer to him as such. ”If you do not mind, I will take a seat.”

He watched her take a seat at the desk next to his, gradually getting to grips with the information that he was presented with. So this was his demon? Laurence didn’t know how to really react to the demon, she was very pretty and looked rather nice and not completely how he imagined such a creature to be. ”My name’s Laurence and you don’t have to call me m’Lord. Just Laurence will do, haha.” From the way the girl spoke the boy got the general impression that she took her role seriously, or at least was well accustomed to that role at least. He really didn’t want to upset her ways though. ”You know, you can just call me whatever you like I don’t mind really. Whatever you're comfortable with suits me, is there anything you'd like me to call you? Or is Etelka fine?”

Smiling at the demon he heard the arrival of another, a red-haired demon who had said something to the Headmaster and then made her way towards the pair and muttered, ”Zǎo ān.” Laurence didn’t know what it meant however he just assumed it was a form of greeting, or a positive interaction in some way. He hoped. The female took a seat behind him and Etelka, and being polite he turned round in his seat to face the red-haired girl. ”Wow, you talked to the Headmaster like that, you must be pretty brave.” The boy knew these demons were his group, since he had been vaguely told of the two demons he would be grouped with, though really he was pretty happy that they found him rather than the other way about. But still, seeing the two up-close was way different to how they were initial described to him before.

”I’m very pleased to meet you both and I hope we get along well together.” Looking between the two females the boy was quite surprised at how pretty each were, though he found that some demons were naturally better looking than some humans, and just his luck to get two girls! He couldn’t help but feel excited and nervous about working with them, more so as they both looked equally tough too.

Looking to the red-haired demon he said, ”Oh, I'm Laurence by the way. This is Etelka here, and what would be your name?” He only hoped the female was equally as friendly as Etelka, or really so long as she was tolerable of him that was all the boy could hope!

"Hello there," A voice suddenly spoke, and the boy noticed a rabbit-girl he believed who seemed to know Etelka. Quickly he smiled and returned her wave before the girl was away again. She seemed nice and very cute in a way, and he guessed she was a demon. The boy also noticed a few other new arrivals in that moment, most being demons though he could pick out the few mages who were there. ”Wow, so many people are here. They all look powerful too, I wonder if I'm as strong as they are.” He muttered before forcing a calming smile.

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Listening to her talk, it seemed to Ichiro that so far her experience at the school was opposite his own. Quickly bonding with his team and making friends with some of the other Demons. Though now that he thought of it almost all of the Demons seemed very close while all the Mages distanced themselves from each other, at least for the first day. "Wow both removed on the first day that's a feat. Must of been a pretty bad first day huh." Glancing at his group. It never really occurred to him the ratio of Demon's to Mage's. If the rest of the school was the same as this class that meant that their were half as many Mages in the whole school as Demons. Suddenly it seemed as if the Mage class looked even smaller in his mind. Focusing back into Liliane's remark about his stance with the Demon, eyes widening as she bring up stealing his women. "Haha.... no, no, no I'm not to sure what it is about him that rubs me the wrong way, but just since the first time I met him he got on my bad side really quick. It probably sounds like a really bad reason to dislike someone greatly, but I'm usually good at reading people and first impressions stick with me most of the time. I bet you have a much better reason for disliking him." Giving off a quick, slightly hesitant laugh as he rubbed the back of his head feeling slightly embarrassed.

It's funny though Liliane didn't act how he expected. A Demon seemed to walk over in the middle of their conversation saying she was apart of Liliane's team. She was interesting looking definitely appeared more Demon like then most of the others, more of what Ichiro pictured all the Demons to look like before coming to the school. Ichiro sat unsure of what to do next, he wanted to make a good impression on his fellow Mage, which was unusual since he normally couldn't care what people thought, but with so few fellow Mages he wanted to make sure to make a good impression. The previous day for sure wouldn't help, though it seemed as if they would be the only Mages still from the previous day.

Without warning he felt a hit on the shoulder, turning around just hoping it was the red haired Demon so he could start a fight. Though standing there was Bugby who seemed a little peeved. Ichiro looked back over to his team as Bugby returned after a few words. He felt pretty bad for leaving them, but right as Bugby returned it seemed they all returned to hanging around Mr. Smug. Who after making a clear taunt to them, only pissed Ichiro off more with him. He could only hope for a sparing session between the class. Maybe he could suggest it to the new headmaster as a way of getting to know each other better more. Letting out a sigh he leaned back in his chair returning his gaze to the new Demon and Liliane, wanting to listen into their conversation more. Feeling pretty out of place now that her team seemed to be arriving.

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"It probably sounds like a really bad reason to dislike someone greatly, but I'm usually good at reading people and first impressions stick with me most of the time. I bet you have a much better reason for disliking him." Liliane was about to reply when a girl walked up to them. She was the type of demon that was described in books and stories. Horns and wings without feathers. Liliane hadn't even noticed that Sarah had walked in either. It wasn't like her to lose focus of her surroundings.

"My name is Muse, your picture was on the paper they gave me." Must took a sheet of paper from her pocket and showed it to Lili. "I can't read this language so I don't know what to make of it. Are you perhaps my mage?" Liliane looked over the paper and sure enough there she was. But she also noticed that Hive was there as well. Was he part of Lili's group now? A part of Lili was relieved. It was someone she knew and on top of that Hive was one of the few allies at the school thus far.

"Yes, I am the mage of our group. I am pleased to meet you, Muse. My name is Liliane Auringer. You may call me Liliane. It seems our other team mate is not here yet. I do hope we can all get along." Lili pointed her hand towards the other mage sitting with her. "This is Ichiro. He is another mage.' Liliane paused realizing that Muse probably just got to the school. So she decided to slow down the process of giving information for the time being. She had to make Muse feel more comfortable at least. Lili pointed to the desk in front of hers.


"Please, sit. I will only give you information if you ask for it unless it otherwise seems necessary for the moment. So don't hesitate to ask me for anything you need help with." Lili stole a look at Ruzik remembering his taunt from earlier. She then turned her attention back to Muse. "I'd advise you keep away from the red haired demon over there, with the glasses. He is a negative influence in just about every way possible. He may approach you because of your attractive looks. I suggest not being polite in the way you reject him so he will understand you are not interested." Lili let out a breath. She was not accustomed to this much speech at once. "So, Muse, please tell us about yourself. Where you come from and what power you bring with you."

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Sarah could tell Muse was nervous. Sarah thought she was going to half to console the girl. But then her eyes changed to reflect inner strength. She then walked straight up to Liliane and another boy whom Sarah only knew as a mage. Sarah was glad that Lili was talking with others. The girl was the only mage to lose both team mates. Sarah could see that Muse was also part of her group that she would be specifically in charge of as well.

It seemed that Muse and the two mages were talking comfortably with each other so Sarah finally turned her full attention to the staff in the front of the class. Midora and Mikari were there. It would be odd thinking of him as her equal now instead of her superior but she would get used to it quickly since it was only a day's worth of habits to change. Then she turned to, what she guessed, was the new headmaster. He had a much different air to him than Midora. The aura around him danced and was restless. Even in his appearance and his body language he was much more informal. This could lead to good and bad conclusions. He seemed a bit more comfortable to be around. But then again students might try to challenge him more often.

Sarah also noticed he smoked as well. But most likely not the same type of cigarettes as Sarah.

"Hello, Headmaster. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sarah Rayne. I hope we will get along in the future." Sarah held out her hand. It was always a habit when meeting someone new. It also told Sarah very much about whoever shook it.

"I brought this from the cafeteria," Ruzik heard Kou say and slowly raised his head to face the girl with a curious stare. In moment or so the rabbit held out a lollipop to the demon. "Want to try it?" The redhead was very surprised to see such a thing, since he had discovered that lollipops were quite nice, but how did she know? Or was it just luck? Regardless the demon accepted the lollipop and unwrapped it before popping it into his mouth.

”Thanks.” He said, before actually forming a slight smile. The redhead didn’t really know what else to do or say at that moment, he seemed just a little awkward as he looked away briefly, before quietly muttering, ”I’m… sorry for running away the other day.” Refocusing his stare onto the rabbit-girl, Ruzik tried to regain some form of composure as he adjusted himself in his seat. ”I mean, well it was hardly surprising anyway. You pissed me off, so yeah. Whatever.”

