After the events of the previous day, Regulus woke up, ate breakfast, and went to school. Because he now has a roommate, he made extra breakfast for her, before he set out. His roommate hadn't woken up yet, but he wasn't very bothered by it.
Regulus paved his way to school with Astoria by his side. She's invisible to those who do not possess mana. By the time he reached school at around twenty past eight–he had ten minutes until homeroom class.
As he entered the school, he noticed many people were flocking to the outside of the entrance. Regulus didn't turn his head around or turned at all since he knew who was causing the commotion.
'Yah~! It's Nagisa-sama!'
'She looks so pretty and cool!'
He had guessed it. Kaiyo Nagisa, his roommate, somehow made it to school at the same time as him. Before anything else would happen, he swiftly moved upstairs toward his classroom.
Nagisa saw him as he was moving upstairs. She was tempted to call him, but she didn't get the chance. She didn't consider the fact that it may anger him or it may hurt him if she calls out to him.
Regulus sauntered past Class 2-1 and Class 2-2, finally reaching his class near the other end of the corridor, Class 2-3. He slid the door open and sat on the back row, next to the window. As soon as he entered, the whole class stared at him.
Because of his previous suicide attempts, he's accumulated many names. The most used ones are the loser, suicide kid, and walking dead. He didn't give any of them a single thought though. Since he's used to it at this point.
Out of his bag, he took out a novel. It was a novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the first book of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, Whose Body? Regulus' mother was British, so he was taught English, but only to the regular extent. He can make out English words with ease. He can read and speak too. Around five minutes later, the furthest door from him opened. His teacher walked through.
Natsuki Kurugaya. Despite how she looked, she was nineteen years old, she's been teaching fresh out of high school. At first, one would think she's a teacher who's looking for a lover, because of the way she acts, but she's young herself. Albeit she doesn't realise that.
Kurugaya-sensei walked toward the lectern stand and she laid her papers down onto it. The teacher wore a white shirt and tight black jeans. They complimented the natural Japanese beauty of her black hair and black eyes.
'Alright, seems like everyone is here today.'
'Um, Kurugaya-sensei?'
Kurugaya-sensei turned to the girl, on the row to her left.
'But, Futaba isn't here.'
'Futaba left recently. That's why we have a transfer student today.'
The class riled up, and for two reasons. The first was due to Kyoko Futaba's mysterious leaving of the school. She was an average girl, but everyone liked her. The second was, of course, the knowledge of a new transfer student.
Transfer students are rare and they seldom transfer in the middle of the year. Usually at the start of a semester. Most people were curious. More than that, they wanted to know whether it would be heaven for boys or girls. Will the transfer be a boy or a girl?
'Come in.'
Kurugaya-sensei looked to the door nearest to her, and it slid open. Someone entered.
'Ooooh!'
The boys shouted in amazement. Yes, the transfer was a girl. Regulus watched the girl. At first, he didn't have any particular interest in her, but once he saw a glaring detail, he went pale.
The girl went to the front and introduced herself. Grabbing some chalk, she spelt her name out on the blackboard. After finishing, she bowed.
'Hello, I'm Kei Asahi.'
The girl had a Japanese name, but she didn't look it at all. Her hair was a china-blue and her eyes were yellow. Her body frame was small, unlike a normal student. What stood out to Regulus the most was something else. She wore a light blue hoodie under her blazer.
A hairpin. It looked exactly like Nagisa's earring. This girl... was also an exorcist. Or at least Regulus believed, however, his thoughts were confirmed by a sudden glance over at him. Her normal face turned into a smile. A smile that made the recipient uncomfortable.
Her name was written with the kanji for intelligence, 慧, for colour, 彩, and flying, 飛.
(Sorry if this is wrong.)
'Okay, sit down next to Nakamura.'
Nakamura sat a row in front of Regulus and a lane to the right. Before moving, Asahi asked Kurugaya-sensei.
'Is it possible if I sit next to him?'
A finger was pointed directly at Regulus. He felt annoyed on the inside but remained indifferent on the outside. Kurugaya-sensei sighed, while the majority of the boys gave Regulus the death glare–he directed his look to the window.
'Love for those younger, I guess. Just sit next to him. Saito, move next to Nakamura, you've been dying to sit there, anyways.'
The boy next to Regulus stood up and entered the seat next to the other boy named Nakamura, and Asahi ventured over toward Regulus. She put her bag on the table and looked at Regulus with a smile.
'Hey, you.'
He moved his head toward her, trying his best to conceal his emotions of tension. Asahi still had the same smile she gave before, but this time, it was tinted with a hint of deviousness.
'I'll be your deskmate. Nice to meet you.'
'Feeling's mutual.'
She sat down and Kurugaya-sensei continued to give a brief explanation of something. Regulus' head suddenly heard something else.
«Hey. Meet me on the rooftop after school. If you don't, I'll render you disabled.»
The boy shook. He gave a short look at Asahi, and he smiled. Regulus guessed that her thoughts were being transmitted to his mind by some sort of magic. In the end, he met another exorcist. One after the other.
[x]
'You're finally here.'
As he went to the rooftop, Regulus noticed that this scene had been familiar to him. It reminded him of a manga he read, however, he wouldn't be confessed to. Instead, most likely, hurt.
