Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Iruma noticed there were new video monitors all over the school. Not even grandpa apparently knew what they were for, some higher up somewhere ordered them not just for Babyls but for other schools in the netherworld too. There was going to be a presentation of sorts apparently, and apparently it was very important. Other than that nothing exciting was really going on. The misfit class was all huddled together in class as Opera and Shiida taught their lesson. Iruma should have been paying attention, but those monitors bothered him in a way he couldn’t comprehend, his danger sense tingled in the back of his mind as he stared into the black screen. Something was going to happen, he could feel it in his bones. Something bad.

“Iruma?”

The quiet whisper made him break from his trance as he looked for the person who called his name. Asmodeus looked at him with worry laid bare on his face. Iruma blinked a few times before smiling at Azz in recognition that he was ok, just spacing out. Azz, content with this, went back to the lesson on the board. Iruma turned his head that way as well and decided to push his anxieties further down into the recesses of his mind for later. For now, he was completely lost on the lesson.

Iruma could not join Azz and Clara for lunch today because he was going to read to Ameri. He was quite excited himself at the prospect though because the last issue left on a cliffhanger and he was itching to finish it. He walked down the hall alone, still a bit of a walk from Ameri’s office, when suddenly his danger sense flared up. He looked behind to see what was there, it was already too late as he was being grabbed by someone. They tightly clasped his mouth as their other arm clamped tightly around his body and over his arms. Iruma tried wriggling out of the grasp and screaming but the hold was too strong and no one was even there to hear his muffled cries for help. Iruma was panicking as he wriggled to no avail. When he heard the voice of his captor he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Iruma! Long time no see!”

It was Atori. His other arms were loose at his side, he didn’t need them with the amount of strength he held in just two. Atori used the arm wrapped around Irumas arms to slam Iruma against the wall. Iruma’s breath was knocked out of him upon impact. Atori held him up to his face, lifting him up by his hair.

“Are you going to be boring and come with me? Or are you gonna have fun and fight!?”

Iruma breathed in and out trying to regain his stolen air, but with the anxiety and the former impact it was hard to do. He was running through his mind for a way to make it out of this himself. Then he remembered: Kalego!

“Atori sensei, please, whatever you’re going to do, think twice about it!”

Iruma knew what kind of person Atori was and that his plea wouldn't do anything. He just needed to distract him while he reached into his pocket for the seal. It worked for a minute or so. Atori was laughing and pleased by his plea, but he noticed Iruma’s movement and snatched the seal from his hand. Atori crushed the paper and threw it a good ways away.

“Wow! You’re much smarter than you look kid! I’m very impressed!”

Iruma grimaced, that was his last chance. He was done for. Atori laughed for a bit but slowly stopped as he became more and more bored that Iruma wasn’t fighting.

“You humans are weak, you aren’t any fun!”

Iruma froze. He didn’t realize, Kirio knows, that means another six fingers member would too. Atori wrapped Iruma in a silk cocoon, leaving his head out, but covering his mouth so he couldn’t scream. Atori lifted him over his shoulder and proceeded to run through the empty halls. ‘Why was it so empty’? Almost as if Atori had read his mind, he answered:

“There's a presentation going on on the tv’s. Everyone is watching that right now.”

Iruma was curious about what was going on and as he did a worried feeling in his stomach began to grow. Then he heard screaming.

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Asmodeus stared up at the televisions as Clara happily ate beside him. It was a very odd video. A man with short pink hair and horns was speaking on the “wonders of the netherworld”. It was honestly a little boring and Asmodeus couldn’t believe they would actually set up these expensive screens for such a lackluster video, but then it got dark. The man started to laugh and stated:

“The netherworld is a beautiful place full of history, many people value that history, many do not. They want to “reform” themselves. They want to escape the predator prey relationships of old. They are too weak minded to see that returning to evil is the only way that we as a Demon society can truly evolve into something better. Returning to origins is seen as unseemingly. Why? Because they are afraid! In a world where everyone returns to origins the weak don’t survive. The masses simply don't see how this is the only way our society can function, how demons can love each other, how we can truly establish equality!”

Asmodeus didn’t want to hear anymore, He felt Clara hugging tightly onto him. She was worried. Asmodeus got a gut wrenching feeling of pure anxiety ‘where is Iruma?’. He called him, no reply. Iruma always answered his calls. Asmodeus couldn’t shake his fear.

“Clara?”

Clara looked up at him. She nodded in understanding, she was probably feeling the same way. They raced to the door to find Iruma, but they found themselves unable to open it. This was bad. Something big was going on. It was almost like- The battler party. Asmodeus turned to Clara.

“Clara. I think…I think something really bad is happening.”

“I agree Azz-Azz…everything feels all wah-boom!”

“We need to find Iruma.”

Clara enthusiastically nodded. They ran around the cafeteria trying to find a way out. Suddenly a commotion started, people started to scream and cry and get worried. Asmodeus looked towards the screen again.

“Don’t try to get out, every student and teacher in the facility has been locked into the school. Only six fingers members can find their way out. Yes. The six fingers. As well as this, several students’ food has been poisoned with an ink from a special species of devi-creature. This devi creature’s ink can essentially cause Evil cycles. Expect many of your fellow students to suddenly lash out. That is all for now. There will be a special presentation for the Misfit class, especially in about 13 minutes.”

The tv screen turned black. Students started to panic. No one knew when or who was poisoned so they didn’t know who they could trust. The students separated from each other, hesitant to get near. Asmodeus grabbed Clara and backed away with her, he made sure she was behind him to make sure she didn’t get hurt. Even if she was poisoned he could handle it, he would not simply just abandon his friend. He knew Clara would do the same. Students began to scream. Someone in the far corner of the cafeteria began to growl, people backed away from them. The student attacked someone in front of them. They screamed trying to get the student off. Luckily Sabnock jumped in to save the situation. He lifted the student and swiftly knocked him out, but before anyone relaxed more students went into their evil cycles. All people could do was panic, and so they did.