Casually grinning as he usually did, the demon leaned forward and rested one arm against the desk whilst sliding his other hand up and onto one of the girls thighs. Well, she was on his desk so he could hardly resist! With the lollipop still in his mouth the redhead playfully nudged it about with the tip of his tongue, before adjusting his arm and raising his other hand up and around the side of the girl’s waist. ”You look pretty sexy on that desk, you’re like the hottest girl in this room.” With a light pull, he scooped the girl up and slide her off the desk and onto his lap. His hand that was originally sat against her waist was now up and around her shoulders, whilst the other was still placed firmly on the side of her thigh. ”But you look more enticing up against me.”

From the corner of his eye he noticed another entering the classroom, as well as a teacher he assumed. Watching, the girl walked over to the mages and Ruzik could only assume all the bad things they were likely saying about him, but still, the horned girl was strangely alluring to him. Not that he was surprised, if anything it was just a natural reaction of his towards anything, really. He continued to look at the attractive female for a few seconds more before pulling his attention away and returning his focus onto Kou. A more smug grin filled his features just then, as he leaned closer to her and whispered, ”You know, if you really want to make me feel better we could ditch this class and go to my dorm. Get it off, then get it on, as they say.”

It was as if he was oblivious to the awkwardness of their relationship. Though Ruzik was very much aware of the confusion that lingered within him, however when it came to one thing then he’d prefer to not think of such emotions – they’d only ruin it. Without really thinking the demon lowered his hand from around her shoulders and brought it down towards her tail, as he began to run his fingers through it softly, as if stroking it. That tail was adorable. Ruzik also just wanted to see if he could get her hair to turn pink, or whatever other reaction would spring from the little rabbit on his lap.

---

Cleo let out a small giggle as Bugby tried to get her ears upright. For sure, whenever perked up it did signify the felines happiness, and in a way it was sweet of her teammate to try what he did. ”Cheer up, alright? He'll be back.” He said, and the girl only hoped he was right. In fact, she knew he was right – hopefully. Ichiro would hang with them when they had a group activity, surely? ”Go on, have some. You know you wanna?” Just then the green-haired boy offered her the chocolates that she had given him, and though not wanting to take all his treats, she did however accept a few to begin with. She noticed his efforts to comfort her, even his smile and voice were clearly an effort as Bugby wasn’t usually so, well, affectionate in a way.

Taking a few of the chocolates from the packet the girl ate one, holding the few others in her other hand. ”Thanks Buggie, I’ll try not to eat all the chocolates.” She laughed before cramming the last few she had into her mouth, swallowing them down moments after. Leaning over the feline rubbed the side of her head against his shoulder as a sign of her appreciation, a purr soon following as she twitched her ears contently. ”You know, we so gotta get Ichiro back. Maybe jump him in his sleep, or scare him, ha.” She said with a playful hint of evil, as it was all meant in good nature of course.

Pulling away she slumped in her seat, eyeing up the teachers for a moment, before eventually peering round in her chair as she looked to Ichiro again. The feline couldn’t help but want the mage to be at her side, and also wondered what she could do to gain his attention. It was then that she noticed Ruzik and Kou getting pretty comfortable with one another, and only then did a realization hit her that the cat-girl felt the need to get conformation on it. ”Oh my lordie Kou, is he your boyfriend?!” She asked in a half-whisper before moving fully round on her chair, especially noticing how the pair of demons was sat and the insinuations their closeness suggested. And, it would explain their mysterious meetings and how they went off together the other day.

Cleo herself had never had a boyfriend, but she knew the signs of how a couple acted and such. Raising a brow, she reached over and grabbed Bugby before spinning the boy round and holding him close to her. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she felt the need to share them with the closest person. ”Psst, Bugby. What do you think?” The feline questioned, pressing her face against his as she gave the boy a mischievous grin.

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Tilting his head, Memphis noticed a woman enter the room and promptly she approached him. "Hello, Headmaster. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sarah Rayne. I hope we will get along in the future." She said and held out her hand, and after a few seconds of pondering it over, the demon soon raised his hand and held hers as they shook hands. Memphis wasn’t really the type for handshakes though he didn’t necessarily reject them either. They were too formal for his personal liking, but figured for the sake of getting off to a good stare he’d go along with it.

"Hello, Miss Rayne. It is good of you to join us, and I am sure we will get along perfectly fine." He replied before releasing her hand. "In case you are unaware yet, your group has been changed and you now have Hive and Muse though Liliane is still within your care. If you would, please take a seat with Mr. Kurayami and Mr. Akigawa. The class is just about to begin shortly." Having informed the woman the demon moved his attention towards the class and took a few steps towards them, as he stood in front of the rows of desks.

Raising a hand he slide two fingers up and caught his cigarette before removing it from his lips entirely, exhaling thick smoke whilst doing so. Clearing his throat he retained a rather emotionless expression, as he began to speak. "Alright everybody, take your seats and sit quietly. Class will be commencing shortly. You will be informed of what your exercise is for this morning though I must warn you it is an important assessment and you must act wisely." With that said, he felt it was interesting to give them a little hint of what their activity would be, though also keep them in a slight suspense. With a slight smirk on his lips, he returned his cigarette to the side of his mouth and inhaled contently.

Just realizing, the demon spun round and picked up a clipboard with the students names scribbled down it. Facing the students once more he continued, "Some of you may notice your groups are not the same, or some of your classmates are no longer here. The new groups are as such; Group 1 is Laurence Snow, Etelka Lantos and Dúyè. Group 2 is Liliane Auringer, Muse and Hive. Group 3 is Ichiro Ogura, Cleo Gardenia and Bugby Marshall. Lastly, Group 4 is Kasumi Toshiko, Ruzik Rosaline and Kou Usagi." With a confident nod he sat the clipboard back on the desk and added, "Your teachers are still the same however Group 1 will now have myself as their teacher - good luck." With all said for now the demon returned to perching himself on the side of the desk as he sat, awaiting the students to be ready as the class was soon to begin.

The mages they brought to this academy truly did not understand the relationship they would be having with demons, yet another who insisted it was fine to refer to him without grace. Still the boy was entirely timid, the way he danced around his words carried almost no force. The boy was clearly more powerful then the cripple, magically and physically, hopefully he shared the same determination, then the Lord may actually be worth serving. "Call me what you please my Lord, it is not my choice," Etelka responded to his question of name calling, the only name that would bother her is if he started to refer to her as 'Lantos'. It may have been given to her as a last name but it was not one she deserved, truly it would be insult to a great man to have his servant live by his families name.

Shortly after another demon joined them in the back, based on her being unrecognized and heading straight for the group she was undoubtedly the masters other demon. The women muttered something in an unusual and foreign language before walking past the two and sitting behind them. The master turned and commented on something she said to the headmaster, Etelka had missed her entry to the room and so had little to add to the comment. The Lord gazed at both the women for some moments, was he sizing them up or simply gazing at their beauty, honestly the servant couldn't care less. He then proceeded to introduce himself and his loyal servant, Etelka bowing her head politely to the odd eyed demon when her name was mentioned.

The rabbit girl suddenly intruded into the trio's business, thanking the maid for the patchwork she had done for her dress. Etelka didn't recall giving that back to the girl, actually since they were no longer group members she had entirely planned on throwing it out. No matter, if the animal took it with her when she moved out Etelka hardly cared, she simply gave the rabbit girl a bland nod. Kou introduced herself to the mage before leaving the group alone and returning to her business. A short silence lasted before the new headmaster master began to speak, turning Etelka's gaze to him.

Her practiced stoic face would not break at the realization that this new headmaster was a demon, but truly had the academy gone mad? The one track mind to locate the new master had caused her to not notice earlier, but truly this 'leader' was a demon. Not only this but he appointed himself as teacher of her group, if he was powerful to become a headmaster it would not be long before he sensed the ire from the servant girl. Still, she had to admit, unlike the previous disappointing headmaster who was the second strongest mage she had ever seen, this was the strongest demon she had ever found. Mikhail would have a run for his money taking this foe on, not that Etelka thought that this headmaster would easily take on Mikhail either.

Still a few moments remained before class, but Etelka hardly had anything to do. She cared little about the new demon, unless the master desired something she had little to say to him. The servant was hardly well versed in the realm of small talk, generally in her life holding conversations was not a skill she needed. One thing perturbing the girl were her urges, already they were returning, squirming their way into her mind. She had told Ruzik that his services would be needed weekly simply because that was her limit, much beyond that and the pain is maddening to the point that she can hardly control herself. For now however, she would ignore the urges. While she had no verbal comments she was constantly keeping the new demon in her sight, hardly trusting them.

