Chapter Text
Yesterday, I arrived at Devildom. I am still adjusting to this idea, but this room is proof that I'm definitely not at my place. I groggily rub my eyes and yawn, still laying on the bed comfortably.
I'm not exactly sure why I'm here, nor how I got here. I just know that suddenly, I was in this room, similar to a courtroom. I was then told that this place is similar to what we call "Hell" in the human world.
Weirdly enough, I was told I didn't die, but that instead I was chosen to participate in this 'students exchange program' at RAD (Royal Academy of Diavolo - Diavolo being the Demon Prince. Apparently he will succeed the current Demon King and will rule over Devildom soon enough). I don't really remember applying to any schools nor being in any sort of exchange program. You see, I'm self-taught, so there's no way my school sent in those papers for me when I am not in any.
Regardless of my doubts and mild skeptical reaction to this whole situation, here I am. I was introduced to this (slightly weird) family of seven demon brothers... Each one of them also has a sin associated with them (I don't really know how to feel about that... but they seem nice, at least, compared to how we describe demons in the human world). I don't remember their names except for Satan and Lucifer for obvious reasons - I literally couldn't believe I met the actual real deal, and that they were so good looking (once again, for "demons" in the human world). Oh, and, of course, Mammon. He is in charge of (against his own will) helping me out with my life here, as apparently demons want to eat my heart, soul or something like that. I guess that's the most normal part of all of this to accept, isn't it? Honestly, I'm just surprised the 7 demon brothers won't eat me, really.
I look at my now new room. It's quite pretty. It has a lot of plants, which makes me happy, and colorful little lamps all around the ceiling. My bed sheet covers are purple and I absolutely love purple, so I'm very happy about that! Besides, the bed is very fluffy. I feel like I've slept on top of clouds! I stretch and look around one more time before starting to get up. I'll only have to stay here for one year, and it doesn't seem like it'll be that bad.
Knock, knock.
"Oi, HUMAN! Hurry up, breakfast is ready!" I hear Mammon screaming.
Really, I had just met Mammon and already felt like I had known him for the longest time.
"Wait a little, I'm finishing getting dressed up!"
"I'm not gonna drag ya out of there! You have legs so walk yourself 'til you're in the living room. But if I was you I'd rush before Beel eats all of yer food, HUMAN!"
I hummed in response and chuckled at the fact that he keeps on calling me human. Under the superficial apparent hate he has towards me, it seems like he already considers me as a friend, so I simply shrugged off any kind of 'insults'.
Once I finish putting on my new uniform, I walk to the living room, and there I see the six brothers at the table. Apparently one of them is out on a trip to the human world, so it seems like I'll meet him later. I sit down in the vacant place, at the head of the table, and everyone stares at me with sorry looks.
"Good morni...n...g...?"
I furrow my brows when I spot one of the tall demons eating a plate. No, not a plate of food. He was eating THE plate. I look around the table and notice that there was nothing else edible either. I facepalm myself in my mind for not taking Mammon's advice as the brothers wave or smile replying to my greeting.
"I told ya, didn't I, HUMAN?! Next time hurry up and listen to the GREAT MAMMON, HUMAN!!"
"Mammon, will you stop sprouting the word Human whenever you talk about (y/n)?" said Satan, with a slightly annoyed look as he reached under the table and took out a little covered tray and handed it to me "Here you go. It's not much, but it's what I could save from being devoured by Beelzebub."
"Thank you!" I smile as I take the tray and uncover it. There are a lot of cakes I've never seen before and I excitedly take one and munch on it. It's not like anything I've tasted before, but it's pretty delicious.
"Whaddya mean for me to stop? I'm just telling the truth! (y/n) is just a MERE DIRTY HUMA-"
"Mammon." says Lucifer, to which the younger jumps on his chair and stops, glancing between me and him.
"LOLOLOLOL NOOB AHAHAHA GET REKT LMAOOOO!" says a guy, whose name I don't remember, with purple hair, laughing while he plays a game on his DDD (phone but.. for demons. I now have one, too). I get a little surprised but chuckle at his enthusiasm.
"Levi! Don't you see you're bothering our new guest?" says a guy with a godly beauty, with radiant skin, and I make a mental note of their names as they speak.
