Chapter Text
After a long day of playing games, chatting, snacking, and having fun together, it was time for the 'sleeping' part of their sleepover. Iruma, Azz, and Clara all got ready for bed and put on their pajamas. Irumas' bed was large enought that the three of them could sleep comfortably together. But before any of them got under the covers, Clara pulled a pillow from her pocket and launched it at Azzs' face.
"Stupid Clara, what are you doing!?" Azz cried, holding the pillow he was assaulted with.
"C'mon, Azz-azz, can't have a sleepover without a pillow fight!"
Azz was about to get after her for messing up Irumas' bed, but he was interrupted by another pillow hitting him from a different direction. He stared incredulously at his master, who still had an arm outreached towards him.
This was the final straw for a full-blown pillow fight, with absolutely no mercy. The room was soon flooded with pillows, toy-toy providing Clara with an endless supply of ammunition. The three fought for several minutes before collapsing onto the bed in an exhausted pile. They fell asleep like that, all slumped together and surrounded by a surplus of pillows and messy sheets.
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A few hours later, Iruma got up to use the bathroom after carefully untangling himself from their sleep pile. When he came back, he checked the time on his hellphone. 6:13 AM. It was just barely starting to get bright outside. He glanced over at the still sleeping sillouettes of his friends. The sun provided just enough light to see them clearly.
He was in the middle of rejoining them, before his eyes caught onto Claras' small ram horns. He wanted to ask to touch them several times that week. It had always felt too embarrassing. But now, she was asleep and he had an opportunity. Of course, he wouldn't consider it if he thought she might say no, but he was certain she wouldn't mind, so...
Iruma hovered his hand over one of Claras' horns, trying to be quiet so he didn't wake either of them up. If he thought asking to touch her horns was embarrassing, he couldn't imagine having to explain why he was doing so while she was sleeping. So many things in the netherworld were still so foreign to him, and he found demons beautiful, learning more about them was fascinating. This must be how Balam feels about humans. About Iruma.
He closed the distance between his hand and Claras' horn, following their curve all the way down to the tip, before testing their sharpness. They felt hard and solid, not dissimilar to the way her claws felt, but with subtle ridges along them. The ridges were especially enjoyable for Iruma to run his hand over, but he was careful to be gentle as he did. When he went to rub the base of her horns, she kicked her leg in response like a dog having its' ear scratched. Iruma feared he had woken her, but she stilled again when he removed his hand. Could she feel when her horns were touched? And what would that feel like?
For fear of waking his friend, he left her horns alone, but when he turned his head, a new impulse overtook him. Azzs' hair was tucked messily behind his pointed ear. This was a topic that had bothered him for a while, because, while not all demons had horns, they all had pointed ears. Well, not counting the ones who had animal ears instead. The point was, it was a small, but notable difference, one that sparked enough curiosity for Iruma to give in to his impulse.
Unfortunately, Azz was not a heavy sleeper.
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The first time Iruma put his hair up, Azz noticed his rounded ears. He barely took note, considering it just another part of Iruma, same as his blunt nails and dull fangs. But then he woke up to Iruma silently brushing a hand over his ear and that detail suddenly seemed way more relevant.
A quiet, "Iruma-sama?" was all it took for Iruma to rip his hand away, stumble back a bit, and profusely apologize.
"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up, I was just-- your hair-- your hair was in your face, so I was just moving it." He grasped onto the first excuse he could think of.
Azz was surprised at this reaction. Then he remembered the way Iruma did almost the same exact thing with his claws only a week ago. Back then, Iruma had simply wanted to look at their claws, but had been to shy to outright ask. He had even gone through the trouble of planning a claw painting party. Was this the same thing now? A third voice cut his thoughts short before he could respond to Irumas' flimsy excuse.
"Whattcha guys doing up already?" Clara sat up on the bed, sleepily rubbing her eyes.
Iruma covered his face with his hands, wondering why he didn't just go back to sleep because now Azz had caught him in the act and now they were both awake and now he had to explain himself and, "I'm- I'm sorry, I was just... curious." He started, holding both of his friends undivided attention. "I don't know how to explain, it's just... different? I guess?" He was now staring at his hands in his lap.
"Different?" Azz and Clara were similarly confused at Irumas' struggled attempt to explain himself. Clara was especially lost, having not woken up to the same scene Azz had. Iruma seemed to realize this, so he confessed to her.
"Um... I wasn't going to say anything, but now you're awake and I feel bad because I didn't ask your permission, but I kinda touched your horns when you were asleep, so I'm sorry." Iruma bowed his head to get his apology across.