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Listening to Liliane's warning, to stay away from the red haired Demon, seemed well deserved, Ichiro would have warned his own group, but it seemed to late. Though by watching his actions Ichiro could tell a simple rejection would fail to stop him from making further advances. As Liliane brought up attractiveness Ichiro took a few glances noticing she was quite attractive. He hadn't really bothered to look to much into it, but now that Liliane brought it up it seemed obvious. Quickly glancing around the room it seemed almost all the girls were gorgeous.

Ichiro propped his arm up on the desk placing his chin in the palm of his hand listening to the two's conversation. Just as Muse asked if she was attractive in a slightly confused or curious way Ichiro responded without thinking. "I would say ya." Blinking a few times before realizing he said that out loud instead of in his head. "Though of course you shouldn't just judge a person on appearances alone." Saying with a hesitant laugh just hoping he hadn't made Liliane think worse of him then she must already think. After yesterday he was surprised she even spoke to him today and he only hoped he hadn't made it worse by coming off as that kind of guy.

Muse starting talking about herself and it made Ichiro ponder the question of what it must be like to have no memories. Would the loss of ones memories change their personality as a whole? The idea was fairly interesting, but it must be quite frustrating. "You know the headmaster, or even one of the teachers may be able to remove that talisman so that you can take part in the assignment we are about to get without having a heavy restriction? Though it's just an idea." Saying while looking her up and down wondering why a seal would be placed on her, was she that powerful? The idea kind of excited him, just begging him to find out the mystery behind the girl. He had been waiting for something fun to finally show itself and maybe she would provide that fun. "You must be pretty strong though for them to be that scared of you huh." He said inquisitive like.

For now it was at least nice getting to know the rest of the class. Still taking a look back at his group he saw the red haired Demon just flirting about with Kou and Cleo getting pretty close with Bugby as well. He wouldn't be surprised if the Demon was already trying to spread about his bad influence upon everyone else. Ichiro starting to get a little jittery just wondering what the assignment could be. "Maybe it's a capture the flag, or scavenger hunt where combat plays a factor. Or maybe it's a team battle type game where you have to beat others to gain points. Ugh, I can't wait." He said to himself while he started tapping his foot as the excitement built up.

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Memphis had listened to the two mage teachers and was a little surprised by how highly they held his master in their thoughts. So the old mage had taught them? Clearly is master was more than he originally thought – though his master was merely just that, his master. A father perhaps as the mage did summon him at an early age and has shaped the demon over the many years. Did that make Memphis his child? The demon surprisingly hadn’t thought much over the concept, and maybe in a way he did love the mage but the fire-y demon wasn’t one to admit such emotions so openly. But still, it was rather nice discovering more of his master whilst residing at the academy. Maybe he’d learn more.

Midora then said something that peeked his attention, to which the demon responded later with, "True, I do not know much of this academy and its ways – an assistant would prove useful. If you’re up to the challenge then consider yourself promoted," He grinned a little towards the mage before concluding. "It may take some time for me to refer to you by your first names. My master taught me to always address others by their surname – he guessed it would make me seem more polite. But anyway, Mr. Kurayami and Mr. Akigawa, that is another thing for another day.”

With that said it was time for class to begin. Turning round and facing the class once more the demon looked over the students quietly for a moment, before raising his hands and clapping twice to catch everyone’s attention. Once all students were facing him Memphis began, shifting up from his desk as he stood up straight.

"Class has finally commenced so all talking shall now cease – or I will kick the crap and so much more out of anyone who dares speak over me," He spoke in a slightly threatening tone, before pausing for a single moment to ensure silence was achieved before continuing, "My name is Memphis and I am your new appointed Headmaster. Some of you may be aware, but for those who do not know I am a demon. Whether this bothers you or not I do not care – you will just have to deal with it." Truly, he did not care. The confidence was ever present in his voice as he let his words loose upon the youngsters. "The day has been a touch slow this morning but I assure you all things will be travelling at a much faster pace in the future."

Resting his hands against his hips the red-haired demon puffed out a waft of smoke as he thought quietly for a moment. One of his students would be late – he’d deal with that later. Right now he was mentally pondering the possibilities with those who sat before him. Tallying it up in his head, a moment later, a slight grin filled his face. "Right, onto your assessment for this morning." He began, grasping the end of the cigarette with two fingers as he held it away from his mouth so to allow the demon to speak more clearly. "I’ve decided that this morning will be spent doing an exercise known as ‘Defend The Staff’. One student from each group will defend a staff whilst their teammates try to capture it by any means." Pausing for a brief moment he allowed the information to sink into the students minds first before continuing, as he wasn’t entirely sure how they would react to it. "It is a simple exercise though it means a great deal, oh - and you will be marked on your performance. Obviously whoever wins will get more marks, though there are a few things that will be taken into consideration; such as skill, precision, and how many injuries you sustain – if any."

Looking away and reaching over to the desk, the demon took hold of the register yet again and glanced through the names - occasionally peering up from the board quietly, until Memphis was ready to continue. "Ruzik will be defending for Group 4, Bugby will be defending for Group 3, and Laurence will be defending for Group 1," Looking at the board he noticed there was an uneven amount of students, and when glancing over bits of information regarding a few certain individuals at that moment, the demon quickly sorted out a solution with a casual grin. "However Muse, you will not be participating in this exercise and will sit back and watch with the teachers. Liliane, you will be forming a temporary team with Group 4, as your teammates are otherwise unavailable for now. You will join Kou and Kasumi against Ruzik. Otherwise, that is that." With the names called out he placed the register back onto the desk, before returning the cigarette to the corner of his lip and crossing his arms.

"The exercises will take place just outside in the training grounds, so when you’re ready just head outside and get started with your group. There are four staffs outside stuck into the ground – just pick one. I don’t expect these to take long and remember – you’re just either trying to protect the staff or capture it. Though you can do so in whatever means you choose, just don’t kill each other. Your teachers and I will be watching and judging you, though each teacher will only be judging their own students – so don’t worry too much, heh. This exercise will show your flaws and strengths, and whatever else – so begin."

With that said he turned round and took a step over to the teachers who sat just behind him. "As I said you’re all expected to watch your students and judge them, take notes if needed, and once they’re all done I expect you to give them feedback and point out their downfalls and strengths. They’ll never improve if they don’t hear the truth – so be brutally honest to them, I demand you do that. Miss Rayne, you'll be joining Mr. Akigawa, as your students are together for this exercise. Once you’re ready meet me outside, and if you have any questions, well, you know where I am." With a rather serious or quite dull expression, the demon had finished all that he had to say before taking his leave, and beginning to head outside for - surprisingly - some fresh air!

---

Cleo turned and smiled at Bugby when he asked if she had cheered up. In truth, she had in some small way. But it still didn’t quite distract her from the uncomfortable feelings that she felt within her. ”I have a bit thanks to you Buggie.” The girl purred before raising her arm up and resting it against the boy as the pair waited for class to begin. Although, when the students were informed of their new groups the cat was pleased to know hers wasn’t changing, thankfully!

And sure enough it did moment after. The Headmaster introduced himself as Memphis, he seemed like someone who shouldn’t be easily messed with – though Cleo wasn’t entirely put off him. Sure, he didn’t answer her question, but he was kinda cool with his slight ‘devil-may-care’ attitude. Plus, the girl already sensed that he was a demon when she entered the class but she could only wonder what the mages thought. Memphis didn’t care, clearly. The demon later went on to explain their assessment and the cat was a little surprised, though excited at the same time. A game? She’d finally get a chance to prove herself against her teammates! It was also the perfect way to relieve the slight stress she had felt since watching Ichiro sit with that mage girl. Memphis had also mentioned that they were going to be judged on how they performed, but Cleo didn’t really pay much attention to that – she was just interested in the game!

Grinning, the girl peered down at her green-haired teammate after learning that he was the defender of their group. She’d have to beat Bugby to win? It was an interesting concept and sure, the girl wasn’t entirely enthusiastic at having to face her friend, but it was only a game after all so what harm could be done?