Asahi stood on the edge of the rooftop. If she stumbled or moved backwards, she would fall and die. Regulus found that spot she stood strange. Why would she stand at the edge of the rooftop when she could've just waited in front of the door.
'What do you want?'
Regulus' introverted attitude didn't kick in when he conversed with Asahi. Maybe it was because he knew that she was an exorcist. The cross didn't prove much, but he was sure once her thoughts were transferred to his.
'Do you know the other exorcist in this area?'
'I don't.'
He answered with skipping a heartbeat. The girl found his quick answer suspicious. Asahi blinked and her eyes changed. Different from the usual blue, they turned into a darker colour. The outside of her irises was in an intricate pattern and was red. While the rest of her eyes looked like a galaxy.
Asahi looked at him for a couple of seconds, then entered a thinking pose. Her eyes reverted to normal.
'Doesn't seems like you're lying.'
She got closer to him and got in his face, causing him to lean slightly backwards.
'Listen here! That other exorcist is my senpai! My love! I'll kill you if you ever think about getting near her, alright?!'
Regulus nodded excessively.
'W-why're you telling me this, anyways?'
The girl manoeuvred away.
'Why else? I know you're a Demon Summoner. Senpai is bound to come after you eventually, so I just came to warn you.'
'Well, if you know that, shouldn't you exorcise my demon?'
'I couldn't care less about that.'
'Then, let me ask you, what did you do to your eyes.'
'They're my Seraph.'
«Her Seraph?! God gave her eyes as her weapon? I'm guessing there's more to it than meets the eye.»
Regulus thought.
'Now, if you get my warning, stay away from my senpai!'
She jumped off the building as if it was normal. Regulus then noticed where she jumped from. It was his latest suicide spot. Why did Asahi jump from there specifically? Almost like she was trying to say something.
«That's impossible. As long as she lives with me, anyways.»
[x]
'I'm home.'
The female voice rang across the hallway of the house. Regulus was on the sofa in the living room, reading manga. While Astoria was watching him from behind. He didn't bother saying anything to Nagisa.
'Welcome back...'
Astoria said in an indifferent tone. As Nagisa walked into the living room, she laid her bag down and sat on the second sofa diagonal from Regulus.
'You could at least welcome me back.'
Nagisa said, annoyed.
'Woah!'
The demon shouted first.
'I don't believe it. He jumped...'
Regulus said after her.
'At least focus on me, not the manga...'
He folds the page on puts the manga beside him.
'I've been meaning to ask you. Do you have a kouhai?'
(Kouhai is a Japanese term for junior, underclassmen, freshmen and etcetera.)
The word "kouhai" seemed to strike Nagisa like a brick. It was like she knew exactly who Regulus was talking about the moment he mentioned that word. Nagisa facepalmed herself.
'Don't tell me, you're talking about Numa, right?'
'Numa?'
Nagisa noticed what she said and simply confirmed the fact with Regulus.
'Blue hair. Blue eyes and hoodie, right?'
'Yup.'
'Then that's Ekaterina Numa. She probably changed her name to a Japanese one.'
Regulus stood up and put the manga, the one he was reading, on the shortened table. He figured that he should buy a new one too. After the battle yesterday, Astoria was able to restore the house's damage with magic, but because she had affected the table, it caused an "unnatural" effect and it couldn't be reversed.
He travelled to the second hallway, which connected the living room to the toilet, shower and basement. Regulus travelled toward the basement door and opened it up. A cold gale hit him.
'What are you doing, Regulus?'
'I haven't been to the basement ever since my parents moved out. I thought I'd check it out.'
Nagisa came along behind him, at the entrance of the second hallway.
'It's weird that you're doing it when I came along.'
'Yeah, that's because I want to avoid you.'
He took his phone out and activated the flashlight. The steps on the staircase were wooden. Vague lines were showing which parts of the staircase would break. The basement hasn't been entered for at least five years.
Regulus descended, avoiding the parts in the stairs which would collapse easily. After carefully treading, he reached the bottom. It was concrete. Sounds of mice could be heard, but it didn't shake Regulus at all.
Shining the light around, he noticed that it was filled with boxes. Unlike the whole other area, the boxes looked rather younger than the basement's condition.
«Maybe Astoria came in here when I was asleep or unaware.»
'Be careful. I have a familiar feeling.'
'Familiar? What do you–'
The sound of boxes tumbled filled the basement.
'What was that, Regulus? Did you run into something?'
«It wasn't Nagisa. Then... what was it?»
Regulus questioned himself. The only people who should be down in the basement are Regulus and Astoria. A mouse couldn't knock down the uneven square of boxes. So, what could it be?
There was a sharp growl.
'Crap. I never thought I'd be seeing one in my house.'
A large shadow moves over the boxes. Regulus shines his light on it. It was a demon, however, unlike Astoria, it looked more like a beast. It was wearing a torn rag and it had no eyes. It was three times larger than a golden retriever and it looked like a dog.
'That's a Keu.'
'Keu?'
'It means dog in demon language. It's a type of demon which are good at finding and getting its prey. It seems like we're its prey.'
'Don't worry!'
The girl came down from the top and skipped all of the steps. Mori formed in her hand–she faced the Keu and gave a large smile, just like she always does.
'I, Kaiyo Nagisa, shall exorcise this Keu...'