Infernal Academia

Chapter 53 - Data Pilfering

The girls each had their own quirks that Cobalt didn't know how to deal with, and now that they insisted on playing the night guard, the Incubus was finding himself edging closer and closer to his wit's end.  Karazelle was of course a problem - she prided herself in being one - and often spared no effort in encroaching upon her teacher's personal space at every opportunity.  She made lecherous comments to fill gaps in conversation, and in the middle of the night, Cobalt could have sworn he saw her try to find an opening in his futon in order to sneak in, to no avail.  Whitney and Quinn were a little more bearable on their respective nights, but the Nymph had a habit of leaving her toiletries all over the bathroom, and the Imp just couldn't leave his kitchen appliances well enough alone.  Lottie was probably the worst of the lot, because she did not like sleeping alone.  Having forgotten her favourite plushie back in her own room, she instead settled on clinging to the next best thing all night, that being Cobalt Trayer.

As for Jelli... It was awkward, to say the least.  Out of all of his unwanted guests, she was by far the easiest to deal with, and yet the Incubus couldn't shake that sense of unease that dogged him every time he laid eyes on the Glutton.  She cooked a lovely meal for him, but upon trying the first forkful, all Cobalt could taste was the sugary-sweet flavour of his student's lips the night she confessed her love to him.

Having her so close, slumbering just a few feet away on his couch... It kept him up all night.

"Agh, my head..." Cobalt mumbled, wincing in the sunlight as he headed down the road into Brimstone proper.

All of this sleeplessness coupled with the ongoing sense of dread gifted to him by Diate wasn't doing him any good.  With the weekend here, the Incubus thought about heading into town to take his mind off things, but apparently that wasn't doing any good.

As he turned a corner onto a side road, his phone began to buzz.  Sighing heavily, he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, sir?  Just thought I'd let you know; Izzbelle's back," spoke the voice of Whitney.

His eyes widened as his heart lurched, causing Cobalt to almost drop his phone down a drain.

"She is?!  Is she okay?!"

"Uh, I don't really know.  She's been, like, really tetchy.  Jelli can't even get close to her, and they're basically besties."

That figured.  The Oni was never one for crowds, and she was probably unused to so many people fussing over her.

"Well how did she look?" asked Cobalt, crossing the street to the High Street.

"Not great.  No cuts or bruises or anything, but she still looked like she was hurting.  Got real snappy, too.  She's in her room, and won't come out for anyone."

The Incubus sighed.

"Alright... I guess I'll speak to her when I get back."

"Yeah, Whoretits is still giving it a go.  She's gonna try and get Izzbelle on board with the sleepo- ahem, night watch idea."

Well that didn't sound like an excellent plan.

"Maybe just go with Karazelle when she does that.  Just in case-"

"In case Izzbelle kicks her ass?  Oh believe me, I'll be there.  Seeya later sir!"

The call went dead before Cobalt could chastise Whitney for her blatant disregard for her own classmate's personal safety.  Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he took a deep breath and sat down on a nearby bench, deigning to just sit and watch the world go by for a while.