As the Headmaster spoke more on other little bits of information Cleo vaguely listened, all the while keeping her eyes peeled on everyone else as she mentally analyzed each one, somewhat. Once the man was finished addressing the students and turned his attention to the teachers, Cleo immediately sprung out of her seat and eagerly nudged Bugby. ”Come on Buggie-Bear, you’re up! Heh, this’ll be fun.” She half-teased and ceased touching the seemingly un-thrilled boy. Of course her attention soon enough drifted over towards their mage who sat elsewhere, and despite desperately wanted to run over and drag the boy outside with her, Cleo amazingly refrained from doing so. Instead opting to spin round, running a hand through her long hair before swishing it to the side with an air of confidence about her. Not even saying a word to her own mage as the feline began to head outside.

”Catch yah’ outside Buggie.” Once outside the feline stretched her arms up into the air as she waited for the boys to catch up – already mentally debated her course of actions for the exercise that lay ahead of her.

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When Ruzik heard the mentioning of groups he actually could not believe his luck at that moment. He got Kou as a teammate? Sweet. Though of course that probably meant something entirely different to Ruzik than it did to anyone else, as for him it was merely a case of who’s bed he’d be sleeping in, since he got his precious little rabbit sleeping literally under him. Oh the fun! As Kou turned to face him he raised his hands up and clasped them behind her back as the two looked at one another.

”Looks like we’re going to be roommates now – or bedmates.” He said rather teasingly, as the rabbit most likely knew what was on his mind already. A few minutes later the class had officially began according to the Headmaster as he then addressed the students, giving his name and revealing he was a demon – though Ruzik had a slight inkling to this, he still was a bit surprised at the fact the academy was allowing a demon to lead them, more or less. Of course, the time soon came to when the demon finally spilled the information regarding their assessment – a game no less that revolved around one student outsmarting the other, or really, one beating the other and claiming victory. Ruzik didn’t protest the idea, he was unsurprisingly keen on outwitting someone – mainly anyone who irked him enough and so far that had proved true thus far in the morning.

Finally, the groups were revealed and the redhead couldn’t help but smirk just a little. Glancing towards the back of the room he spied the pony-tailed mage with whom he’d be facing – such a pleasuring thought it was too, to bring pain upon the brat who’d dared look so disgusted at him earlier. He’d show her. Likewise it was revealed that he would have to go against Kou and that other girl Kasumi? The Headmaster went onto explain a few more things but Ruzik was too busy focusing on Kou just then to really pay much attention.

”I think we’re going to have such fun, as you’re really my only competition out of this little game. Those mages don’t stand a chance at outdoing me.” He laughed quietly, until realizing he had been keeping Kou on his lap this entire time. Oh well. With one simple motion he slide the girl off his lap and onto her feet with ease, before getting onto his own and turning his attention to the mage-girl at the back.

With that, he began to walk through the classroom and up towards the back of the room – or really he sort-of skipped quite happily, before standing in front of the mage-girl. Knowing Kou would follow in her own time, the redhead wasted little effort in sliding himself onto the girls desk and peered over at the mage until their faces were quite close to one another. ”Looks like we’re going against each other mage – so let’s make it interesting.” He said, flashing the pony-tailed girl a sharky-grin before sticking his tongue out rather teasing as he rubbed it against his pointy teeth – and no doubt already felt the hatred and disgust from the mage that clearly did not like him. Besides, he already knew neither of the boy mages were in his team nor facing him, so it made sense to assume this girl was either his mage, or at least his opponent either way. ”If I win I get to kiss you, and touch you ~” The demon didn’t feel a need to go into further detail as just that alone was likely enough to make the mage feel a tad uncomfortable. ”And if you win well, that’s entirely up to you whatever you want.”

With a grin, Ruzik hopped off the desk and spun round to face the mage with a delighted expression. ”Whenever you’re ready just come outside.” Hardly. But still, Ruzik knew that was enough for now and so left the mage be, before looking over to the other mage-girl with long black hair. ”Oi, if your part of this group then get moving.” He ordered, be finally taking his leave and making his way outside. Once there he made his way over to one of the staffs and stood beside it, debating over his tactics to defend such a thing – and show those mages who was the real boss.

Whilst he waited the boy summoned forth a blade of some sort - a claymore to be exact as that was what he mentally wished for, as the weapon then formed itself within his right hand suddenly, before the demon gave it a few swings to test its feel. Though he wasn't entirely sure what form of defense he would take, or what weapon. For now though he busied himself with swinging the thing around as he paid little attention to that around him as he waited for his group to join him.

Bugby sighed in a rather unimpressed manner as he found out the class assessment. A game? Well, what else could you call it? One member was to defend a staff as the other two tried to take it. It wasn’t an overly complicated concept though the demon couldn’t help but appear not too thrilled when hearing that he was the defender for their group. He was to defend some staff from Cleo and Ichiro? He didn’t like those odds and knew only bad things could come from it.

Once things had been explained and the Headmaster turned to the teachers, the demon felt a sharp nudge against him as his teammate got to her feet. ”Come on Buggie-Bear, you’re up! Heh, this’ll be fun.” Bugby didn’t look all that enthusiastic, and somewhat begrudgingly he rose from his seat. ”Buggie-Bear?” By the time he was already standing the cat-girl was already out the door, clearly the girl was more eager than he was but then again he didn’t expect much else from Cleo. Bugby also wondered how Ichiro felt about it, though he was certain he’d find out soon enough once the group was together again.

Heading outside the boy joined Cleo for a moment, taking the chance to glance around the area of the training grounds as he eyed up the staffs that had been put in place. Choosing one, he shrugged a little before making the long walk over to the staff and stood beside it as expected. He gave it a few light nudges with his foot, testing its sturdiness, before shoving his hands into his pockets. ”Seems sturdy enough, though how the hell am I suppose to defend this thing?” A part of him didn’t care for it really, he’d rather not do this at all though clearly that wasn’t an option. Unless he felt brave enough to challenge the Headmaster, but he didn’t. The demon also didn’t much enjoy the fact that they were to be judged during this exercise, since he already knew he wouldn’t do well. He couldn’t begin to think what Midora would think of him either.

With a sigh he looked back to Cleo, who was most likely awaiting Ichiro to join her. Once that happened were the two of them going to attack him right away? It was a little hard to plan for something he wasn’t entirely sure of, nor was he that familiar with their attacks and capabilities. Either way, he’d need to think of something to keep himself from losing, since that was the aim of this exercise, for him at least.

---

Laurence nearly jumped a little as the Headmaster got everyone’s attention. The man was certainly, well, commanding in a way. The young mage certainly didn’t wish to get on his bad side and paid exceptionally close attention to every little thing he said. Though the boy was a little unnerved when informed that the figure was actually a demon. Laurence wasn’t sure how to feel about that, especially as the Headmaster was their appointed teacher after all. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

The demon went on to explain their assessment and what exactly it would entail. From what the mage gathered it was a game of some sort, in which one student guarded a staff whilst their other teammates tried to take it. That was simple enough, right? Laurence took a deep breath whilst contemplating such a task, especially as he wondered what role he would play. Soon enough that was revealed, as the boy found out he would be his groups ‘defender’. Oh goodie.

The Headmaster had also explained that the students would be judged and marked upon how well, or badly, they each performed. Hearing this only added to the boy’s nerves and caused him to feel uneasy, as he always hated whenever he was going to be graded, and worse, watched. As he tried to calm his nerves Laurence could already feel his insides acting up just a little, as whenever the boy was emotionally uneasy that was always a reason for his elements to kick up within him. He could only hope things would settle by the time the exercise would begin, or else who knows what he would do. And just the thought of a poor mark already prompted the boy to feel discouraged.

The demon figure talked some more about this and that, and once finished turned to talk briefly with the teachers behind him. With this, the boy turned in his seat and looked to his own demons. ”A-Alright girls, I know we can do this no problem!” He said, trying to appear confident though he was sure his nerves were seeping through despite his attempts. ”If I’m right, all you have to do is get the staff that I’m guarding. Simple, huh? Look, I don’t want you to go easy on me, in fact I want you to really go for it. Give me all you got!” With a forced smile the boy got to his feet, filling himself with whatever enthusiasm he could before giving a confirming nod.

”I’m good to go! I’ll see you two outside, I’ll be waiting!” Turning round he boy walked to the door and made his way outside into the area that was known as the training grounds, before picking one of the staffs that had been placed outside beforehand, and walking over to one. Once there, he noticed the red-haired boy was already at one too, as well as the green-haired boy, and the cat-girl was waiting by the door. Laurence was certainly interested to see how things went, and more especially how his own group fared and the chance to see what his demons could do.