"(y/n), dear, my name is Asmodeus but call me Asmo! Don't you think it's a bit noisy here? What about you and me going for a more private space so we can talk better? Or, if you want something more I'm up for it too! Did you like your room? I bet you did, I was the one who decorated it, so you should come check mine and how pretty it is!"
He smiles at me and I shyly return the smile, not knowing exactly how to reply without being rude. That's when Lucifer puts a hand on my shoulder.
"Not happening. (y/n) is gonna be shown around RAD by Barbatos together with the new students, and you all are coming with me to the students council."
Everyone sighed and got up, including Beelzebub who had finished eating the plate, and went outside. Lucifer indicated to me where to wait for my tour guide. I nodded and had only to wait a few minutes before Barbatos arrived and took me along with the others.
I pack the school books that Barbatos gave me earlier in my bag, as I listen to Luke telling everything about the Celestial Realm to Solomon. Simeon chuckles at the youngest's enthusiasm.
"(y/n)! Hurry up, I have to walk ya home and time is money, so if ya taking long you better pay me! I'm waiting at the gate."
I nod, get my bag and wave goodbye to my fellow exchange students, receiving big smiles and greetings of goodbye. I turn around and start walking to the door until I feel someone hesitantly touching my shoulder to call my attention.
"Hey, (y/n). Could you spare a minute? I swear I'll be quick."
"Oh, hi Solomon. Of course. What 's up?"
"Oh, nothing too important. Just wanted to say hello. You see, we are the only humans here, and I just wanted to say that it'd be nice if we could get along well. You should have my contact number. If something happens, just summon me and I'll be sure to help you out." he smiled a little and passed me a small paper with his number.
"Thank you, I appreciate it. I would love for us to be friends! Unfortunately I'm not as cool as you as I don't really use magic, so I'm sorry if our conversations turn out to be dull... Also, uh, do you have any paper? So I can give you my contact back."
"Don't say that. I'm sure it must be delightful to spend time with you. And there's no need, just send me a message saying it's you and I'll save your contact."
"Ah, you're too nice! Okay, I'll send the message. I'll see you around, then?"
"Yes, see you soon." he said as he smiled and went back with the others of Purgatory Hall.
I hum a simple melody as I type a quick message to Solomon saying it's me and walk towards the door again. As I'm about to leave the classroom, I feel someone looking at me and notice that it's Satan. I wave at him, to which he answers with a nod and goes back to reading his book, and I go to meet Mammon.
After dinner, I was in my room thinking of maybe reading the beloved books I had bought in a store near RAD. Thankfully, in Devildom they have this little bookshop that has books of the human world, so once I saw them, I had to snatch them to the dorm.
My plans were, however, quickly crumbled when Leviathan decided to challenge me to play one game called "The Tale of the Seven Lords (TSL): The Only Way to Know The Story of the Movies Quickly without Watching Them and the Perfect Way of Testing Your Future Friends' Taste". Since I want to get to know the brothers better, and this was the first time Levi had actually talked to me, I couldn't possibly refuse that invitation.
So, here I am, in Levi's room watching him play the game while Mammon whines that the game is boring while laying on the floor and tugging at my arm.
"Aaaaah. Will you just shut up?? I'm trying to get to the part where the Lord of Flies gets invaded and the Lord of Fools has to try to send the food to help out his fellow brother!!"
"No one cares about that stupid game!! Didn't 'cha want to hang out with (y/n)?! They're here doin' nothing but watching ya play that stupid game."
"It's fine Mammon, I'm having fun!" I say as I ruffle his hair to which he grumpily grabs my hand for me to stop and clicks his tongue.
"It's not my fault that this human can't even play the best game to exist LOL! Deal with it, I don't really care if you are bored. As a matter of fact, why are you even here Mammon?! I never invited YOU to my room, get out!!" says Levi glancing quickly at Mammon, frowning, while smashing the buttons on his controller.
"What did ya want me to do, HUH? Where (y/n) is, I gotta be there too! Do you think I like havin' to follow around a DIRTY, SMALL HUMAN like a dog? HELL NAH, I'm the GREAT MAMMON, the human should be the one followin' me around! Besides instead of blabberin' about me the whole time, if you tried to teach (y/n) how to play maybe it'd be more fun to watch. I'd at least have fun watchin' this human fail miserably!" he flashes a grin at me while I fake pout back at him.
