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The practical test for Curses and Hexes had been far from what the name of the course suggested. For Leviathan, to be able to hold your hand and entwine your fingers together was a blessing he never would have thought he’d be bestowed upon with.
When he approached you and offered to be your partner for the practical test, he didn’t think you’d choose him. Why would you when you had other demons to select from? There was Mammon, who had always bragged about being your ‘first,’ and Satan, the one who had tutored you for these exams. Even so, catching him off-guard, you picked Leviathan. Despite the nature of the practical test, you cast the curse assigned to the class without hesitation, drawing your hands and his together and binding them.
If he were an application running on a computer, the pop-up window with the message, ‘Leviathan.exe has stopped working,’ would have already appeared on the screen. He was so flustered and excited and happy—he was overflowing with mixed emotions, so much so that he ended up rambling and had to be taken to the nurse’s office in a dazed, flushed state. The rest of his day, including the exams he still had to take, drifted by in a blur, and it was all due to the events that transpired during Curses and Hexes.
However, things between the two of you had been strange since you stepped out of the nurse’s office with him.
You had been walking beside Leviathan at that time. The second your knuckles brushed with his, you took a small step away and acted as if nothing happened. Back then, he had paid it no mind. The situation was awkward enough, and it was all due to his inability to control his emotions earlier.
He started doubting if that was all there was to it a few days later. The two of you happened to reach for the same dish during dinner, and his index finger touched yours.
“You go first, Levi,” you pulled back immediately and said with a smile, proceeding to take the serving spoon of a different dish.
Weird, Leviathan thought.
To find out if his suspicion was correct, he sent you a text message and asked if he could borrow your copy of My Demon Academia manga. Although you replied he’d already read that specific volume, he insisted, so you relented. He went to your room to pick it up, and you met him by the door. As you handed him the manga he asked for, his long fingers touched yours on purpose. Startled, you let go of the item at once, almost dropping it on the floor if he didn’t grasp it on reflex.
That was it. You were avoiding touching him.
Did you not want to be in contact with his skin so badly? Something horrible must have happened during the Curses and Hexes practical test… but what was it? Leviathan racked his brains for an answer but couldn’t find any. You were even the one who entwined your fingers with his. Was the experience that awful? The thought alone made him feel terrible—worse than the time when he failed to purchase VIP tickets for Sucre Frenzy’s anniversary concert despite waiting so long for it. To say it saddened him was the understatement of the century. The fact that he could tell you any of his worries except this one made matters gloomier. It became a secret only he and Henry knew. When he thought about it, it had been a while since something like that happened.
Leviathan tried his best to cast those thoughts aside, or at the very least, avoid dwelling on them. He was doing fine… until he stumbled upon a scene he didn’t like one bit.
During your weekly game night, Leviathan looked for you all over the house. He wanted to clear the air between the two of you, so you could have fun together tonight. However, the sight of you and Asmodeus in the living room made Leviathan stand still. You and Asmodeus sat close to each other, your hands in his grasp as he lifted them near his face to admire them.
Leviathan, the Avatar of Envy, felt jealous.
“Oh, so pretty,” Asmodeus commented. “I haven’t seen nail art this cute before. Which salon did you go to?”
“Actually, a succubus friend of mine from Seductive Speechcraft…”
The conversation between you and Asmodeus failed to register in Leviathan’s mind. With his eyes zeroed in on your hands, which were still held by Asmodeus, he marched in your direction.
You noticed his entrance and greeted him, “Oh, Levi! We’re still on for our game night, right?”
“Yes…” he grit out.
“What?” Asmodeus chimed in and pulled you closer. “Let’s just have a sleepover, that’d be more fun, I’m sure?”
How could Asmodeus say that? Leviathan was both irritated and upset at his brother’s words.
“Maybe next time, Asmo.” You gave him an apologetic smile. “Those tests really stressed me out, and I’ve been looking forward to game night since those tutorial sessions started.”
Leviathan’s heart leaped at your words. He had been the same, looking forward to this night since the examination period began.
“Okay, okay,” Asmodeus replied with a sigh. “But you have to introduce me to that friend of yours.”
“Sure thing!”
“Let’s go,” Leviathan interjected.
Unable to wait for another second longer, he moved to hold your hand but thought better of it. You wouldn’t… want that, right? He sighed and opted to hold your wrist, which was covered by your sleeve, instead, and led you to his room. Once the door was shut, he released you from his fingers and felt envy kindling inside him again. Asmodeus could freely touch your hand as he pleases, but Leviathan couldn’t. He felt as if there was a thick wall between you, his favorite human, and himself. It was the last thing he wanted.
“H-Hey,” Leviathan began, “can I hold your hand?”
“What? Why are you…”
“You’ve been acting weird since that day,” he pointed out. “It’s like, you’re avoiding my hands.”
You averted your gaze from him. “I guess you could put it that way? I mean—”
“You might not want to be friends with me anymore, but I… I told you, right? You’re my true friend! So, if I did something wrong, please tell me…”
Leviathan didn’t want to lose your friendship. Not like this.
“Wait, wait, wait! What’s this about not being friends anymore?”
“Isn’t that… what you wanted?” he clarified, his voice dropping into a whisper as he continued, “Not that I blame you, though. Who would want to be friends with me, anyway?”
“No! Don’t say that!” you said. “We’ll always be true friends, Levi! We promised, remember?”
“Then, why were you so awkward with me after that? I’m Leviathan, the most awkward being among the three worlds! I should be the awkward one, you know?”
“I’m sorry Levi.” You let out an, ironically, awkward chuckle. “It’s just that if I touch or hold your hand, I wouldn’t want to let go so easily, and although it would be nice… I don’t want you to faint or get a nosebleed because of it!”
“H-H-HUH?!”
“Seriously, you were so out of it that day. Don’t you remember? You were staring into space while having exams, muttering under your breath. I was worried you wouldn’t pass.”
“How could I keep calm? Our hands were entwined. We were so close that we could feel each other’s sweat—that’s so intimate! How could you not get flustered? That just proves how much of a normie you are!”
The sound of your genuine laughter let Leviathan know everything was okay again.
“It’s so you to say that!” you remarked.
“So… we’re still friends? Like, true friends?”
“Of course, we are… and we’ll always be. We’re like Henry and the Lord of Shadow, right?”
“Yeah!”
“How about this, then?” You held up a hand with a happy smile. “High five?”
“High five!”
Leviathan raised his palm and brought it to yours with enough force, but after your hands made a clapping sound, the warmth from your hand lingered. Delicately, you filled the gaps between his fingers with your own. The next thing he knew, your hands were clasped together. Leviathan had watched a scene like this in an anime before. To think it would happen to him, and with you, of all the beings he could have shared this moment with…
Leviathan, whose face reddened, began, “Whoa! This… This is…!”
Once again, if he were an application running on a computer, the pop-up window with the message, ‘Leviathan.exe has stopped working,’ would have already appeared on the screen.