Once Ichiro joined the group Cleo turned to the mage, already twisting a strand of hair around her finger as she addressed the boy, ”Well, long time no see.” She remarked, lowering her ears just a little before the feline dropped her hand and rested both against her hips as she looked at to the blonde boy. However, nearly a second later, the girl sprang forward and marched directly up to the mage and was nearly at eye-level with him. ”You weren’t sitting with us!” She snapped, lowering her head just as quickly as she buried her chin into her chest, before bringing her shoulders up as the feline lowered her ears considerably more, and then softly continued, ”Ruzik says mages stick with their own kind, and that you dumped us for that girl. And, you don’t care about us ‘cause we’re demons. T-That’s not true, right? You wouldn’t dump us like that, Ichi?”

Though perhaps not as naive as she may have appeared, Cleo was however easily persuaded when it came to things that she wasn’t entirely sure of. Such as with the new relationships she was forming and everything that came with them, it wasn’t entirely hard to see why the girl was easily swayed by the other demons words. Although, as if flipping a switch, the girl raised her head just then and reached her hands up as she grabbed hold of the boy’s collar and forced his face forward, just a little. ”RIGHT? You wouldn’t dump us like that, Ichiro.” Cleo hissed quietly under her breath, ever-so-slightly baring the tips of her fangs as the girls evident jealousy was seeping through just a little, before she eventually released the mage soon after and quickly returning to her more commonly sweeter nature.

Right at that moment the feline noticed a familiar face enter the area and sat beside the horned girl, and almost instantly the cat-girl jumped up and down and waved her arms about in the air. ”Hive-y! Lookie, look! Watch me ace this assessment! HEY! Are you watching, oi!” She called excitedly, before ceasing her jumping and returned her focus onto Ichiro. With a confident grin the girl swept her hair over her shoulder, puffing out her chest as the feline stood with an air of determination about her. ”Our best bet is for us both to hit him at once, that way he can’t retaliate so quickly. Plus, who knows how having both of us attacking him at the same time will affect his ability to copy. Sound good? Cool. Just try to keep up with me - and don't worry, we'll totally make it up to him later.”

Saying little else and with a cheeky wink, the feline dashed off, running across the ground and quickly enclosing the gap between herself and Bugby, as she quickly approached the green-haired boy and flashed him a grin. ”OK, let’s go Buggie! Show us what you got!” She teased during quick breaths, as the girl ran and leaped upwards and then downward onto the other demon as she pounced upon him suddenly, naturally baring her fangs as she sank them deep into the boy’s arm and stopped him in his tracks. Unsurprisingly the girl bit down hard into his limb – though obvious not wanting to harm her friend too much, it was necessary in order to win the exercise and thus, this fueled the girls train of thought for the time being.

Cleo would do whatever it took to win, and besides, she’d make it up to him afterwards anyway! Although really, it wasn’t that surprising for Cleo to use such an attack – as proven during yesterday, she tended to rely on it quite a bit. It was her signature move, though clearly Bugby would likely fight against her and Ichiro – the girl was up for the challenge, and perhaps so was Bugby.

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As the headmaster announced the task for the day Ichiro's excitement was rightfully placed. Though he it was dulled a tad bit by the fact it was between each own team. It seemed as if Bugby would have to defend himself from Cleo and himself, Ichiro already starting thinking of battle tactics, running through different scenarios in his head looking for the best outcome. Glancing over at Cleo he could feel some potential issues that could arise if they couldn't workout this awkwardness that sprung up all of the sudden. It seemed just on cue though the root of all evil strutted his stuff on over towards them plopping himself down right in front of Liliane.

Listening to him made Ichiro sick. The funny thing was they were not to different in some aspects, they both had enough arrogance to last a life time, from listening to his challenge to Liliane it seemed as if he enjoyed challenges and games as well which made the world go round for Ichiro. Though maybe it was for those reason that Ichiro couldn't stand his Demon counterpart, the funny thing was they are complete opposites when it comes to lust, sex, and physical contact in that manor. From what Ichiro had seen and heard the Demon had clearly no quarrels with being open about it and had no shame when it came to such things. While Ichiro on the other hand talked big talk and had the charm to back it up, but when it came down to it anything of that nature reverted him to childlike behavior. Instantly he gets insanely nervous which is very unusual for him, as well all his vocal charm flies out the window and he becomes hesitant. One instance in particular was on his way to the school were he meet a girl and after a chat she took him to her apartment and they got close and she decided to remove her shirt which after only coming half off, made Ichiro's eyes widen and gave him a atrocious nose bleed, which really kills the mood when the other person thinks your dying. Also with every encounter he shares with the Demon he grows to dislike him even more.

After the Demon walked away Ichiro slowly stood up looking back at Liliane. "Please beat the crap out of him while getting that staff, I can be slightly satisfied watching that smug look being wiped off his face even if I can't be the one doing it." With that he wished her and Muse good luck and headed out. Trying to focus more on his own task then bothering thinking about ways of "accidentally" letting a spear get loose and having it fly at the source of his frustration.

Arriving outside he approached Cleo with a slight bit of hesitation. It worked out fine since in the end Cleo seemed to be ok with starting the conversation. "Ah, it wasn't that long. Don't worry about the sitting thing." He said with a half smile not to sure what to say. As Cleo brought up Ruzik, who Ichiro could easily guess was the red haired Demon, it angered Ichiro a little. "Why does she listen to him, why even hang around him can't she see who he really is." Ichiro said to himself as he clinched his hand into a fist.

Seconds later before allowing for a response he jumped of shock as Cleo grabbed hold of his collar. He had never seen her like this and it was for sure scary. She seemed to calm down after restating the question, but he was still a bit hesitant, he knew that they only had meet the other day, but Cleo didn't seem like someone who could have such ferocity it was a little unsettling. Taking a pause to think it over Ichiro could see that his actions had hurt her. His expression softened as he began to speak. "I'm sorry for what I did, but I would never dump you ever, not Bugby or you. You have nothing to worry about no mage could replace you guys, you are my teammates that's family in my book." He said as he placed his hand on her head slowly petting her. "Did you really think any girl could just replace you." Withdrawing his hand as he folded his arms as he tried to seem more serious, though still holding his calming smile. "I think Ruzik is a bad influence on you though and you shouldn't be so friendly with him, but we can save that for later we don't want to make Bugby wait all day." Saying as he turned to look at Bugby.

It seemed Cleo was ready for the challenge though as she was rearing to go. "I agree, though i'll refrain from using any of my magic unless Bugby forces my hand. I would hate to give him a weapon in the middle of our task." Just as he finished Cleo took off with insane speed. Ichiro took off into a run as well, but it just hit him without his magic he was below weak. He had a decent build, but wasn't either strong or weak when it came to strength and his speed was ok no track star worthy or anything though. Normally he would just summon his armor which increased his strength and speed tremendously, but he couldn't risk giving Bugby the ability to copy it. For now he had to bank on Cleo doing most of the work unless Bugby started using someone else's magic then he would go all out. Still it was surprising to see Cleo's speed as he was still running over by the time she sank her fangs into Bugby.

Bugby stood and watched as Ichiro joined Cleo, the pair seemed to talk for a short while, but the demon wasn’t paying that much attention. In truth, he was slightly dreading the exercise as he knew it would involve fighting his teammates, and Bugby just found it a little odd to fight the pair, simply. As Cleo and Ichiro spoke to one another in the time being, the boy turned to the staff and looked it over briefly, as he attempted to figure out a way to defend it in a successful fashion. Running his finger across the side of the staff, he opted to wait a few minutes before returning his gaze to his teammates. It seemed that the discussion was over, or rather Cleo was ready to begin. Acknowledging this, the boy took a deep breath before shifting himself into a more appropriate stance.

Raising his arms up, Bugby figured he’d need to do whatever he could to defend the staff, and already he could guess how things would advance as Cleo ran at him at that moment. ”OK, let’s go Buggie! Show us what you got!”

The boy oddly grinned, realizing Cleo was offering him a challenge head-on. He also noticed Ichiro running too at that moment and braced himself, having both arms raised in a form of defense, though he quickly realized that it wasn’t the smartest choice as it only allowed for the girl’s fangs to pierce through his arm after doing so. Really, he was actually surprised Cleo went that far. During yesterday’s class he had witnessed the feline rip apart limbs and was only grateful she hadn’t done the same to him, but now when redirecting his attention to the mage, Bugby knew he was far from winning this ordeal. Gritting his teeth, Bugby moved and twisted his arm around to shake the cat off him. Her grip was strong, but the boy just managed to pry his arm free for a moment, before flipping the girl round and nabbing her by the hair. Throwing her around the boy spun himself round too, raising one leg as he balanced on the other, and quickly brought round his boot as he hit the girl in the lower stomach. Knocking her back, Bugby then reached over and grabbed the girl by her sleeve and pulled her close, just enough that he could look into her eyes and grasp the power he needed, before releasing and dropping her to the ground.