Asmodeus was scared. He was scared Clara would get hurt, he was scared about being poisoned, and he was scared not immediately knowing that Iruma was ok. He needed to know he was ok. It was killing him not knowing. His only hope was that Iruma could defend himself, he had to hold onto this hope, he couldn’t currently handle the thought of Iruma being in trouble and him not being able to save him.

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Atori placed Iruma down on the roof. Iruma tried to wriggle but Atori held him in place.

“Iruma!”
Iruma looked up and instantly broke into a cold sweat. It was Kirio.

Chapter Text

Iruma shirked away from Kirio as he walked forward, he grabbed Iruma’s face and forced him to look at him.

“Iruma! It’s been so long! How are you doing?”

Iruma’s mouth was still covered, but even if it wasn’t he wouldn’t talk to Kirio. He didn’t want to talk to him. Kirio was getting annoyed at his silence and frowned at him, he probably wanted some kind of reaction out of Iruma. Kirio was obviously disappointed that Iruma was being unresponsive so he slapped Iruma across the face and smiled as Iruma looked dazedley at Kirio.

“Fine Iruma, I’ll skip the pleasantries” he smiled, “I’m about to have a bunch of fun anyway!”

That scared Iruma. Kirio has always tried to steal Iruma’s hope and happiness from him and the way he is now with so much to lose and no way to protect himself he’s doomed. He doesn’t think he can handle the truth getting out, he doesn’t want to lose everything he's gained over the past year and a half.

Kirio dragged Iruma over to a camera and plopped him down in front of it. He pressed the on button and held Iruma by the neck of the silk cocoon on the ground. He held a microphone in his other hand (it must have been handed to him at some point) and he started to speak into it, smiling all the way:

“Hello fellow students. While this is a presentation for everyone in the school, this is mainly directed to those of the misfit class so please, if you are a part of it, listen in. As you all know Iruma is the star student of the class, rarely is the class ever mentioned without the name Iruma in tow. Unfortunately, there is much that the class doesn’t know about Iruma.”

Iruma widened his eyes at this, he tried to look at Kirio but Kirio held him steady to stare at the camera. Kirio wanted to capture every movement.

“Do any of you know who Iruma’s parents are? No? Have you seen him fly? Definitely not. How about his familiar? A teacher, how does one even do that. Do you want to know why Iruma is special? Why he's different from everyone else?”

Iruma squirmed to get out of Kirio’s grip, but he couldn’t. Even as he wriggled with everything he had he couldn’t break free out of Kirio’s oppressive grasp. ‘I don’t want it to end like this. Please…’ Iruma thought.

“Iruma is different for a reason.”

‘No’

“No matter what he does, he’ll never fit in!”

‘No’

“IRUMA IS A-”

“NO!”

Iruma chewed the silk over his mouth and spit it out, he didn’t mean to scream but he did. He was filled with adrenaline as he stared at Kirio’s shocked face. He managed to headbut into Kirio’s knees and knock him over. He wriggled to get on top of Kirio as Kirio tried to push him off. Kirio was eventually able to though, he rushed to stand up and yell out about Iruma being a human. But he suddenly stopped when he was pushed to the ground again. This time, it wasn’t Iruma. It was Clara and Asmodeus.

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Asmodeus collapsed. His skin felt hot. He was poisoned. Clara was by his side telling him he was going to be ok. He tried to fight back the evil cycle, but it wasn’t working. He had to give in. Luckily, through his training he was able to semi-control himself more than a usual demon would be able to. He had especially been much better since the last time it activated.

He looked at Clara, he put his hand to her jaw, she smiled at him. He was going to make sure she was safe if he couldn’t protect Iruma. He heard the sound of the tv come on again. People around the room weren’t paying it much attention due to the chaos of the poisoned students wreaking havoc. Clara and him looked towards the tv. What he saw made his anger flare. Iruma being held by Kirio. He looked so scared. Then when Kirio started trying to spill Iruma’s secrets Asmodeus couldn’t take it anymore. His whole body lit with flames. Clara had to move away from him to not get burned. He looked towards the nearest window and then he ran. It obviously didn’t break upon impact, but Asmodeus kept going at it. Again and again and again. Clara watched him from afar, but then her own feet started to move.

“Out of the way Azz-Azz!”

She pulled out a giant battering ram from her pockets. Asmodeus had an idea. He set the battering ram on fire and moved to the back part of it (which wasn’t on fire). Clara saw what he was doing, and they both proceeded to use the battering ram over and over to break the window.

“Iruma is different for a reason.”

BAM

“No matter what he does, he’ll never fit in!”

BAM BAM

“IRUMA IS A-”

BAM BAM BAM

They were able to break through. Clara jumped on Asmodeus’ back and together they flew to save him. Their Iruma. Their soulmate.
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They towered above Kirio. Asmodeus looked odd, his hair was down, his shirt unbuttoned halfway, and he had a psychotic look in his eyes. He looked like he was ready to kill Kirio any second. Asmodeus put his shoe over Kirio’s mouth using pressure to keep him down.

“Shut. Up.”

Clara was on his back, she looked worried (most likely about the both of them). Other than that though she looked normal. Asmodeus looked to Clara.

“Untie him.”

