In schools, when the final bell rings, it signals the time for students to head home or go to their respective clubs.
But before that, there's one more thing that needs to be done—an activity specifically assigned to two students from each classroom: cleaning.
"Are you sure you can handle the cleaning, Yui?" Said Miura Yumiko as she grabbed her bag, ready to leave.
"Don't worry! Desmon-san will lend me a hand!"
"That guy? You shouldn't hang around him, he's so weird."
To Yumiko, Desmon is nothing more than an oddball. For some reason, she feels like he put her in danger once, but she can't quite remember how.
"You're right about that... but he's fun to be around, and he's not a bad guy… I think…"
Desmon casually mentioning he could hit someone if Yui asked him to isn't exactly normal.
"Desmon-kun is interesting. I don't think he's a bad person, and like Yui said, he's pretty funny."
Ebina is grateful to Desmon for helping her during Tobe's confession. She even met with him the next day to thank him personally, but he didn't even remember who she was. After Ebina reminded him, he responded:
"I only did it so that boy... What was his name? Robe? Yeah, so he can keep enjoying his youth. It's way too early for him to sacrifice his freedom and money."
The girls Desmon has met since arriving in Japan are all very troublesome, and adding Lady to the mix doesn't make things any better.
Any other girl might have taken offense at Desmon's words, but Ebina just laughed at his honesty. Regardless of his intentions, the result was that he helped Ebina without any negative consequences.
"You think that way about him too?"
It doesn't matter what others say about Desmon. To Yumiko, he's just an ill-mannered guy who does whatever he wants, the complete opposite of Hayama Hayato—the ideal guy: polite, handsome, and attentive to others, someone who'd never forget people's names.
"If you got to know him better, you'd find him fun."
"Hina's right. Desmon-san is really funny, even though most of the time he seems lost in thought..."
The few interactions Yui has had with Desmon have only shown her that the white-haired boy is too laid-back to take things seriously. He just seems to wander around having fun.
"Huh!? Why would I spend time with an idiot like him? He'd probably get me involved in some weird situation. No thanks." She waved her hands dismissively.
"As straightforward as ever."
Yuigahama nodded at Ebina's comment. Yumiko is very straightforward and has no trouble saying what she thinks, which sometimes gets her into trouble.
"So, Yui, try not to hang out with that guy too much. And if he tries anything, just let me know. I'll put that idiot in his place."
"Don't worry, Desmon-san doesn't seem like that kind of person."
Yuigahama couldn't imagine Desmon doing anything bad.
"You're way too nice, Yui." Yumiko sighed and shook her head.
"Why does it sound like you're pitying me?" Yuigahama pouted cutely.
The way the three girls interact could easily be described as the dynamic of close friends.
"Yumiko, don't forget we have to go to the mall to get those boots you wanted unless you want someone else to snatch them up." Ebina said, heading to the classroom door.
"Oh, right!" Yumiko dashed to the door. "See you on Monday, Yui!"
"See you on Monday, Yui…!" Ebina barely finished her sentence before Yumiko dragged her out of the classroom. There's nothing scarier than a girl on a mission to shop.
"Bye, Yumiko! Bye, Hina!"
With her friends gone and the rest of her classmates already left, Yuigahama found herself alone in the classroom.
"Alright, time to get started!"
With renewed determination, Yuigahama headed to the small storage cabinet where cleaning supplies were kept.
"Should I start with the windows or the board?"
There was plenty to do in the classroom: sweeping, mopping, cleaning the windows, desks, and board—all tasks that two students from each class were usually assigned to every day. Unfortunately for Yuigahama, her assigned cleaning partner had called in sick.
Yuigahama gathered all the supplies she needed and even tied a white handkerchief around her head, fully prepared to get to work.
"I wonder if Desmon-san will be able to find the classroom…"
"Did you call for me?"
"Kya!"
Yuigahama dropped everything in fright, but Desmon caught it effortlessly.
"You should be more careful."
"Where did you come from?!"
"I came through the door. Or did you expect me to crawl in through the window or something?"
Desmon wasn't dumb enough to come in through the window—though he might use it to leave.
"You startled me a bit. I didn't hear you come in."
"I can tell, Yuki."
"If you remove just one letter from that name..."
"Uki?"
"Forget it…" Yuigahama sighed in resignation. No luck today.
Getting Desmon to say her name right was like playing a gacha game—odds of success were about 0.0000001%. Poor Yoshi wasn't getting any luckier.
"So, what's the plan?" Desmon placed the items on the floor and sat on one of the desks.
"I was just thinking… hmm, I can start by cleaning the board and the windows while you sweep and mop. How does that sound?"
"The sooner we finish this, the better."
With no complaints, they got to work.
Yuigahama began wiping the board, while Desmon swept the classroom. The only sounds were of their cleaning, but with two people, silence never lasted too long.
"By the way, Desmon-san, you live with Hiratsuka-sensei, right?"
Bored of the quiet, Yuigahama started a conversation to pass the time.
"It's the only place I can stay without paying rent." Desmon answered, continuing to sweep.
"She's your aunt, so of course she wouldn't charge you."
"Aunt? What are you talking about… Oh, right, yeah, she's my aunt." He nodded quickly.
Yuigahama didn't seem to notice his slip, though anyone else might have.
"What's it like living with Hiratsuka-sensei? She's so serious and kinda fun at school."
Does she have a hidden agenda or is it just simple curiosity? Normally, you'd assume the former, but with Yuigahama, it was purely the latter.
"Shizuka's not much different from how she is at school. Pretty much the same."