Within him, the demon could feel the newly acquired information forming inside of his mind. His speed would increase tremendously, and his strength, as it matched that of Cleo’s. However he would not suddenly bear a set of cat-ears and other feline attributes, as that was not within his ability as such. Leaping into the air suddenly, the boy hopped over to beside the staff and grasped the object with one hand, pulling it out of the ground before spinning it round in one of his hands and then held it securely in both.

Grinning, he shifted round and faced the mage, as he then motioned for the boy to approach him, to challenge him in a way. So far he’d put up with Cleo and hadn’t even looked at the girl since, perhaps feeling a little bad for hitting her, but then again she did bite him! Which reminded Bugby, as he looked down at his wounded arm and could feel his blood dripping down it, and even noticed a few drops spilling down onto the ground next to him. It hurt, considering the girl had bitten him pretty deeply, though if he managed to avoid getting hit there then the demon figured he ought to be somewhat good for the time being.

”Let’s see if you can get this staff from me.” He teased, or rather taunted to the mage. Dashing off, the demon made use of his increased speed and darted about the area, seeing if the mage could actually catch him, which was highly unlikely without using some form of power against the demon. Although, once appearing quite confident with his avoidance of the blonde boy, the demon had lost his concentration gradually and hadn’t paid attention when he tripped up suddenly, over his own feet no less, and came to a crashing halt as he fell right into the mage.

With the excessive speed and force of Bugby, the pair were knocked back a few paces before the demon found himself laying on top of the mage. Opening his eyes, Bugby looked directly at Ichiro and as you would naturally expect, his ability took effect. Gazing into the mages eyes the demon acquired the new information that lay within the blonde boy, however a few seconds later, and rather awkwardly, the boy force himself upright as his knees rested on either side of the mages waist. An evident blush plastered across his face, Bugby then realized shortly after what had happened and felt a sudden sharp pain in his head as result. What many perhaps did not realize or maybe did not know about the demon was that he copied others through staring into their eyes, meaning he did not have to witness an ability to mimic it, and though generally controllable there were times when the boy was careless. As Bugby was only ever able to fully copy one person at a time, despite having the potential to mimic more if he improved, it was the demons downfall however. Whenever he did copy more than one thing, deliberately or not, there were always variable results.

Hopping off the mage and landing a few steps back, the demon just then realized that he had dropped the staff and the thing had landed elsewhere from the pair due to colliding with Ichiro. Gripping his head just then the boy hunched over in visible discomfort, crouching down eventually, as he held his head in his hands. Over the next few passing minutes golden pools formed on the ground surrounding the demon, as well as a few ripples of light that emerged in the air near him. Once fully shaped, blades began to appear from within the golden sources on the ground and air, but they weren’t completely formed due to Bugby’s inability to perfect the ability at that moment. Despite this though, they were still sharp enough and capable of inflicting damage, as well as the quickness in which they emerged too, it didn’t seem to matter how much of each blade was formed as they were still dangerous all the same.

Uncontrollably, the half-formed blades continuously appeared from the pools and ripples, and aimed themselves directly at Ichiro who was in front of the demon, and Cleo, who was somewhere behind him. His teammates who have to defend themselves, as even if Bugby wasn’t physically controlling the ability it was still reacting to his consciousness in some way, as it knew to attack both the mage and other demon regardless. The only logical way to end it would be to knock Bugby out, or do something to force the demon to end the power, somehow.

---

Laurence suddenly felt a presence behind him as the boy quickly turned round and saw one of the demons standing in the doorway, before approaching him shortly after. He stood quietly for a few minutes as the girl looked him over, the mage somewhat unable to read any form of emotion from the demon whose face held little in the way of expressions. "Do you want those washed now, I can do so with haste. I am to serve you always my Lord." She then asked, surprising the boy a little. He didn’t really know how to react or respond to such a thing, it was the sort of request he’d expect from his mother, not a demon.

”Uh, well… ah, I,” He mumbled, scratching the side of his arm as he pondered over the demons odd words. However, it was then that another thing hit him suddenly, giving the boy more cause to think before he sheepishly responded with, ”To be honest I don’t think it’s wise for me to let you, since, you know, I don’t really know you. After what happened today I guess it proves I shouldn’t trust demons so easily, seeing as Venom deceived me earlier.” It wasn’t that he outright didn’t trust Etelka, more that the mage was just cautious of how he interacted with the demon from now on, at least until he was better acquainted with the girl. If she had a problem with it then she only had the other demon to blame, as Venom was perhaps the cause for the boy’s sudden resistance towards them.

The demon had summoned a black wand of some sort also, placing the thing onto a table and informing the mage that it was his. Without really thinking he immediately picked it up and looked it over curiously, figuring that he’d oblige the demon and keep hold of it, since it seemed to mean a great deal to her if he did so. ”Alright, I guess so. It won’t hurt me will it?” He then asked and raised a slight brow, as the boy held the wand with both hands and continued to inspect it. Laurence soon noticed that Venom had not joined them, or rather she may have been still talking to the Headmaster. With a shrug, he faced Etelka and gave the girl a warm smile. The boy seemed at ease at that moment, his inside calming more as time passed. Although, Laurence couldn’t help wonder what their next class would be like, if they had one. He didn’t really fancy getting humiliated again, especially in front of the Headmaster. But at least for now their exercise was over with it seemed, so he could relax for now.

”Hey, Etelka… what do you think of Venom? And, I know I only just arrived today but I believe you’ve been here longer than I have, so I was wondering if there is anything I should know about the class? What are the people like, anyone I should look out for?” He asked, sitting back in his seat as he stretched his legs out a little. The boy figured he’d ought to be more knowledgeable of the class, considering how things went with Venom, Laurence wondered if other demons were like her, and if he should be wary of anyone. Hopefully Etelka would enlighten his curiosity a little.

Cleo thought she had been smart to bite the demon, and though clearly causing him pain and injury, the boy had managed to escape her hold and the next thing the girl knew she was thrown all over the place until feeling a sharp strike to her stomach. Letting out a whine of discomfort, the boy had held her close quickly after, and then dumped her just as quickly to the ground. It was only as she was about to propel herself forward that the feline then dropped back down to the ground holding a hand against her stomach.

The kick had been hard, especially with the boy’s boots which only furthered the pain upon impact. Winded, the girl propped herself up with one arm, ears lowered as she forced in a deep breath. So far her demon teammate was doing not too badly in defending the staff, which he had surprisingly picked up himself and ran with it – a move which both intrigued and amused the girl, more so after witnessing the overly confident demon tripping over his own boots! Ha! Clearly, despite copying their abilities, the demon was not use to her level of speed. Then again he wasn’t exactly paying close attention either!

As Bugby and Ichiro lay on the ground, Cleo watched the staff fly high into the air before landing a short distance away from the boys. Spying her chance, the cat used all her strength to push her body up from the ground and get to her feet – however, her gut was in a great deal of discomfort from Bugby’s hit earlier, and the girls breathing was a little hard to perform at that moment. With short, quick, painful breaths, the girl stumbled across the ground and managed a few steps before falling back down again onto her knees.

Throwing her head back, the feline noticed Bugby was acting oddly and seemed to be in some form of pain as he crouched down closer to the ground, holding his head. Puddles of light quickly began to form around him all of a sudden, though clearly not her power, the girl could only assume it might have been something to do with Ichiro as he was the closest to the demon-boy. But that didn’t exactly put the girl at any ease as quickly blades began to emerge from the pools of light, though they appeared somewhat odd and not entirely complete, it was still a worrying sight as many began to appear.

Before the girl knew it some of the blades flew in her direction, the rest aiming for their mage. Instantly, the girl flung herself onto her feet and tried to dodge the oncoming assault of blades, just narrowly missing the first few that came her way. However, once the next lot came for her the feline was taking a risk as she ran across the area and made a mad-dash for the staff. It was close, too close to not try and snatch it whilst Bugby wasn’t paying attention! But the girl wasn’t as lucky as she grew closer to the staff, as one blade nipped the girl and got her on the side of the shoulder. Another came her way and aimed directly at her head, forcing the girl to lean all the way back and avoid it at any cost as Cleo tumbled backwards onto the ground with a thud.