Kirio gave Asmodeus an annoyed look as Clara walked over to Iruma and started breaking the thread. As soon as he was free he grabbed Clara in a hug. He would have cried if it was a better moment, but seeing the circumstances he decided to hold it in. He looked over to Asmodeus, Asmodeus gave him a smile, but it wasn’t his usual sweet one. It was a sadistic smile. Iruma was not perturbed though, he knew it was still the same old Asmodeus.

“Iruma-chi we gotta get out of here-”

“Aren’t you kids forgetting about someone?”

They all swung their heads around to see Atori. Iruma forgot about him. He must have hid when Asmodeus and Clara attacked Kirio.

“This has been fun, kids, but it's over. Give up while you have your lives.”

They all stood completely still. Asmodeus went to make a move but Clara stopped him. Asmodeus seemed like he wasn’t in his usual mindset, Iruma could tell. Iruma knew there was only one way they all somewhat made it out of this alive, and he knew he had to give himself up to do it.

Iruma reasoned that if Asmodeus attacks Atori, Kirio will be free and they can double team to hurt them. If Clara attacks or moves Atori can attack her. Iruma went through a multitude of options in his head, and in all of them Asmodeus and Clara get hurt or worse. The only way to save them was by giving himself up. Even if that meant he lost everything by his secret getting out.

Iruma stood up. Clara motioned to stand with him, but he put his hand on her head and lightly guided her to sit back down. She held onto the hand on her head, but he used a light bit of force to remove his hand. He walked out towards Atori, the air was tense as Clara and Asmodeus watched him. Maybe they assumed Iruma would fight Atori, it’s probably why they didn’t originally step in. But when Iruma held out his arms together like he was going to be handcuffed and said “I surrender” they lost it. Ignoring Kirio, Asmodeus and Clara ran to him. It was a short distance, they almost grazed Iruma with their fingertips, but Atori was a powerful and fast demon. He wrapped up Iruma in a flash and ran behind Asmodeus and Clara to pick up Kirio and put him over his shoulder. They looked back horrified, Atori smiled.

“You’re lucky. If he didn’t do the smart thing, you’d both be dead.”

They ran to Atori again filled with anger and sadness, Asmodeus even threw fireballs at him. He ran out of their way again.

“Because I admire your resilience, I’ll let you in on a little secret before I go as a little treat.”
They ran, he dodged. He was right behind them. He grabbed their shoulders and they froze with terror.

“Iruma is a human. This whole time you’ve fought for something that will never be able to come to pass. You have fought for a dream that will never come true.”

And with that Atori was gone, disappearing into the wind. Leaving a starstruck Asmodeus and Clara. Asmodeus only grew angrier and angrier and Clara grew sadder and sadder.

A few feet away from them a camera light flashed. It was still on and it caught the whole thing.

Chapter Text

Iruma had been placed in a small dark room. There was a barred window above him but forgetting about the bars it was too small for him to even think about escaping out of. He was chained to the wall, only his hands were chained so he could stand and walk the small limit the chains permitted. He did that every so often so his limbs wouldn’t go numb. He had been counting how many days he was gone, he had been gone for two days now (today being the third). Iruma was sure that all hell had already broken out at Babyls. He didn’t dwell on thoughts about Babyls for too long though. If he did he would think about all the disappointed faces of his peers and demon border control arresting his Grandpa and Opera and he didn’t want to think about that right now. He didn’t want to linger on the chaos and damage his very existence caused, because if he did he would feel worse than he already does, and he doesn’t want to feel even worse than he already did.

Atori was the only one to come into the room in the past two days. He came in once a day to give Iruma a plate of slope, which he happily accepted, then Atori would leave just as soon as he came in. He seemed annoyed more than anything really. Iruma was surprised he hadn’t seen Kirio yet. Maybe he was mad he didn’t get to see Iruma at his worst like he wanted to. Iruma gained a bit of enjoyment from Kirio not getting to see his reaction to his secret being spilled, Iruma would bet Kirio was too pissed to see him right now. As if on cue the door opened and there holding his slop was Kirio. Kirio had a plastered smile on his face but Iruma could still tell he was angry.

“Iruma! Hello! Just the human I wanted to see!”

Kirio walked in and slammed the door shut behind himself. As he walked towards Iruma he held out the slop. As he reached Iruma he made a motion like he was going to place it down on the floor, then at the very last second spilled it over Iruma’s head. Iruma was drenched in the vile slop. ‘There goes lunch’ was all Iruma could think about. Kirio got down onto Iruma’s level.

“I’m pissed at you, Iruma. How could you!? All I wanted was to see your hopeless face! And then what do you go and do??? You fight me! You take away my dream! I hate you Iruma!”

He grabbed Iruma’s hair. Iruma tried his best to be completely blank, no reactions, just going along with what Kirio did, because he didn’t want to give Kirio the pleasure of getting his scared reaction.

“You deserve everything that's coming to you! God I can’t wait to implement our plans already! Too bad I can’t eat you though…Baal said he’d kill me if I did.”

Iruma was released from Kirio’s grasp and Kirio sat in a criss-cross applesauce position holding his own chin in his hand while the other hand lay on his leg. His mood dramatically changed as he kept talking to Iruma (and Iruma kept not responding).

“Eh, I’m glad I got that out of my system, Iruma! Phew! Anyway, on to business! Iruma, I'm here to knock you out for the next stage of the plan. Hope ya’ don’t mind.”

Iruma wasn’t able to steel his look in time when he heard the last part of Kirio’s sentence. Kirio smiled as he looked at Iruma’s surprised look. He pulled out a syringe and lept at Iruma. They struggled for a few minutes but Iruma eventually lost the fight due to his very low nutrition and dehydration. As Kirio inserted the contents of the syringe into Iruma’s arm Iruma slowly felt as his body stopped responding to his brain's commands. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was Kirio’s stupid smirk.

