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Lord, I'm only human
I'm tired and I wanna go home
Let me ride on the devil's back
But save my soul
Save my soul
[---]
Crescent moonlight lit the dark backwoods, rain sprinkling down at a steady pace. Grass flattened against the might of large black boots as the one wearing them walked towards the faraway academy. However, it was late into the night, and this ultimate student had been having many sleepless nights. Too many animals in the forest needed to be checked upon in the darkness of nightfall.
He placed a hand on a tree, bending over a little to steady himself. He planted his other hand on his knee, trying not to fall over. Shivers riddled along his arms as the chill of sleepless nights and cold rain falling caught up with him. His vision blurred through tired tears, and he wiped them away with his bandaged hand.
Then, he began walking again, through the backwoods. Surprisingly, Hope’s Peak Academy had a fairly large woodland behind the property, yet still within the boundaries. These woods were filled with many forest creatures, all of which Gundham had yet to meet. He was determined to witness these demonic beasts, and tame them with great power.
The breeder stopped again, placing a hand on a tree while also heavily leaning against it. His eyelids were heavy, and his legs felt like jam. Overhead, an owl flew by, and he watched as it swooped down, retrieving its own meal. If only he were a night owl- well, perhaps he was, but he hadn’t slept much these past few days. The nocturnal demon beasts had to be taken care of sometimes, and he may have gone a bit overboard.
As the rain pitter-pattered down, he at first worried about his dark devas becoming soaking wet, then remembered he had settled them in their cage before heading out. They were safe, but he might have to wash their home quickly, lest they wish to stay in a damp scarf. He stopped his thoughts just in time to catch himself from falling over. Damn his trembling form.
He shouldn’t have stayed out so late tonight. Perhaps he should have at least taken a night to sleep, be refreshed for tomorrow night instead. Instead, here he was, barely conscious and walking on his two legs, all because he wanted to make sure the owls and the raccoons were alright. They were a bit close to the academy, the lights could bother them. God, all he wanted to do was go home and sleep already.
Taking another step, unwillingly shaky, he stumbled over a small mound in the ground. He fell to his knees, catching himself with his hands. Instead of immediately getting up, he just sat up, looking ahead. The faintest lights from the academy glowed past the thicket, and he could almost imagine walking into his dorm room and hearing his devas softly snore as he himself went to sleep.
When did he close his eyes? He did not remember shutting them. A problem arose as he tried to reopen them, it was a clear struggle as they were incredibly heavy. Instead of seeing empty air and the distant glow of warmth and coziness, he saw a hand.
It was reached out for Gundham, palm up, almost inviting him to take it. He almost did instantly, how stupid would that be? He stopped his hand from taking it and looked at the owner of this hand. A teenager dressed in a black suit and tie, with long, black hair and striking red eyes. This description, could it be the student most would spot roaming the academy? The rumored student who stalks the grounds?
Gundham tried to give a signature glare, but fatigue made it incredibly weak. Suspicion made his voice work, even if it wasn’t as powerful as it should be. Instead, it was weary and lowered, almost uncharacteristically quiet.
“Who dares approach the Forbidden One? Do you wish to be incinerated?” He asked, a bit tiredly, yet fully suspicious.
The mysterious student raised a brow, a deviation from an otherwise inexpressive face, and then answered. “My name is Izuru Kamukura, The Ultimate Hope. You, on the other hand, are Gundham Tanaka of class 77-B, correct?”
Gundham’s eyes widened a bit, his frown deepening- and a bit of his upper lip lifting in scorn- as he glared up. “How did you know my title?”
“I know a lot of things about Hope’s Peak Academy's students. The only thing I can really do is observe, and I’ve observed for a while.” Izuru explained. “I know almost all of the students’ names.”
“A spectator of the academy… where do you originate from?” This was a matter of knowing if this mysterious stranger was a foe. He may give some lie, but Gundham knew he had to be from Hell with that aura.
“My place of origin is of no concern at the moment. The concern here is you.”