”Ichiro, save yourself! Get the staff!” Cleo called somewhat exaggeratedly, throwing a hand to the air in a defeated fashion as she flopped back down against the ground. Although, what with the blades of death coming at her, that was more than enough motivation to prompt the girl back upright, though in some pain whilst doing so, and proceed to move out the way as she avoided the blades. As, considering she lacked any form of protection, it was highly advisable for the girl to keep moving! Though despite attempting to make a straight run for Bugby, the boy was quite well protected by the blades that continued to form around him.

And as time passed the cat had received quite a few more scrapes from the bladed weapons as she tried her best to dodge them, and it only proved more challenging to get anywhere near the other demon in the state that she was in. But, if Ichiro couldn't get closer either, the feline would have to think of something. She could only wait and see.

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Moments after Cleo pounced on Bugby it seemed he wasn't going to sit by, and he held nothing back. Grappling her before sending a painful looking kick into her stomach. Maybe pitting people who were suppose to be working as a team later, in a brawl was not such a good idea. Though Ichiro felt that his group should be fine after, or at least he hoped so. After having put her down he gazed into her face which was a bit odd mid battle, but he could do as he pleased.

Almost instantly after that he leaped with a burst of speed grabbing hold of the staff. The speed seemed way to close to Cleo's to be his own, which most likely meant that somehow Bugby had copied her abilities. If he had to observe it to gain a power it was clear Cleo's abilities were just natural so he should of been able to copy it before and avoid her bite. Or when he grappled her, physical contact may be the requirement. Ichiro watched Bugby's motions intently with a wide grin as Bugby taunted him into coming for the staff. "It's about time I had some fun at this school."

Ichiro knew without his magic he had no chance of fighting Bugby. With Cleo's speed and strength Ichiro would lose in the blink of an eye without his magic, but he couldn't activate Bugby's copying trigger. He would have to stall without taking more then two or three hits. Still Ichiro could bank on the fact that Bugby wouldn't know just how weak he was without his magic, without it increasing his reaction speed when Bugby took off at high speeds he appeared as only a blur to Ichiro who knew that he was only seeing after images. The hit was a surprising shock when Ichiro realized it wasn't a hit, but Bugby slamming full body into him. When he opened his eyes Bugby laid sitting on top of him gazing into his eyes. Bugby removed himself, but seemed in a lot of pain.

Watching him Ichiro wondered if the impact injured both of them. Ichiro had never actually fought without his armor bolstering every aspect of him so he didn't realize how fragile his normal body was, until just the impact from Bugby hit. The impact Ichiro assumed was equal to the force of a car slamming into him at at least 20mph. Slowly getting up he examined his injuries, it seemed he had probably broke a rib or two as Ichiro could taste some blood in his mouth. Still Bugby was a Demon so his body should be physically more resilient and the impact shouldn't have affected him. Ichiro pondered the questions as he slowly got up.

As golden puddles started to appear and blades emerged it was clear somehow Bugby had copied his power. Ichiro thought it over as he had never used any aspect of his powers which mean either through physical contact or maybe.... before he had time to assess the situation blades were flying at him. Without his armor he could actually die from just one decent hit, Ichiro knew this because if it was his own power he knew that the piercing of the blade only caused a part of the damage. Most of the real damage came from the force the blade was propelled at and if it was anything like his own a single hit without his armor would be deadly, the force and shock alone would kill him. Still Ichiro express only got odder as most would fear a one shot kill attack, it only inspired Ichiro as the thought of fighting someone with his own powers was exhilarating. It was clear that Bugby was out of control now though, but hay was it so bad to have a little fun while reeling him back in. As his mage it was Ichiro's duty to contain him, even more so now that Cleo was in danger as well.

"I'll get the staff don't worry. Bugby are you trying to kill me, well let me knock some sense back into you." He said with a wicked grin as he spit out a bit of blood. Cracking his fingers as golden particles spun around encasing him, as they formed into a suit of armor. Normally Ichiro would take a distant position and fire off blades, but against his own power that wasn't an option because it to was long ranged. Though Ichiro's magic didn't make it that strong, it is actually pretty basic with slight variations. What made it strong was the skill of the user when it came to it. The power came from predicting enemy movements to land deadly blows. As well being highly skilled at micromanaging as each blades were stronger when individually controlled.

In Bugby's normal state this would be a tough enough challenge, but how he was right now with the pain, no prediction involved they were firing in just a countless barrage. As well they were not being managed, he was just lobbing them in clusters one after another. Not to mention Ichiro trained for most of his life to master this skill as it takes a crazy amount of stamina to maintain, so blades can't be wasted. At Bugby's rate he would pass out in no time at all, though if not shut down soon he may hurt someone else near by or even himself with a stray blade. So their was no time to sit around and wait for him to be done, and plus that was not fun at all."Let me give you a little pay back for my ribs." Saying as he launched two blades, but instead of aiming at Bugby they flew right past him each catching one end of the staff sending it rolling away, a safe distance for Cleo to grab. "Take the staff I'll deal with our friend over here."

Completely ignoring Bugby's state, a fire grew in Ichiro's eyes as his face just lit up with excitement. "I hope your ok with me ending this. Let me teach you lesson one about my powers." Three puddles appeared slight above his head in front of him, but instead of blades forming three long kite shields dropped out of the pools forming a wall in front of him. They hovered in front as Ichiro dashed forwards closing the gap, between himself and Bugby. All incoming blades hit and reflected off the kite shields. "My power doesn't come from my magic, but how I use it." As he got within ten feet of Bugby a large golden pool about the size of a truck appeared above Bugby's head. Ichiro raised one hand in the air and dropped it as a massive, square Tower shield came straight down onto Bugby with the speed of his normal blades, which was fast. The impact alone sent shock waves leaving cracks in the ground below Bugby. At the time as the tower shield dropped, Ichiro had to have vision to make sure he pinpointed it's drop location so he had to make his kite shields move. So at the same time his Tower shield dropped his Kite shields dissipated into golden particles. Of course at that distance it was impossible to dodge all of the blades coming from Bugby, while Ichiro maneuvered around a few he couldn't dodge them all so he took the least damaging one of all the incoming blades, which drove straight into his right thigh.

It pierced straight through. Though the force left cracks around where it hit. Blood started to slide down his right leg. The tower shield had leveled Bugby, and spamming blades had hopefully exhausted him. Ichiro took a few steps back, blood forming small pools at his feet as he moved around wanting to fight more. While the teammate part of him hoped that one hit took him down and out so he wouldn't be in pain. Ichiro's base nature wanted more fighting more of a challenge. In most fights Ichiro enjoyed toying around with his opponent, but fights were he felt it was possible to lose he ended them quick though he hated short fights.

Standing there Ichiro watched Bugby with gleaming eyes waiting to see if he was down and out or ready for round 2. Seemingly unaware of the pain Bugby was in an using his armor's attribute changer to change his own pain limiters so that he could keep going with a cut right through his thigh. The blood sliding down from the wound it was clear that he was fairly injured. Ichiro always was prepared for injuries during fights though that's why he enjoyed the ability to change his pain attribute, though after his armor dissipates he can't continue the change and it all comes flooding back which is never fun without a doctor around. "Are you done?" Saying as his body started to settle down as he was unsure if it was over or not. Ichiro had an odd fighting style that contradicted its self. His body language and face, plus the way he spoke made it seem as if he was crazy and wild, but at the same time his movements and style of fighting were clearly tactical and well thought out. Which Ichiro really enjoys about fighting, he has fun and goes wild while at the same time not being careless and fighting smart.

Taking a glance over at Cleo to see if she got the staff since even if Bugby got up if she got the staff the game would be over which meant any more fighting would get either one of them in trouble.

---

---

Memphis stood and gave little response as the red-haired demon walked off, clearly seeing little else to converse with to the Headmaster. The other two had slinked off earlier, Etelka and Laurence, and now the other demon had too, which left the elder demon questioning his approach. Was he too hard on then? Maybe he lacked a sense of kindness towards them, or something like that. Not that he overly cared, he was their teacher and they would have to accept his ways. However. Having that girl just walk off as she did irked the man a little, not to mention the other two, though perhaps not through his expression he showed this, but the general temperature around him increased just a little. But it quickly died out a few minutes after.