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The misfit class was all assembled in the royal one. No one dared to speak out first. They all sat in silence most likely contemplating how they should feel about everything that's happened. Asmodeus got up from his chair, pushing it back. Everyone stared to look at him.

“I know I speak for Clara and myself when I say this, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I frankly don’t care, I don’t care about Iruma being a human. Iruma is still Iruma whether he's a demon or a human and when I get him back he’s never going to be pulled away from my grasp. If I have to get banished to the human world to stay with him, then I will, because no way in hell am I ever going to be the same without him in my life.”

Clara stood up next to Asmodeus.

“Iruma-chi is my soulmate! I’ll never ever leave him! I won’t go back to trading playtime for things! Iruma-chi showed me what friendship is, and I can’t go back to the way everything was before! Iruma-chi plays all the games I want and never asks for anything in return! I would never leave him hanging!”

Azz stood up next.

“Iruma is too kind for his own good. I remember…I remember when we were talking one time. We were on the roof and I was complaining about my shitty family. Out of nowhere he told me how he was adopted and…and how he understood the things I was going through. God. I had never felt so seen before. Iruma feels like family to me, I’m not ditching him after everything.”

Then Sabnock

“I meant it when I said he was my rival. It doesn’t matter if he’s human. That just makes him even more worthy to be my rival! Everyone keeps forgetting the incredible feats Iruma was able to accomplish just because they know he’s a human now. I won’t leave him when he would NEVER leave me if I was in the same situation.”

One after another the class proclaimed their loyalty to Iruma and how they would be there for him. No matter what.
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Demon border control was in chaos. Firstly, Every student now not only knew about the existence of humans, but also that one was living amongst them. Secondly, they had to arrest Sullivan and Opera because of their crimes against the netherworld. This was not boding over well with the public because most demons actually sided with Sullivan, blinded by their love for Iruma. Thirdly, most demons were actually rebelling against the demon border control which was very unexpected from the public. Most demons decided they didn’t care if Iruma was or wasn’t a human and many started to protest outside of the headquarters. The biggest enemy towards demon border control was of course, the misfit class. The brats would often try to sneak into headquarters to gather information on Iruma’s case and see if Demon border control knew where Iruma was. Many a time they narrowly avoided being arrested. Henri was trying to be reasonable, they were kids after all, but he had to get a proper handle on the situation before it all got worse than it already was.

Henri knew that this whole situation was going to end badly. He couldn’t let Iruma stay in the netherworld, no matter how many powerful demons backed him, Iruma was still forever at risk of being eaten (if he wasn’t already). Although, if he doesn’t then he faces absolute chaos from the anger of not only the misfit class but also many of the thirteen crowns as well. Amaryllis, Mephisto, Bachicko, and Sullivan would all have his head on a silver dish. The only way this could be resolved is if Iruma magically became a demon overnight, but Henri put silly thoughts like that away because it would never happen. When you're a human you can’t become a demon, and vice versa. Even if that was possible, there is no way that process wouldn’t be incredibly painful and downright deadly. Henri would never wish something like that upon a child.

Henri shook his illogical thoughts away and kept staring at the paperwork in front of him. First and foremost, before he can even think about the decision he needs to make, he needs to find where Iruma is. Henri only hoped he wasn’t already dead.

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When Iruma woke up he felt weird. He wasn’t in pain, in fact it was the opposite, he felt so numb, he couldn’t feel a thing. He looked around. He was in a different room. It looked like a science lab. He was constrained to a bed (this time it was his arms and his legs). He saw a figure working on something, they had their back to him. Upon hearing Iruma stirring they looked at him.

“Ah you're awake, you’re quite lucky you have medicine in your system, otherwise you’d be in pain. Trust me it’s better that you’re numb.”

Iruma couldn’t respond. The figure kept going.

“Do you want to see your progress so far? It’s quite good.”

The figure pulled out a mirror and held it to Iruma’s face. Iruma helplessly stared at his own face and could do nothing as he noticed the changes in it. He had fangs, his eyes were slitted, he was growing horns, and he noticed his hair was growing longer and the tips were turning purple. ‘What the heck is going on?’ was all Iruma could think before he passed out again.

Chapter Text

Henri straightened up his desk nervously. Henri set up a meeting with the Misfit class in order to establish peace between them and Demon Border Control. Henri wouldn’t be doing this if he could help it, they were Demon Border Control for demon’s sake, but with new information coming to light on where Iruma is he can’t risk them stepping in. Due to the popularity of the Misfit class and the demon’s who back them things might go awry if he doesn’t quell any problems now. Asmodeus and Clara walked into the room, shutting the door behind themselves.

Henri asked them specifically since they were the main “leaders” leading the Misfit class into rebellion. It made sense since they were the people closest to Iruma. If he got to them, he could successfully end this.

“Sit, please.”

Asmodeus and Clara lingered for a second longer before sitting in the chairs in front of Henri’s desk. They gave Henri a dirty look as they all sat in silence. Henri was going to have to do most of the talking.

“I’m sure you are wondering why I have requested you here.” Henri clasped his hands together on the table.

“Where is Iruma?” Asmodeus said with clear malice in his voice.

Henri didn’t expect to get into business right away, but he probably should have.

“That's why I gathered you both here. We have reason to believe we have Iruma’s location.”

Asmodeus and Clara’s eyes blow wide in surprise. Immediately they are on their feet leaning over Henri’s desk yelling questions of ‘where is he’ and ‘do you have him’ and ‘did you hurt him’ etc. Henri was surprised at their excitement. He clears his throat and composes himself steeling his gaze.

“Sit. Down.”