The concern was Gundham? What on earth could that… unless… “Keheh… I see what is happening here!” He stood up tall, even though his muscles ached and begged for him to sit or lay down. “You are a demonic soul, here to rip me of my Overlord status and bring me down!” He brought his arms up to strike a signature pose, but they shook with great pain.
The teenager in front of him slowly blinked before saying a word. “Very… interesting.” He tilted his head, long hair spilling in front of his face. “Not as boring as the rest. Hm.” Then, Izuru straightened, and lightly shook his head. “I’m not here for that. I was in the area, and saw you on the verge of passing out. That is the concern here.”
Gundham sucked in a breath through his teeth in frustrated offense, and pain. “You dare mock me? I am in prime power, I’ve no need for assistance!” He clenched his teeth as he had tried to pose accordingly with his words as usual, but his bones felt like lead and his muscles pulled and strained.
“That is the opposite of what I am seeing.” Izuru’s scarlet eyes bore into Gundham’s soul, as if searching for all of the contradictions and lies he was trying to tell. “You’re on the verge of collapse, you won’t be able to go on for much longer.”
“Tch! You think you know the condition I am in? Then you are of a lower demon level than I thought!” Gundham didn’t move with gestures this time, because he couldn’t. But he wasn’t going to show weakness to this fiend of the night! He’d rather be dead than ever show weakness to another being!
However, it seems his attempts at deceit were falling flat with this mortal, as Izuru just stared nonchalantly. “Alright, then. Take a step forward.”
Gundham felt a drop of sweat go down his forehead. “What?”
“Take a step forward. If you aren’t fatigued at all, then you’d be able to take a step forward.”
“Of course!” Gundham crossed his quivering arms, and tried to lift a leg. His vision began blurring and his surroundings doubled. That didn’t seem good, so he stopped himself. “Why should I listen to someone as insignificant as you?”
“Don’t you want to prove that you can make it to your dorm room on your own? Don’t you want me to leave you alone?” Izuru questioned, then seemed to wait in silence.
“Right…” Once more, the breeder tried lifting a leg, but nothing happened despite his efforts. His vision blurred again, but this time it wouldn’t focus, and somehow the world began warping side-ways. Wait, that was impossible, wasn’t it?
Hands caught him from falling into the muddy dirt of the woods, and he was suddenly lifted up. “I am going to take over from here. If you can’t take a step, you can’t walk even with guidance.” A hand was tucked under his legs, and another was keeping him up by his back. How dare this mere mortal pick him up- bridal style no less?!
“What do you think you’re doin-” With no need to keep standing, the relaxation of his muscles happened suddenly, and the tiredness made it hard to speak now.
Izuru stared down at him, and it may be Gundham’s exhausted mind, but the scarlet eyes looked more welcoming than before. “What number is your dorm?”
The breeder continued glaring, still unhappy with this arrangement of being picked up unexpectedly. “Wouldn’t you know, since you’ve apparently inspected most of the humans upon this academy?” It came off hostile, which was the exact tone Gundham wanted.
“I’m not a stalker. I don’t know most of the student body’s living situations.” That was a bit reassuring- most of?!
“Hmph. Room 530. They had to place me high so Hell can’t drag me back down.” He crossed his arms, burying his face in his scarf.
“Thank you.” Izuru began walking, which slowly progressed to sprinting.
Rain continued to pelt down on them as they traversed the woods, Izuru being surprisingly quick on a muddy surface. He swerved around shrubbery and trees, taking long strides and sharp turns despite carrying a person that was taller than him. The cold rain was at least keeping Gundham awake, he wasn’t about to fall asleep in someone’s arms. The sparse lights of the boys’ dormitories were in view as they emerged from the woods, and Izuru slowed down.
Gundham expected to be let down when they got inside the building, but that was not the case. Izuru continued through the lobby, and went towards the staircase, even though the elevator was in working order. Who did this fool think he is? Now that Gundham thought about it, didn’t he say he was the Ultimate “Hope”? What exactly did that foretell?