With a shrug he brushed the thought off, puffing away at his cigarette as he turned and walked off towards were the two other demon sat. The horned-girl and late demon, who had caught his attention earlier. As he walked over the fire-demon kept what his own group had said to him deep in his mind, figuring perhaps there was some work that could be done to help improve the three as a team. Either way, Memphis wasn’t exactly experienced with this sort of thing, but if he needed to, he would bother the other teachers about it and hear their thoughts and advice later on, out of class.

Once over, the Headmaster sat up and behind the two younger demons. Peering down at them almost, he figured he ought to interrogate the boy who had been late. "You," He tapped the boys shoulder, expecting him to face him and continued. "Why were you late to class? Does it bore you that much, or were you unaware that there’s a new boss here." Leaning back, he casted a glance over the other students, before briefly looking to the horned-girl. He knew she wanted to participate, but she couldn’t. At least she didn’t seem like the whiny type and actually accepted his decision, somewhat. "It’s kind-of handy, since you two are in the same group. Perhaps you should take advantage of this, you know."

---

Cleo kept herself low to the ground as the blades soared overhead, but once seeing Ichiro knock the staff closer to her, the feline knew she had to get it and put an end to all of this! As, perhaps unlike her two teammates, the girl wished to end the fighting as clearly everyone had taken their fair share of pain. And Cleo didn’t enjoy seeing her friends so hurt, and whatever else. With a deep breath the girl sprang forward, weaving in and out of the last few blades that came her way before throwing herself over to beside the staff.

Slamming her hands onto it and curling her fingers round it tightly, the girl lay on her stomach against the ground before rolling onto her back and holding the staff up high into the air. ”I-I got it! Look, see! It’s over! OVER!” She called as loudly as she could, before forcing herself upright and gradually getting to her feet. Once steady and finally standing, the feline raised her arms up whilst still holding onto the staff – just to ensure their teacher saw it, and knew that they had won! A moment after, the girl turned and faced her teammates. ”Guys, it’s over. We don’t have to fight anymore!” Clearly content with this fact the girl dropped her arms to her sides, though still held the staff in one of her hands before the demon dropped to the ground and rested on her knees.

She was tired and exhausted, her gut aching from the kicking she had gotten earlier, and not to mention the assault of blades that she had narrowly escaped from. The exercise had certainly not what she had been expecting, and given how she felt at that moment Cleo wasn’t entirely fussed about how well or badly she had done on the assessment. She and Ichiro had won, that was the main thing! And, she had learned quite a bit from the exercise too in regards to her teammates – in a way she felt like she knew both of them better through it, which was also a good thing. ”Guys… you both ok?” Whilst asking, the girl used what little strength she had left to propel herself up and off the ground as she staggered over to where Ichiro and Bugby were, standing herself between them. She didn’t want any more fighting from the pair, and given that the exercise was over, she didn’t expect it either. However, the way both demon and mage appeared, the girl couldn’t entirely say for sure if things were truly finished or not. ”Please don’t fight anymore, I don’t want us killing each other for no reason. So please, you know, let’s just go and relax now that it’s done with. Sound good?”

Bugby couldn’t quite remember what had happened next, as he opened his eyes and found himself laying on the ground, propping himself up with his arms as he sat up. Ichiro had hit him with something hard, and he probably passed out as result. Although once aware of his surroundings the demon then noticed the golden pools around him were gone, and in their place unusual cracks that lay denting the ground beneath him. Running a hand through his hair the demon still felt a sense of pain from his head, as well as his arm, and generally his entire body hurt in some way. Bugby definitely hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

”I-I got it! Look, see! It’s over! OVER!” Snapping his head round, Bugby couldn’t believe what he had heard, as he just then he saw the girl holding the staff. He frowned, turning back around as he narrowed his eyes at the mage afterwards. ”I lost.” He sighed, though expecting such an outcome, the demon still felt it hard to acknowledge. Mostly because it seemed he had lost to Ichiro, a mage, which he didn’t like to imagine. With a good amount of effort, the demon pushed himself off the ground and shakily got to his feet, though still seemed a bit unsteady. By the time he had even taking a step forward the feline was already up and moving about as she stood herself between the mage and demon, holding the staff in her hand that the boy had tried to keep away from the pair, though ultimately failed at doing so.

”Please don’t fight anymore, I don’t want us killing each other for no reason. So please, you know, let’s just go and relax now that it’s done with. Sound good?” It was clear the girl wished peace between the group, and though visibly un-amused by losing the exercise, the demon merely gave a begrudged nod to ease the girl from further worry. However, he had to make one thing clear before doing so, as the demon walking over to the mage, rather uneasily as he took slow steps initially. Once close enough, the demon raised a hand and placed a clawed finger against the mage’s chest, ”Do not think this is over, I do not accept losing to a mage easily. I will be expecting a rematch, Ichiro.” He said in a rather matter-of-fact tone, before pulling his hand away. ”However, you did win, so I have some respect for you now, mage. Perhaps you aren’t as bad as the others.” Surprisingly, the demon then held out his hand towards Ichiro, offering it to the blonde boy to shake as a form of respect. After all, since Ichiro was his mage, and he won, it proved quite a lot to Bugby even if the demon still wished to beat the mage all the same. As he looked between Cleo and Ichiro, the demon had to admit he quite liked his group compared to the rest. Maybe he was lucky to have them. ”I guess… we are friends now, yes? No hard feelings after all this?”

---

"I have little thoughts on Venom, you asked her to go all out against you and she did. I dislike her, but I dislike demons, I shall see how loyal she is to you and make my opinion then. If you find her annoying give me the order and I'll kill her." Laurence was, as you would have expected, a little taking back by the demons words. And yet he could tell she was very serious in the offer, but the boy hadn’t expected himself to need such a thing, at least not within a good reason. ”I-I don’t really like to kill others, not without a valid reason at least. I mean… I’ve never killed anyone before, and I never want to, unless I have to.” He didn’t outright reject the idea though neither did he embrace it, seemingly. He certainly didn’t want Venom dead! ”I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill anyone, unless, well, they’re trying to kill me haha.” He added, trying to make light of the situation as he sheepishly ran a hand through his hair and laughed ever so slightly.

As the demon went on to explain the student that she did know, the boy eased himself and listened to her keenly as Laurence paid close attention. She had mentioned the rabbit demon first, who seemed very nice in his opinion, and the mage felt little worry in regards to that demon as he figured perhaps she wasn’t going to cause him trouble. But then Etelka mentioned another demon, known as Ruzik, who came across the exact opposite. ”Oh great, another demon set on deceiving others.” The boy sighed, knowing full well he’d probably be the redhead’s next victim if Laurence didn’t buck his ideas up a little.

Then there was the demon, Hive. A pile of bugs? Just the thought sent an uncomfortable feeling down the mage as, though liking bugs, he wasn’t exactly a big fan of the creepy crawlies either. However, Etelka seemed to know that demon quite well, so the boy knew to trust her on being wary of the fellow, at least for now. ”You don’t have to be sorry, you actually seem to know all the people who I should avoid, which is very useful. I now know to be aware of these Hive and Ruzik guys, so you should be pleased.” He said and offered the girl a friendly smile, showing his genuine appreciation for her insight. When the demon went onto claim he had her complete loyalty, and even state she would die for him, Laurence was a tad surprised, though he was slowly getting use to the girls seriousness towards ‘serving’ him. ”Alright, alright I believe you, haha. I know you take this serving-thing quite literally, so I do believe you, Etelka.” He assured the demon.

When she repeated the last little part of her sentence though, the mage couldn’t help but somewhat understand what she was implying, as he was a teenage boy after all! ”I-I don’t have any… desires that need serving right now, thank-you.” He quietly mumbled, his face reddening in the passing moments as the boy quickly got to his feet and began to swing the black wand about. Like a child with a new toy, he was quite taken by it, and couldn’t resist swing it around and over his head as he spun it around in his hands. Although, when nearing the window the boy looked out briefly, noticing their red-haired demon was nowhere to be seen.

”Hey, Venom is gone.” He stated, looking over the area that the other students were fighting but couldn’t see her. Did she just leave? What about her group, didn’t she want to say goodbye before going? Maybe she didn’t like them enough yet, Laurence assumed as a slight frown formed on his face. As a thought suddenly hit him the mage turned round and looked to the demon, ”I never thought about it, but maybe she's not with us because I'm not a good mage, since I was pretty naive out there earlier. Even the Headmaster noticed it, too. Perhaps I'm so bad that one of my own demons doesn't think I'm good enough...”