Asmodeus blushes and sits down pulling an excited Clara down with him (much to her dismay) she huffs at the Asmodeus boy but obeys.

“Don’t mistake my openness for kindness. I am telling you this so that I may make something clear to the misfit class.”

Asmodeus and Clara stiffen, their gazes return to abhorrent disgust.

“Then make your point, don’t waste our time with petty talk. Our Friend is out there most likely suffering every waking moment we don’t have him in our grasp.”

Henri continues ignoring Asmodeus’ insolence (he's just a kid after all).

“I am voluntarily supplying you with information on your “friend” in the hopes that the Misfit class DO NOT INTERFERE.”

“No way in hell is that going to happen!”

“Yeah! We’re Iruma-chi’s friends! That means we gotta boom pow bam kaboom!”

“My thoughts exactly Clara!”

‘What? That wasn’t even coherent? He understood her? God these kids are weird.’ Henri thought as they continued on arguing with him. He had to shut them down now.

“Remind me again, how many times have you two gone up against the six fingers”, Asmodeus was about to speak before Henri quickly added, “And won. Completely and totally won. No draws, no escapes, etc.”

Asmodeus didn’t continue on.

“You two are powerful, don’t get me wrong. But no way near the amount it would take to go up against one six fingers let alone all of them. If you get in the way, and get hurt, that's more resources being used by someone who wouldn't've needed them in the first place. Those resources would be wasted on the likes of you and your friends instead of someone who needed it like Iruma.”

This seemed to make the two kids in front of him reflect. Asmodeus looked down at his lap clenching his fists. He wore a helpless expression on his face, Henri could tell that his words got through to him. Clara’s expression deepened with worry, she looked to Henri then to Asmodeus. Henri could tell she was still undecided. She piped up after a moment.

“Look Mr. Scary face”

‘Scary Face?’ Henri thought, Clara continued.

“What happens after all of the woosh woosh bang? Will you give us back our Iruma-chi or am I gonna have to pew pew pew? You feel me?”

“What?” Henri was more than just confused, was this girl speaking a different language?

Asmodeus sensed he was confused. He decided to speak up, looking a bit less solemn than before.

“She’s asking what you are going to do after you rescue Iruma. How can we trust that you won’t just send him back to the Human world right away without us knowing?”

Ah, yes that was quite a dilemma. Iruma of course could not stay in the Nether World. Protocol was to erase the memories of those exposed and get the Human immediately back to where they belong. Unfortunately this whole situation was a whole hell lot more complicated than that.

Firstly, too many demons knew about Iruma being a human. A good chunk of those demons in fact were very high ranking demons with a lot of sway in society and could not/ would not be easily wiped. There was also word of mouth, they couldn’t contain this situation early enough so now even demons who weren’t there at the time of the incident knew about what happened. Border control couldn’t just go around wiping the memories of every demon they came across. That was cruel and unthorough.

Secondly, Iruma didn’t have a place to return to. The safety of the human is at the very top of the list of concerns. They can’t just zap him back when they can’t guarantee his safety, he’s just a kid after all. Even if he wasn’t, his friends would surely start something dangerous in the netherworld if they had reason to believe Iruma was unsafe.

“I cannot guarantee that we won’t send Iruma back.”

He got dirty looks from Clara and Asmodeus.

“However, we cannot send him back right away for a large number of reasons. We have to make sure he isn’t hurt, that he has a safe place to go back to, and that his friends do not try to start something. So, I can guarantee you will be able to say bye to your friend, he can’t and won’t be sent away immediately. You have my word as the Head of Demon Border Control.”

It wasn’t everything that Clara and Asmodeus wanted, but it was enough to calm them.

“Fine. We won’t interfere. But if you do not keep your word, expect our wrath.” Asmodeus said coldly.

“Yeah! We’ll woosh and vroom and raaaaaaahhhhh grrrrrr.”

“My thoughts exactly Clara.”

Henri nodded. The kids nodded towards him in goodbye and left Henri behind. Henri had to assemble his men together. It won’t be long until they get back Iruma.

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24 hours earlier

Iruma awoke, still feeling numb. There was an argument going on in the room. Someone was yelling at the scientist. The arguing stopped when they heard him stir. Iruma drew in a breath, he really wished they hadn’t noticed him. He hears footsteps approach him and stop just out of his eye line near the head of the bed. Table? Torturing device? Whatever it was.

“Look who decided to wake up. Damn worm.”

Iruma didn’t recognize the voice. The voice grew closer and in his eyeline he saw a man with an angry expression and blonde hair. Baal.

“You have caused me nothing but trouble, and I don’t even get a damn payout.”

“W-what?”

Iruma was surprised he was able to answer.

“All this damn time and all this damn magic all gone to waste!”

“Wh-what were y-you doing?”

Baal glowers at him menacingly.

“You really want to know human?”

Iruma doesn’t answer, Baal grows agitated. He grabs Iruma’s face and squeezes it. It hurts.

“Huh?! You want to know how much of a waste of time you were!?!”

Iruma wants to cry, but he can’t bring himself to through his medicated stupor. Baal drops his face and moves to Iruma’s side. Iruma can see him better.

“I’ll tell you Human. What we wanted to do was use your vessel to bring back our long lost great demon king. Using your ring (with the last remnants of him) and your body as a vessel we were going to bring him back. Then I, Baal, was going to kill him and strip him of his power and authority to become the next demon king! No one will accept a new demon king on the throne without confirmation that the old one is long gone.”

Iruma didn’t even know how to react to Baal’s words. He was surprised, angry, sad, scared, you name it.

“BUT YOU. YOU couldn’t get with the damn program! All our transformation magic did was just make you into a demon with SOME of his traits. That isn’t good enough!”