They arrived on the fifth floor after Izuru decided to go up the flight of stairs instead of using the elevator like Gundham usually did, and Gundham had enough of being carried. “Could you let me down before I decide to incinerate you?”
“Hm. Should I? Or are you just going to pass out on the floor?” Piercing scarlet eyes stared down at him, almost judgmentally.
“Ghk-! You are just asking to be sent to an early grave!” Gundham retorted, trying to struggle out of his hands to get down. As soon as he tried to move, his own muscles betrayed him and only moved an inch, straining as they did so. “Damn it!”
“Stop trying to move, you’re just exhausting yourself further.” The monotonous voice was starting to become grating on Gundham’s ears.
“Hmph.” The breeder loosely crossed his arms again, his eyes starting to dangerously droop heavily.
Did the length of the hallway grow somehow? No, Izuru had slowed his pace again, slower than average walking speed. Did he just like taking his sweet time? Gundham huffed, not realizing his head had dropped against Izuru’s shoulder. He was incredibly tired, but he tried to continue staying awake.
The slow walking came to a pause, and a hand resting on Gundham’s side nudged him. “Do you have your key?” Izuru asked as Gundham opened his eyes that he unknowingly closed again.
“Yes…” His voice had lost strength.
Izuru slowly let Gundham down, legs first, steadying him by keeping an arm around his torso. Gundham’s legs shook furiously from the unexpected need to use their muscles, which he hated dearly. He reached into his brown blazer, taking out his room key and unlocking his door. With Izuru still walking with him, they both entered the dorm room, and Gundham heard his door shut.
When one has a stranger in their room, alone, and the door is shut, that was a recipe for disaster. While Gundham realized he was in the right circumstance to get murdered, Izuru was looking around the room after he helped Gundham sit down on the bed. He looked as if he was evaluating all of the breeder’s belongings. Gundham narrowed his eyes as the other raced the arm of his rocking chair.
“...Interesting. I had a few ideas of how your room would look, but I must say… I didn’t think of a rocking chair being here.” Izuru commented, slightly pushing the chair for it to rock.
Why was he thinking of what Gundham’s lair might hold? “What is the reasoning of your stay? You have assisted me in coming to my dorm, what else could there be?”
“Hm. You could say I did something for you, right?” Izuru turned his head to look at him. “Then you owe me a favor.”
Ah, great. Gundham had been way too careless. No human ever helped another human simply because they wished to, but because they wanted something out of it. “What kind of favor?”
“It’s nothing major. I just want to keep meeting and talking with you.” He had completely turned to face him now, and the normally bored eyes seemed to have a wisp of emotion in them.
“...What? Something so simple?” Gundham had expected anything else. Something like giving a certain amount of money to him.
Izuru nodded. “Simply put. Don’t worry about finding me, I’ll find you instead.” Gundham didn’t like the sound of that phrasing.
“I suppose I have no choice. Fine, we shall continue to cross paths. Now begone! I must…” He tried to suppress a yawn, but it came anyway. Gundham’s yawns were almost squeaky compared to his normal voice, once described as a “kitten’s yawn”.
“Oh.” Gundham looked up to give Izuru a glare for that, but instead saw the emotionless teenager covering his mouth with a hand as if that “oh” just slipped.
“...As I was saying, I must rest, for my energy is depleted and must be restored so I can use my power once again!” He really hoped Izuru would leave, because talking had just become a chore.
“Alright. I shall see you tomorrow, Tanaka.” Izuru then began walking out, and turned back. “Will you be able to take off your boots like that?”
Gundham blankly stared at him for a moment. If the breeder answered no, what would he do? Take them off for him? Wait, why did that thought make him flustered? “Tch! Of course! Get out of my domain, mortal!”
Izuru nodded at him, and then walked out of the room, the door closing shut behind him. Good riddance. Gundham relaxed, and looked down at his boots. Right, he had to take them off. Tiredly, all he did was take off his earring and take out his red contact, and rolled over onto his bed, slowly sinking into the slumbering world.
[---]
Lord knows you're only human
You were tired and you wanted to go home
Pay me the soul of your one true love
Or you will never see your children again