"You guys hurt me."
"Ah, don't cry alright? It'd be a pain in the ass if Lucifer finds out and-"
Knock, knock.
"Who is it?" Levi asks as the doorknob twists and the door opens slightly.
"I DID NOTHIN' WRONG I SWEAR THIS DUMB HUMAN JUST CRIES OVER NOTHIN' IT'S THEIR FAULT I SWEAR PLEASE DON'T KILL ME LUCIFER I SWEAR!" Mammon screams as he bows on the floor facing the door.
"How distasteful... for you to call me Lucifer. Do you want to make me angry, Mammon?" The blonde guy passes his hand through his hair while frowning slightly at the older brother that quickly gets up and faces him.
"Ah, it's just you, Satan? Sorry 'bout that, could swear it was Lucifer. Please... don't tell him what you saw here, will ya? Counting on you dear brother!" says Mammon while he tries to pat Satan's shoulder, that moves so the white-haired brother doesn't touch him.
"You insult me, obviously I'd never go talk to Lucifer about something so meaningless. Not because you asked of course, but because I simply don't care. Anyway, I came here to pick (y/n) up." He looks at me and gives me a small smile "Would you give me a little of your time? I need to talk to you. I'll accompany you to your room, so we can talk on our way."
"Oh, yeah, sure! I don't mind that."
"I also don't mind, I was gettin' tired of looking at this nerd playin' anyway. Lesgo?" Mammon says while he links arms with me and motions towards the door.
"I'm not a NERD! You guys are just NORMIES!!"
"Yea, yea, whatever." replies the other as he rolls his eyes.
"Mammon. I want to talk to (y/n) in private, please." says Satan, frowning.
"No can do. I gotta be there to protect (y/n). It's not what I want! I just gotta or Lucifer will be roastin' me in the oven for Beel to eat."
"You don't need to protect (y/n) in this case. I'll be there with them and will take them straight to their room."
"Hey, it's fine Mammon. I'll be okay, Satan is just gonna take me to my room and then I'll sleep! Tomorrow we will spend more time together, alright?" I say, putting my hand on his arm reassuringly.
"Well, if ya say so then sure. But don't blame me if anythin' happens!" He removes his arm from mine and frowns while he sits next to Levi again.
I wave to the boys and say goodnight, to which they also bid me adieu. As me and Satan leave the room, the two of them go back to bickering and I chuckle at how silly they look. Once Satan closes the door, he starts walking next to my side and glances at me.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to interrupt, but there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"It's alright! It was about time I started heading to my room anyway. I'm curious, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Ah, okay, so... I saw that you talked to Solomon today at the end of the class, is that right?"
"Yeah! He gave me his contact information and expressed that he'd like for us to be friends. You know, since we are the only humans around here and all that. It was really nice of him."
"I see. That 's good. I actually wanted to give you some little advice about him."
I looked at him and frowned a little, waiting for him to continue "I don't know much about Solomon, so I don't know his exact nature. However, he is a very powerful sorcerer, and his level of magic is even on par with the ones we, the 7 demons, use. I can't help but feel a little worried at his interest in you. So I decided to talk to you and advise you to be careful with him. It might be that his intentions are good, but better safe than sorry, really."
"Ah... Makes sense... Okay! I'll keep an eye out for it. Thank you for the warning, I appreciate it." I smile at him, to which he smiles back and moves a lock of his golden hair to behind his ear.
"Of course. Anyway, I didn't come here to only talk about gloomy stuff like that. I also wanted to introduce myself a little and just chat so we get to know each other, if you don't mind."
"I don't mind, obviously! I'm happy that you want to get to know me." I stop as we are in front of my room's door. Satan looks as if he is a little troubled by our little walk ending so suddenly, just when we were about to talk more. I decided to open the door. "Care to enter? I can make you some tea while we talk for a little."
"Uhm... Are you sure? I don't want to bother you."
"You won't be bothering me. I was the one inviting you in, after all."
"In that case... I'm coming in, excuse me."