Iruma shirked back as Baal got louder, screaming into his ear.

“Now not only did we fail, border control and just about every demon in the netherworld is on our ass! We have to cover our tracks by disappearing.”

Iruma shut his eyes, he just wanted to be home. Baal smiled at his fear, his words grew soft so only Iruma could hear them.

“Don’t worry Iruma, we’ll leave you behind.”

Iruma opened one of his eyes to look at baal.

“We wouldn’t want a disgusting abomination like you around. Don’t think that just because you’ve suddenly transformed into a demon that people will just suddenly accept you. They fell in love with Iruma the HUMAN not Iruma the abomination of science. You’re happy life will only be a thing of the past. Border Control doesn’t mean being saved, no, for you it means being poked and prodded for the rest of your sad and miserable little life. You are a disgusting freak, and a lab is where you belong. Do everyone a favor and don’t show your ugly face out in the public ever again.”

With that Baal walked off, obviously smug with himself. Iruma could only stare at the ceiling, finally finding it within himself to cry. He was a freak of nature now, an abomination. How could his family and friends ever love him now? Baal was right. They fell in love with Iruma the human not Iruma the side show freak. He closed his eyes and sobbed silently.

--------

Henri was surprised to find the building empty. He expected a final stand-off with the six fingers or at least some resistance, but he found nothing at all. His team searched the grounds, eventually finding Iruma. Although, Henri was not expecting the state they found him in.

As he approached the bed Iruma was strapped to he gaped in disbelief at what he saw in front of him. A boy, a couple inches taller than Iruma, horns protruding from the sides of his head, a tail, claws and fangs, hair that reached just below his shoulders with dark purple tips, and eyes that were slit like a lizard. This was Iruma, against all odds, this demon before him was the human boy they were after. Iruma has been found.

Chapter Text

The cameras flashed and people murmured as they crowded around the stage where Henri was going to make his official statement. He walks up the stage to the podium set up for him there. He clears his throat before beginning to talk.

“Hello all, thank you for being here.”

He nods at the crowd, the noises of the crowd slowly dissipate into silence to allow Henri to speak.

“I’m sure everyone is curious about the current events regarding the six fingers as well as one Iruma Sullivan. I will explain the current facts of the case before opening up for questions.”

There were papers on the podium, he shuffled them and began to read the information on them aloud.

“One Iruma Sullivan was kidnapped from Babyls High School after a terrorist attack from the Six Fingers. It took us a lot of time and dedication to find Iruma but after three weeks of searching we have found the boy. Upon the rumors of Iruma being a human, I am here to officially disprove them. We think it was a ploy from the Six Fingers to cause chaos in the Netherworld due to Iruma being a star student. Iruma is now safe and sound in our facility being taken care of.”

He straightened the papers and placed them back onto the podium.

“Now I will open it up for questions.”

“Sir! Sir!” a blonde demon asks.

“Yes?” Henri responds.

“Demon Border Control doesn’t usually hold press conferences like this, is there any specific reason?”

Henri nods “We believed that if we did not make a statement it would cause more harm than good.”

Another demon pipes up: “Sullivan and his butler were released from prison since Iruma apparently “wasn’t a human” correct?”

“Yes”

“Then why is the boy still in your facility? Even if something was wrong with him, shouldn't he have been returned to his guardians?”

“Unfortunately, the boy was put through so much, so we wanted to keep him longer than we usually would in these cases to make sure he is alright mentally and physically.”

A third demon chimes out.

“Is he not allowed visitors? Sullivan said you wouldn’t allow him to see his grandson!”

“No, unfortunately at this time he can not handle visitors.”

“STOP HIDING HIM AWAY!”

Henri and the crowd look to the back of the room to see all 13 misfits blocking the doors. Asmodeus was the one who cried out. Henri grew nervous, he knew no good could come of this.

“This is a press conference. If you have complaints for Demon Border Control there are official channels for it.”

“We have tried! But you won’t let us see Iruma!” Asmodeus pipes up again.

“Yeah!” Clara adds.

“Indeed” yells out Sabnock, holding Clara on his shoulders.

The crowd erupts with questions. There is no saving this conference now. Border Control guards run to hold back the crowds as Henri moves to leave silently into the back room. From the corner of his eye he can see Asmodeus giving him a deadly look and Clara giving him a pained expression.

As he walks down the back hallway of the conference room away from the chaos he mentally sighs. Things were just getting more and more complicated. Most of what he said were half truths. Iruma wasn’t a human anymore, they tested him as soon as they got back to headquarters and the results reflected that. Due to Iruma being a demon that could not disprove that previously he wasn’t one either so Sullivan and Opera were let go. They couldn’t really hold them for a crime that they have no real evidence that they committed. Even though Iruma looks different, many times demon puberty can completely change the look of a demon so this fact could also be cited as evidence for Iruma always having been a human. Beyond these facts, he was also lying about Iruma not being allowed to receive visitors/ him not being ready to. Iruma simply didn’t want to see his family and friends.

After Iruma was checked out they were ready to immediately send him home with Sullivan, unfortunately things got complicated because Iruma insisted he wanted to stay in the facility and not see his family or friends. They compensated him for he was heavily traumatised and maybe needed time away from them, but demons were starting to get antsy now. It has been a week since Iruma was found, and the demons who love him were only increasing in their boldness for the chance to see their child and friend safe and sound. Henri understood their worries very well. If Ameri was ever kidnapped he would want to see her right away once she was returned. Unfortunately his hands were tied if Iruma didn’t feel safe going home.