After living together for over a week, Desmon probably knew Shizuka better than her students did.
"Now that I think about it, you actually say Hiratsuka-sensei's name right!"
"Shizuka's my client, so I have to get her name right. Gotta show some manners to my employer"
"Hiratsuka-sensei is your client?" Yuigahama tilted her head.
-Tch, slipped up again…
Shizuka had made it clear to Desmon several times that her students weren't to find out about their current situation. Letting high schoolers know that demons might come after them wasn't ideal, and while they probably wouldn't believe him anyway, it was better to avoid the risk.
"I think you misheard. What I meant was, 'Shizuka's at my house, so I need to remember her name' (Shizuka wa watashi no ie na node, namae o oboenakereba narimasen). It's totally different from 'Shizuka's my client, so I need to remember her name' (Shizuka wa watashi no kyaku na node, namae o oboenakereba narimasen). My japanese isn't perfect yet, so I might mispronounce words sometimes..."
If Shizuka found out he talked about this carelessly, he'd probably lose his allowance until the job was done. A thought that sent chills down Desmon's spine.
"Oh, I see…" Yuigahama picked up a piece of chalk and started writing on the board. "But you still messed up. The sentence should've been, 'Shizuka's my family, so I need to remember her name' (Shizuka wa watashi no kazoku na node, namae o oboenakereba narimasen). That's what you meant, right?"
Desmon scrambled to think of a replacement kanji for "client" that sounded similar, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
Though it might not seem like it, Desmon had mastered spoken Japanese thanks to an old woman who'd given him that talisman. But as for writing... he's at the level of a small child.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I meant!"
Yuigahama puffed out her chest with pride. "Now I get why you mixed it up. Don't worry, just keep working hard to improve."
Moments like this, where Yuigahama got the chance to teach or correct someone, were rare. Most people labeled her as a cheerful, bubbly 'a little airheaded' girl, so she couldn't be happier.
"By the way." Desmon pointed. "Didn't you already clean the board?"
"Huh!?"
To make her point about writing, Yuigahama wrote on the blackboard, rendering her previous cleaning pointless.
"Why do you have that look on your face? You totally think I'm an idiot, don't you?!" She pouted, glaring at Desmon.
"I didn't say anything..." He muttered, looking away.
"You totally did! That's the same face Hikki makes when he says I'm idiot!"
"Then I don't need to say it out loud."
"You're the worst!" Yuigahama huffed and turned back to continue cleaning.
-I can't tell if she's just clueless or if that's really her personality.
With their playful banter over, the two focused on their tasks.
Once Desmon finished sweeping, he started mopping. Meanwhile, after cleaning the board a second time, Yuigahama grabbed a chair, climbed up, and began cleaning the windows.
"Don't fall."
"I'm not that clumsy!"
As cliché as it might seem, one would expect Yuigahama to lose her balance while cleaning the window, only for Desmon to catch her in a classic princess-carry pose. Miraculously, that overly predictable scene didn't happen.
"All done," Desmon said, spinning the mop in his hand.
"I'm almost finished..."
In a matter of minutes, the floors and windows sparkled.
"By the way, the floor is slippery, so don't—"
"Kya!"
As Yuigahama stepped off the chair after finishing the windows, she slipped and landed on the floor. The short fall wasn't harmful, just comically awkward.
"You really are clumsy."
"You should've warned me sooner..." Yuigahama tried to complain, quickly pulling her skirt down with her hands.
She had fallen with her legs apart, and with her skirt and Desmon right in front of her...
"You saw, didn't you?!" She shouted, her face burning red.
"Saw what exactly?"
"Don't make me say it...!"
"I definitely didn't see anything pink with a small ribbon in the center, or anything soft-looking." Desmon shook his head in denial.
"So, you DID see it! Baka, hentai!"
Yuigahama to her feet and bolted out of the classroom, her face redder than a tomato.
Some clichés might be avoided, but others will always be just around the corner.
"Now I understand why this is so common in anime and manga. Apparently, it happens in real life too..."
Today, Desmon learned a little more about Japanese culture.
Without dwelling on the matter, he continued his cleaning, quickly finishing with the desks. With no one around, he didn't bother to hold back.
"That should do it."
With his task complete, Desmon put all the cleaning tools back in the storage closet and left the classroom.
"Should I head to the Service Club?" He muttered to himself, strolling down the school hallways.
Ever since Shizuka enrolled him in Sobu High, Desmon had been attending the Service Club in the afternoons, where Yukinoshita taught him the basics covered in Japanese elementary schools.
But after the trip, and now with Yuigahama running off because of that little incident, there was a high chance Yukinoshita would scold him for something that wasn't his fault. His only crime was having good eyesight.
"Yeah, I think I'll pass today. I could use a break."
It had been a grueling week for the young demon hunter. In just a few days, he had faced several demons at the train station, chased down a bullet train only to crash into a billboard, pursued a child-eating demon, battled the gatekeepers of hell, and fought Kiyohime along with the possessed Nakano sisters.
Mulling over how hard it is to be an average Japanese student, Desmon left Sobu High and headed to Shizuka's apartment. Upon arriving, he immediately collapsed on the couch and picked up some manga Shizuka had bought in Kyoto.
Minutes turned into hours as his eyes grew heavy, and soon, he drifted into a deep sleep.
When he finally opened his eyes and stretched, the first thing he saw was a terrifying figure—his teacher and roommate, Shizuka.
"Oh, I'm dead..."
Those were his last words before receiving the biggest lecture of his life.