(✔︎) ❝𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐑❞

10 | Him

After a long day in class, the school bell rang signaling that it was the end of the day. (Name) waved goodbye to Vil as they parted ways. She did feel like she was being watched from behind, there she saw a man with a blonde bob cut wearing a hat and he was glaring at her...

A group of students appeared in front of the glaring man and (Name) disappeared into his peripheral vision until he sensed someone was behind him. Using a roundhouse kick, he tried to hurt the one behind him, yet to his surprise it was Barbatos and she blocked his kick with her hand, "May I ask what are you doing, hm?" She asked him.

     "Ah, mademoiselle mystérieuse!" He greeted the demoness. "It's nice to finally meet you at last! I heard you accompanied Roi de poisons, right?" He asked.

     "Indeed, I did accompany Vil-san. You seem to be not into the idea," she whispered in his ear, bending her back to reach it. "What do you say, Rook-san? Are you jealous that he didn't pick you and chose me instead? Quite annoying to say at least if that happened to me," she added, trailing his shoulder with her finger.

     Rook winced when she forcefully grabbed his hand, "Might throw this flower away, I heard it's poisonous. That's all I should say to you, and be careful once we meet again," she smiled and left the bewildered hunter.

- Diasomnia Dorm -

     "Ah, (Name), it's you again," the man from last night greeted her as she entered the dorm. "Do you mind sitting beside me?" He offered, patting the side of the couch. She placed a hand under her chin, "I'm afraid that I still have matters to attend to, but I can spare a minute or two."

She sat beside the man, who was reading a strange book. He placed his arm around her shoulder, pulling her near him. It's quite a bold move, but he seems to find it as a friendly gesture...

     "Have you gotten a nickname for me?" The man asked her. She scratched her cheek, "I haven't, sadly. I'm into calling people by the name they're given to avoid any confusion. Your horns are quite memorable to me, so might call you Horn-san."

     He laughed at his given nickname, "That surely made me laugh. I will not attempt to change it since I'm the one who offered to give me a nickname," he said.

     "(Name)-sama!!!" Sebek came running towards Barbatos, hugging her in the process. "How was your day, (Name)-sama? And hello—" Horn's eyes turned into a glowing lime as Sebek was gonna greet him. "Hello, waka-sama!" He bowed at him, not uttering his name.

     "Hello, Sebek-san." She greeted him and patted his head. The black-haired man removed his hold around her shoulder since the cabbage-haired man was hugging her too tightly, to the point he couldn't even pull her to his side. "Do you need anything from me?" She asked.

     "Teach me how to make tea! Waka-sama told me your tea is great!" Sebek exclaimed as if he were a dog with a wagging tail. (Name) knew that Sebek knows the name of "Horn-san", so she smiled at him, "Of course, I'll help you make tea."

Going inside the kitchen of Diasomnia, she closed the door to prevent anyone from messing up with her plan. Little did she know, "Horn-san" already made sure Sebek won't let her know his name at all...

     "Why did you call him waka-sama, Sebek-san?" She asked as she took a teapot and 3 sugar cubes. Sebek stood silent, not wanting to answer her question and with that, she gently took his chin, "Tell me his name." Her hands started to be enveloped by a turquoise glow, manipulating Sebek.

     A black aura started to surround both of them as Sebek's eyes started to get hazy. She raised his chin to face her and gave a small smile, "Tell me his name and I'll give you a reward." She told him.

     "His name is—..." Sebek mumbled something she couldn't hear, but before she could even order him to repeat it, someone opened the door. Her aura and the glowing turquoise on her hand disappeared immediately, "Hello, Barbatos~!" It was Lilia.

- Cafeteria -

     "We've been waiting for an hour here, yanno," Grim complained, kicking his paws. "I'm already tired from cleaning. That Ace guy is surely taking his sweet time!"

     "It's your fault in the first place anyway," Yuu stated. He was mad at the gremlin, to say the least, and sighed, "If you didn't argue with Ace, then the Queen of Hearts' statue won't be burnt. Then we'll not clean 100 windows." He added.

     Grim huffed and looked away, "Don't ya think that he's taking too long already? It's been 15 minutes after the bell rang," the gremlin said to Yuu. "If he plans to skip out, then we'll make him wash the 100 windows all by himself!" And with that the gremlin left Yuu, running towards Class 1-A.

     "Wait, Grim! We should wait, don't be ridiculous!" Yuu called, as he tried chasing the gremlin.

- Class 1 - A -

     Grim and Yuu barged inside the room, only to see it was empty, "No one's here, let's go Grim!" He took the grey cat from the collar, almost leaving the room. Until, "No, I'm here..."

     Yuu and Grim looked at each other in fear since the voice was coming from the back. Slowly turning around, "Hello!" The painting greeted and because it talked to them it made them yelp in fear. "What? It's not new to see portraits talking here in this school. The wall lady over there, the gentleman over here, everyone can talk. We have mouths after all."

    "Normally, paintings don't talk," Yuu said. The painting clicked his tongue in disbelief, "Your normal and my normal aren't the same, either way, I'm talking here by using magic. Now, youngsters, you seem to be looking for someone?"

     "Ace Trappola. He has a heart-shaped mark on his right eye and salmon hair that sticks out," Grim answered. The painting snapped his fingers, seeming to know the guy they were talking about, "I know him, he's one of the first years that started here. He went to the entrance of the East building."

     "So, he did try to get away?! C'mon, Yuu! Let's beat that guy up for avoiding the cleaning!" Grim yelled and ran to where the painting said.

- Diasomnia Dorm, Barbatos's room -

(Name) entered her room, placing the tea on the table. She sat on the chair, looking at her palm with a scratch on it. Lilia grabbed it earlier since he seems to know what motive she has, but because of her gaslighting skills, he let her go off the hook. Horn-san or rather Malleus seems to be cautious around her, but he still keeps her near, as if he likes her...

     "Who's there?" A groggy voice came from her bed. Then appeared a man with silverfish hair and a pair of aurora eyes, "Who are you?" He peeked through the blankets.

     "You seem to enter the wrong room, sir," she smiled and sat beside the yawning man. "Let me take you to your room." She told him, but the man shake his head. "Oh, you want to stay here?" She asked, receiving a nod.

With no other choice, she took her dorm uniform and silently shut the door of her room, to prevent the man to wake up. She needs to talk with the lovely Headmaster after all...

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(バルバトス)