Henri has tried every day this week to get Iruma to want to go home or at least tell him the reason he doesn’t want to go home. Unfortunately all to no avail. He was going to try again today though, he was going to try every day until Iruma relented and either told him why he didn’t want to go home or gave up and finally went home already. He stood in front of the door of the room Iruma was in. He gave a soft knock and after a beat he heard a soft “Come in”. Henri entered, closing the door behind himself very softly. Iruma was sitting on the bed, legs drawn up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. Henri wondered how long he had been like that.

“Hello Iruma.”

Iruma gave him a nod.

“How are you doing today? Are you feeling better?”

Iruma gave another nod.

“Can I sit here?”

Henri motioned to the edge of the bed. Iruma gave him another nod. Henri sat down.

“Your friends were at the press conference today. They were angry because I won't let them see you.”

Iruma tensed drawing in even more on himself (Henri didn’t even know that was possible). Henri realized he might have gone in too guns blazing so he reeled it back some.

“People seem to be happy you're safe. That's all that matters.”

Iruma didn’t even respond with a nod this time. Henri blew it. Well, he might as well double down.

“Iruma. I don’t know your reasons for not wanting to see your friends and family, but you need to know that your friends are worried sick about you.”

Iruma gave Henri a look that shook him to his very core.

“If they knew what I did. They wouldn't.”

“What?”

Henri started sweating bullets. He tried to remain composed but Iruma wouldn’t respond to him again. It was time to stop for the day, for both of them. Henri gave a polite nod and goodbye, leaving the room.

As soon as the door was shut and Henri was completely gone, Iruma looked down to his ring. Alkired hadn’t said anything to him since he was first kidnapped. Iruma was convinced he was gone for good. Iruma felt so completely and utterly alone. He was disgusted with the thing he had become and angry and the people who did it to him. The main thing that made him sad to his very core, was the fact that his friends would never love him the same again. Maybe they would be nice at first out of pity, but deep down Iruma feared his friends would never look at him the same if they knew what he really was. He wasn’t a demon,he wasn’t a human. He was a being in infinite limbo. Infinite and permanent.

He thought about how Clara and Azz would react to him. He imagined them finding out, and sneering at him in disgust. There were proclamations of “freak” and “waste of time”. Then he thought about his Grandfather and Opera. They looked at him with disgust, knowing what he once was and what he’s turned into. Grandpa wanted his human grandson back, not him, not the Iruma he was now. He lastly thought of Balam. Only disappointment in his face. Iruma wasn’t a human anymore, so why would Balam ever have an interest in him? As his thoughts continued, playing through the rejection of every single person he loves, he grew more and more depressed. He had nowhere to belong now. He really was all alone.

--------

“They STILL won’t let us see him!”

The Misfit class was gathered in the royal one after classes. Lied was the one to yell out. Asmodeus nodded and spoke up.

“They refuse to even hear our complaints through the supposed ‘official channels’ Henri told us to go through. Not that I ever thought that would work.” Asmodeus sighed in frustration.

“There is only one way to ensure we see Iruma and check he is safe.”

They all whip their heads around to look at Sabnock. He stands up tail flickering in a mischievous manner.

“We sneak in!”

“We have already tried! Several times before! And that was just for information! Do you know how protected a PERSON would be?” Lied spoke out.

“Yes. But we are out of options. How much longer are all of you willing to wait before you get to see Iruma again!?”

The room became quiet.

“If Iruma was here, standing where I am now. Do you think he’d hesitate for even one second?”

Asmodeus stands up. Clara joins him.

“Iruma would be shaking with excitement right now, already trying to think up a plan for getting our fellow member back. He would never back down.”

Clara nods.

“Iruma-chi would take out his bow and shoot and pew and KABOOM!!!”

Everyone nodded in agreement at Clara’s statement.

“You’re all right! We should get Iruma back!” Crocell pipes up.

They all stood and cheered. They were determined to get back Iruma, no matter what!

Chapter Text

The plan was to go as follows: A small team will go into the building while the rest stay on the lookout outside as well as monitor the radios. The inside team consists of Asmodeus, Clara, Purson, Jazz, and Gaap. The outside team consists of everyone else, Allocer leading everyone on the outside.

They snuck in under the cover of night, making base in the trees. They were 100 meters from the actual building so they wouldn’t get caught so easily. The inside team made their way to the building. When they were there they found a vent and used it to get inside. They dropped down into an area with no guards. When they looked around they saw they were in a supply closet. Asmodeus took out his hellphone and dialed Allocer.

“We’re in, I pinged our location to you. Where do you think Iruma is and how far are we?”

Allocer tapped on the location and compared it to the map in his hands.
“You aren’t very far. I think Iruma might be held up in the guest rooms. Those are the rooms they have for non-prisoners but people they can’t let go free. Is the hallway clear? I can guide you there.”

Purson turned invisible and the others pushed themselves up against the walls so they couldn’t be spotted from a crack in the door. Purson looked around before reporting that the hallway was clear.

“Alright then. Leave the room and take a right.”

Purson took the lead, becoming invisible so no one could spot him. He took the right and checked if the coast was clear for that hallway as well. He hid behind the wall before becoming uninvisible again. He nodded “no” signaling there were guards. They walked very quietly over to him and clasped hands. Purson turned them all invisible to get past the guards.

They were very careful as they walked past, but apparently not careful enough because Jazz accidently tripped. He caught himself before he fell but he made a tiny ‘squeak’ sound. This caught the guards attention. They looked at eachother.

“Was that you dude?” The first said.

“No, was it you?” the second said.

“Obviously not if I asked you dude.” said the first.

“Well excuuuuuuuse me!” The second said.

They started bickering like an old married couple so the team took that as the chance to leave. Jazz was very embarrassed. He was happy the others couldn’t see his face in the dark because he was bright red. The others would have snickered at him if it weren’t for their mission.

