Fight me, Become a Demon

Chapter 10

    "Of course!" Crowley threw his arms up in exasperation at Ace. "After school, gather in the school cafeteria. Understood?"

    "Yea～h..." Ace replied gloomily, his head hung low.

     "Since yesterday, nothing's gone right～!!" Grimm whined as he leaned on Akaza'a leg.

    "I'm already exhausted from a full day of cleanin'. I can't believe we still gotta wash a hundred windows!" Grimm whined as the three Ramshackle residents sat in the cafeteria. Grimm, Yuuken, and Akaza were all sitting at a table near the back, furthest away from the sun rays from the window. Small amounts of sunlight were hitting the edge of the table where Grimm lay on his side, the cat monster was lazily soaking up the sun. His tail was hanging off the table, flicking in annoyance.

    "Suck it up and do it." Akaza said as she glared at the cat monster. They could have been back in the Ramshackle dorm or studying in the library, locations that had copious amounts of shade and few windows. Instead she was stuck in the cafeteria, a room with windows from the ceiling to almost the floor. Akaza had curled in on herself to avoid the deadly light, hugging her knees to her chest. The ceremonial robe still shielded her adding more protection but it was not enough to put her mind at ease.

    "Try and learn from this experience." Yuuken offered the cat monster, trying to take a more gentle approach than Akaza did. He smiled akwardly and looked over at her, making sure the robe was still fully covering her.

    "What's buggin' me is, Ace ain't even here yet! To make us wait, after what he did... Grrr!!" Grimm growled, ears flattening on his head as growled. "... And now he's super late! I bet he up and bailed on us!"

    "That's possible." Yuuken sighed, rubbing his temples. Akaza pat his shoulder in sympathy, something Yuuken unconsciously leaned into.

    "We should look for him." Akaza said her face blank but a vein was popping in her forehead. She stood from her seat, her teeth grinding together as she stuck close to the wall to a void the large amounts of sunlight on the floor.

    "Ain't no way am I doin' his punishment for him!" Grimm exclaimed as he jumped down from the table. Yuuken stood up with him and the three exited the cafeteria into the empty hallway. "C'mon, Yuuken, Akaza, I don't care if we gotta drag him kickin' and screamin', he's washin' those windows!"

    "Hey! Ace! Get over here! Try to hide from me, will ya!" Grimm yelled as he burst into the room, he and Yuuken walked in but Akaza just leaned herself on the door. Before Grimm had made his entrance Akaza had smelled nothing but faint scents, so everyone in the room was long gone. She chose to say nothing though, she knew Yuuken would be smart enough to leave after less than a second. Grimm's reaction was a toss up, either way she knew he would start whining like a spoiled child. "Huh... Maybe there's really no one here?"

    "Oh, I wouldn't say that, I'm here." A female voice said. Akaza jumped, eyes wildly scanning the room. She didn't notice another person, was she becoming weak!? She would have to start consuming humans again soon. She couldn't be of use to Muzan like this! Should she kill Yuuken now instead of turning him into a demon or should she just let him live so he could fight her in the future? But he's also in a similar situation to her, he might be useful to get her back home. Yuuken also felt so familiar but she couldn't understand why, she had no memory of him before meeting him at the sorting ceremony. The benefits of keeping him alive were numerous.

    "Bwaaah! That painting just talked!" Grimm shrieked, the fur on his tail puffed up and he was pointing at the painting with a paw. Yuuken had minutely flinched, his eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping. He had never seen a talking painting before and it fascinated him. He was so intrigued that he did not notice Akaza pulling her hair in the corner.

    "Yes, and...? Is a talking painting really such an oddity at this school?" The woman in the painting spoke. She was an older lady in an old fashioned purple dress. The dress was definitely from the Victorian era, the high collar and leg of mutton sleeves obvious trademarks of the fashion at the time. She was seated on a wooden chair in a garden under the shade of a weeping willow. A book sat in her lap and a small wooden table had a straw hat sitting on it. She pursued her lips, more than likely taking minor offense to the reactions of the three in front of her. "The lady in the portrait on that wall talks too. As does the gentleman in the portrait on this one. As long as a painting has a mouth, why wouldn't it be able to talk? Is that really so strange?"

    "Yes." Akaza said flatly, her mini crisis over by now. She had entered the room and sat down at one of the desks closest to Yuuken, recognizing that this was going to take longer than she thought.

    "Paintings don't usually talk," Yuuken said. Grimm had flopped on the floor and was just staring at the wall probably bored of the conversation. "Are you with those ghosts from yesterday?"

    "Well, your "usual" and my "usual" clearly differ." The lady in the painting simpered, her expression not as stern as a few seconds earlier. "Shall we agree to disagree on the matter? Unlike those restless spirits, always wandering hither and thither, I've been contentedly hanging on this wall for over fifty years. Now, you seem to be searching for someone."

    "We're lookin' for this guy called Ace. He's got messy hair and a heart drawn on his face." Grimm said, still laying on the floor. When he mentioned the heart mark he pointed at his eye with a paw. Yuuken thought this action was somewhat cute, as obnoxious as the cat could be he still had his redeeming qualities. He believed Grimm just needed some guidance.

    "Ah, I know the one. A new student, I believe? Today was his first day at school. I think he went back to his dorm a while ago." The lady said her gloved hand tapping her book as she thought back a few hours.

    "Myaaah! So it's true!" Grimm yelled, swiftly jumping to his feet as his tail flicked wildly. His head whipped to the direction both Yuuken and Akaza were. "He's tryin' to ditch us! Do you know which way he went?"

    "The door to the dorms is in the eastern building." The lady in the painting replied. She non verbally closed the conversation by opening the book and focusing on it.

    "Let's chase after him, Yuuken, Akaza!" Grimm shouted as he ran out of the room to find Ace. Yuuken and Akaza both sped walked behind the cat to the location the lady in the painting spoke of. As they left the room the lady in the painting watched Akaza in the corner of her eye.

Dear reader,
"Prologue 11, Window Scrubbing" is done! Life has been very hectic for me which is why the chapter posting has been wonky. However I will not be putting this book on hiatus nor will I be discontinuing it. I will continue on, I have also been working on some art for the story so keep an eye out for that.
Anyways Deuce is making his first appearance soon! Are you excited for the chandelier disaster?

Also Akaza having a bit of a crisis over a painting was funny to write.
Author out!