Satan enters the room and looks around curiously. He takes one of the chairs by the table and sits down, crossing his legs while resting one of his arms on the table. I take out a box of tea that Barbatos had given me earlier today, and put some water boiling in the small electric teapot of my room. I get two cups of tea and set them on the table. He takes the teacup and inspects it, while I turn off the teapot once it beeps. I pour the water on each of our cups and put the little packets of tea. I sit down in front of Satan and look at him, while adding a little sugar to my tea.
"Lovely room. Asmo did a good job with the decorations." he says, looking attentively around the room.
"Right? I really love it. Already feeling like this is my home."
"I'm glad. You should tell him, he will be delighted to hear it. However, you have to be careful, or he'll just want to jump on you and squish you out of happiness over your words." we both chuckle at the (very likely) scenario, and he clears his throat while looking around and glancing at me "(y/n), do you like books?"
"I love books! Do you?" I drink a bit of the tea and the blonde guy mimics me.
"Yeah. I think reading is very important. Not only does it provide you with experiences and the lives of other people, enriching your knowledge of the world, but it also is very entertaining and fun. There are all kinds of books, and so it doesn't really matter if you don't like one genre; so many others await you. You see, (y/n), I feel like that cliché sentence of 'knowledge is power' is so true. I can't help but want to read all the books in the world. There's no joy like expanding your horizons." he looks at his tea, absorbed in his thoughts, until he abruptly stops and looks at me "Oh, my. I'm sorry... It seems I've spoken too much. I'm sorry. Sometimes I get a little carried away when it comes to these things."
"Don't worry!" I shake my head reassuringly at him "It was nice to hear you talk about that. It's clear you love books a lot, so thanks for sharing!"
"Ah, okay then." he chuckles and sips on his tea. "I have a lot of books. If you want, I can lend you some. I assume you must not have many, since you came here without any notice?"
"Yeah, please do, I'd love that! Although I did buy some new books today, at a bookshop near RAD." I gesture at the plastic bag full of books on the floor near the door. On it, there's a symbol in red with the name of the shop.
"Ooh, that one! It also sells human books, right?"
"Yes! And it's not even expensive. I was able to buy my all-time favorites with the money Lucifer gave me this morning."
"Hm, really?" He lifts the cup and drinks the rest that was left of his drink. "I wonder what kind of taste you have in books. Mind if I check today's haul?"
He starts getting up and walking to the bag, and I panic a little inside. I jump out of my chair and grab his arm by his sweater before he peeks inside it. He looks at me curiously and I let go of his sweater and nervously look at him.
"Uh... you see, I'm a little tired. So maybe we should end this chat for today." I fidget a little and place my hand on the doorknob, ready to escort him out.
"I promise I'll just take a quick look to check the names and leave." he says, once again staring and bending to get the bag.
I grab his hand tightly and he stops, glancing confusedly between the bag and his hand.
"I'm... really, really sorry, Satan. I really need to sleep. It was great to chat to you, but I'm exhausted. Those books will take a while to go through, so tomorrow I'll show them to you, okay? I just really need to rest right now." he wears a resigned look as I say this, and stops looking at the bag. I let go of his hand.
"Okay, I understand. Tomorrow you show me, alright? I don't mind the wait, but I'm really curious to know your tastes."
"Of course! Tomorrow for sure!" I say and give my brightest smile.
"Okay." he smiles back at me tenderly "Thank you for talking to me even though you were tired, (y/n). I really enjoyed our conversation. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See ya!" I waved and waited until he was already taking the turn in the corridor to close the door.
I let out a breathy sigh and let myself slowly slide down the door of the room. What have I put myself in? I cannot show him the books I bought, never! Why, you ask? Because, out of everything, the thing I most enjoy reading are shoujo mangas... More specifically, romance ones. It's so embarrassing that I never even confessed to anyone that I read them... Much less to a demon guy. My stay here will be hell if any of the brothers finds out about my taste in books, and I'll definitely be mocked all day about this! I need to come up with a plan to avoid Satan from seeing my secret collection.
I move the plastic bag to the top of the table so I remember to figure out what to do with it the next day, and put on my pajamas to go to sleep. It takes some time to fall asleep over the adrenaline I just felt of possibly being discovered, but after a bit I start finally zoning out.