Allocer guided them to the rooms, unfortunately he didn’t know which one Iruma was in, so they split up to search. They had to hurry because they were exposed and there were a lot of rooms to search. As Asmodeus was going to open a room he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Asmodeus Alice.”

He started sweating bullets as he looked behind himself. It was Henri. Henri was silent as he looked at Asmodeus. His face was angry at first but then he seemed to have come up with an idea and it softened. He cleared his throat and stepped back.

“Well, it’s all clear here. Iruma seems to be safe too. In his room. Room 333.”

The others approached Asmodeus but froze when they saw Henri. Asmodeus wasn’t frozen in fear anymore though. He knew what Henri was trying to do. Without hesitating Asmodeus ran to the room Iruma was in. Henri seeing that left the hallway without acknowledging the others. They gave each other odd looks before running to join Asmodeus outside the door. They stood there awkwardly not sure how to proceed.

“Asmodeus, Clara, you guys go in. We will keep watch. You go in.” Gaap said.

Asmodeus and Clara nodded. They entered.

--------

Iruma couldn’t sleep. He didn’t want to be on his bed, he was sitting down on the floor against the bed curled up like usual. He heard the sound of the door opening and looked up. He was shocked to see two familiar figures.

“Azz? Clara?”

“Iruma-chi!!!”

“Iruma-sama!”

Iruma was suddenly overcome with happiness and warmth. Then in the next moment he felt dread and anxiety.

“What are you doing here!”

“We came to save you from the big meanies, Iruma-chi!”

Iruma's breathing started to speed up. ‘No No No NO NO NO NO’ he thought. In his panic he slid under the bed to hide from them.

“Iruma-chi?”

“Don’t look at me!”

Azz and Clara stood there awkwardly, this isn’t what they expected to happen.

“Iruma-sama? What's wrong?”

Iruma folded his wings over himself so if they did look down they would only see his wings in the small space. Asmodeus and Clara slowly bent down to look under the bed.

“Iruma-chi? Are you not happy to see us?”

Iruma didn’t answer.

“I’m…I’m sorry it took us so long to get to you Iruma-sama.”

Iruma still didn’t answer.

Asmodeus looked to Clara, Clara looked to Asmodeus, and without talking an idea formed between them. Clara and Asmodeus lifted the bed and moved it over to the side. Iruma was very alarmed and shoved himself up against the wall, still covering himself with his wings. Asmodeus and Clara were very careful to sit down a decent ways away from Iruma so as to not startle him.

“Iruma-chi, you don’t have to look at us, but we aren’t going away either.”

“We aren’t going to be separated. Never again! We won’t allow it!”

Iruma, still covered, answered:

“You don’t get it. I’m not the same Iruma anymore.”

“What do you mean Iruma-chi?”

Iruma didn’t want to tell them but not telling would only hold off the inevitable. He would be honest now and get it over with. That way they can just leave him and he never has to hide and pretend.

“I was a human. The six fingers didn’t lie.”

Clara and Asmodeus were completely silent.

“They made me into a demon using transformation magic. Just look at me”, Iruma lifted his wings and stood so that they could see him in his entirety, “Do you really think you can stand by my side after seeing the awful thing I am? I’m not a demon but I'm not a human anymore! I’m a horrible freak of nature! I didn’t want anyone to see what I've become… but I should have known you guys would be relentless until you knew the truth.”

Iruma was looking at the floor the entire time, not daring to see his betrayal on their faces. But he willed himself to look up. They looked…undisturbed?

“That's it?” Asmodeus said.

Clara shrugged.

Iruma blinked at them incredulously.

“W-what!? What do you mean ‘that's it’? You really have nothing else to say!?”

“Iruma-sama I don’t know who put the idea in your head that you are ‘an abomination’ but to Clara and I you just look like a regular demon. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t one before, in fact I think that makes you even more special and strong.”

Clara nodded.

“B-But-”

“Iruma-chi, do you think Azz-Azz and I are gross?”

“Of course not! Why would I ever-”

“If you don’t think we’re gross, why would you feel that way about yourself? Iruma-chi is Iruma-chi no matter if he’s a human or a demon.”

Iruma looked at both of them. Asmodeus and Clara stood up and looked at Iruma. Iruma looked between the two of them a couple of times before settling his gaze on the floor and started to cry.

“I-I was so scared you’d hate me…that I’d be alone again…I didn’t want to go back to the way things were…”

Iruma was enveloped into a tight hug. He grabbed onto the both of them for dear life, crying. He wailed loudly into the hug and Asmodeus and Clara soothed him by whispering sweet things and rubbing circles into his back.

“We will always be with you Iruma-chi.”

“Always and forever Iruma-sama.”

--------
Iruma decided that he should probably talk to Henri and tell him through official means that he wanted to leave instead of just leaving into the night with Asmodeus and Clara. While the pair was disappointed about having to spend another night away from Iruma, they did call off the escape after a lot of hugs and goodbyes (about 30 minutes worth).

Iruma now waited in the carriage taking him home, Henri just opposite of him. He was going to see his grandpa and Opera again, god did he miss them. When they made it to the outside of the house Iruma looked to Henri before leaving.

“I know you let them into my room. Thank you for everything…”

Henri gave him a small smile.

“Don’t thank me, if I hadn’t done that I quite honestly think a riot against Border Control would have broken out. It was more to save the governmental structure of the netherworld than to help you Iruma.”

Iruma could sense he was only joking though (or maybe he just hoped he was). Iruma gave him a nod exiting the carriage. Then he was immediately bombarded with hugs from his Grandpa and Opera.

It was good to be home.