A Demon's Fate

Chapter 8: Out of the Frying Pan

I stared strangely at Cole as he slipped me a small slip of paper. "Call me if you need anything," he said.

Slowly, I took the paper from him as he stepped inside. I could see Soma's look from the corner of my eye. Did he have something against Cole? "Come on, we'd better get to class," he said.

In first period, I met up with Tamina-san again, and she looked like she had something on her mind. "Moi, what's up?"

"Oh, Miyouko!" She greeted me with a warm smile, but I could tell she was trying to hide something.

"Where were you last night?"

"Oh, umm..." Moi looked down nervously at her feet, "Well I... got scared..."

Scared? She arranged the whole thing! A part of me wanted to get mad at her for leaving me back there, but Kiryuin held me back. "It's okay, I didn't go either," I lied.

"Ah, that's a relief! I probably would've looked bad if you had actually gone! Especially if something happened to you," she added.

Kiryuin, I thought, I really want to hurt her right now.

"Don't do it Miyo! You need all the help you can get!" she scolded me.

I groaned inwardly. She's the reason I'm stuck with you! If she were there, none of this would have happened!

"Miyouko?" Tamina-san was looking at me strangely. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah... I think I'm just... tired..." I walked to my seat and placed my bag on the desk.

Moi sat next to me. "Well I know what can cheer you up!" She pulled a picture up on her phone. "This guy!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

It was Soma. Despite returning back to his house and talking to him again, the air between us was still... uneasy. "Why...?"

Moi was taken aback. "You mean you don't love him anymore?!"

"I-I didn't say any of that!"

"Well then why 'why'?"

"...What?"

"Why did you say why?"

"Well because it was kind of random."

".....So do you plan on asking him out yourself?"

"I thought the point of this was to make him do it!"

"Well he's taking too long!" Moi exclaimed. "...Do you want me to do it? 'Cause I kinda wanna do it now!"

I pulled my scarf over my mouth again. "If anyone is going to do it, it should be one of us..." I might have elaborated, if a certain someone hadn't walked through the door. "Oh, it's Cole."

Moi looked at me with an inquisitive look. "Do you know him? I saw you two earlier this morning."

I waved my hand in dismissal. "No, no, we're just... acquaintances. Soma doesn't seem to like him."

"That's because he's competition!" Moi tells me, "Soma just wants you to himself."

Cole had made his way to my desk now. "Miyouko! I didn't know we'd have first period together!"

I saw Tamina-san growl at him from the other side of me. "You'd better stay away from little Miyouko here!"

Cole raised his hands defensively, "Calm down! I didn't know she had a girlfriend already!"

Both of us blushed immediately, "Tamina-san is my friend," I retorted, "not my lover!"

Suddenly, I felt Moi grab me from behind and whisper in my ear, "Ooh! Can I tell him?"

I glanced back at Cole, who was eyeing us curiously, and then placed my hand over my mouth to speak to Moi. "You aren't actually... lesbian right?"

"What? No, that's not it! I meant about Soma!"

I thought it over for a moment, but decided against it. "...Not yet."

The bell for class to start soon rang, and "Mr. Mathews" was called to his seat. I couldn't help but look at him to find out what ticked off Soma so much...

Eventually, lunch arrived, and I found myself sitting alone, since the others hadn't gotten here yet. Soon however, Cole arrived with his lunch and sat next to me. "They're serving Cole-slaw eh?"

Cole nervously laughed at the terrible joke, but nonetheless started digging in. "Mm, it's pretty good actually," he managed to say.

"That's good," I say as my stomach growls. Unfortunately, I didn't get the luxury of a school lunch often.

"Have some!" Cole shoved his tray in front of me. "And you better eat it quick before your crazy girlfriend catches us!"

"Or Soma," I add, "he's also kinda protective I think."

I could see Cole react from the corner of my eye as I took a bite of his hot dog.

There was definitely a relation, there was no doubt. I had to just go for it now. "Do you two know each other?"

Cole didn't respond for a moment. "...No, it's probably nothing. Actually, I'm sure we can solve this is I met him."

"You're probably right... What class do you have next period?"

"Biology, why?"

"Ms Rose?"

"Yeah, do you have that class?"

"Me and Soma."

I heard Cole groan and turn his head away. "I guess that would be a good time to get to know him then," he says cheerily.

I glare at him for a moment, but the bell soon rings and I have to scarf down the rest of my lunch.

During fourth period, I sat in between Soma and Cole, and I could immediately pick up on the tension. I glanced at Soma, who was twirling his pencil and eyeing Cole with a deathly glare. I elbowed him. "Stop it... You're worrying me..."

"I'm trying to tell what's wrong with him."

"Can't you just accept that there might be a regular person sitting next to you?" I lowered my voice, "You can tell he's human, right?"

"...I haven't had the chance."

Wait, so Cole might or might not be trying to kill me?! "...He looks at you like he knows you."

"He might know what I am..."

I grumbled and turned to Cole. Maybe he had better answers. "Hey, Cole..."

As I turned to him, I could see the glare he was shooting across to Soma. "Yeah, what is it?"

His glare was unbreaking. I was soon bumped by Soma before I said anything. "Where'd you get this?" he asked, pulling a knife from beneath the desk. It was the dagger from this morning!

"I buy fancy throwing knives, is that a problem?"

...I suddenly noticed the silence in the room. Clicking heels stalked towards our desks. "It's a problem when you bring them to school," Ms Rose said coldly. "Mathews, Doremi, Areshi." She pointed to the door, "You know where to go."

This time, the ISS room was occupied by the supervisor Mr Wraithe. As if today couldn't get any worse...