Clara tilted her head, "Huh? Iruma-chi, it's alright! You coulda just asked, silly!"
"I... I know but it's... kind of a weird question, right? I mean, horns and claws are normal here, and here I am obsessing over them because I don't have sharp claws or fangs or pointed ears or horns or a tail because I'm not--" He stopped himself before he could finish.
But... really, why did he still have to hide it from them? At first, he was afraid they might eat him, then he was worried they'd hate him for lying to them, but... now? He knew they'd stay by his side, even if they knew the truth. Maybe it would be nice to stop worrying about them finding out by accident, especially with how obvious he felt he was being lately. He took a deep breath to steel himself, determined to tell them the truth before he had time to back out. This would be okay, they would accept him. Right?
"All this demon world stuff is still new to me, because... I... I'm human."
As soon as the words left his lips, Iruma tensed up and shut his eyes, as if expecting something big to happen, but instead he was met with silence. After a few seconds of nothing happening, he opened his eyes again to see the others reaction. They were both staring at him with a mixture of surprise, disbelief, and curiousity. Not quite what Iruma was expecting.
Clara half yelled, "Humans are real?!"
Seeing Iruma nod in affirmation, Azz spoke more to himself than to the others, clearly in disbelief, "You mean, this whole time, you weren't a demon? You're a human?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to lie to either of you!" Iruma tried to defend himself, "But I was scared. At first that you might eat me, but then I was scared of you hating me and that seemed worse somehow. But I never- I never meant to deceive you." Tears began pooling in his eyes at the thought of being alone again.
Seeing this reaction caused Azz and Clara to latch onto Iruma from either side, encompassing him in a human sandwich. They wouldn't let their best friend believe they hated him, especially for something he had no control over. Iruma returned the hug, grasping tightly onto their clothes and feeling relieved that they didn't seem mad at him.
"We could never hate you, Iruma-chi."
"If you were always human, then nothing has changed, right? You are still the same Iruma as always."
Irumas' breath hitched, he couldn't believe how lucky he was. "Thank you, guys."
They stayed in that position for a short while, clinging to one another while Iruma let go of all his previous worries and Azz and Clara collected their thoughts.
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Human. He had always been told they were a myth. Those myths stated that humans were lesser beings, who were weak and greedy. Iruma didn't fit any of the rumors about what humans were like at all! Well, Iruma was rather greedy when it came to food, but otherwise he was kind and patient and generous towards others. Those weren't typically considered demon traits either... and... Balam-sensei had taught them humans didnt have horns or...
Azz impulsively slid his hand to Irumas' shoulder blades, right were a demons' wing roots would be.
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Human. Clara never thought humans were real! Her bestest friend was a mythical creature! But... Balam said that humans couldn't survive in the netherworld, that they were too soft. That they couldn't escape predators without...
Clara moved her hand up to Irumas' distinct lack of wing roots.
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Iruma tried to stiffle a laugh at the feeling of his friends' hands moving to that specific part of his back. He had a pretty good idea of what they were thinking at the moment.
"Iruma-sama?"
"Iruma-chi? What's funny?"
"Nothing it's just... the way you both touched my back just now. It's the same way I was touching your claws last week and your horns and ears earlier." He loosened his grip on them, leaning back to look them in the eyes. "It's just... validating? That I'm not the only one who's curious. I mean, there's Balam-sensei of course, but it's a little different since his whole thing is mythical creatures. I felt like I was being weird about it. The whole claws vs nails thing, I mean."
"It is strange. I think I understand now, why you were so curious." Azz tucked Irumas' hair behind his ear and ran an absent finger over its' rim. It tickled, but Iruma let him, the action making him feel more normal about his own behavior before.
"But, how have you survived here? Balam-sensei said humans couldn't live in the netherworld because it was too dangerous!"
"No more dangerous than my life in the human world." Seeing their faces, Iruma immedietly regretted saying that, trying to overwrite it with, "I um, I mean, I have Grandpa and Opera and you guys looking out for me. And with this ring, I can even do magic!"
Neither of them knew how to address that first part. What was his life like in the human world if he was safer here, in the netherworld, surrounded by demons who might try to eat him if they knew?
Azz noted the last part, "Humans can't do magic usually?"
"No, we don't have any mana. Magic and demons are a myth where I'm from."
"Interesting, just like how humans are a myth here..."
"So, how did you get to the netherworld then?"
"Oh, that's a funny story, you see, my uh." He tried to stall admitting it because he expected the way they would react, but there wasn't really any good way to say it. "My parents sold me?"
.....They misheard that, right? Surely no one would be so foolish as to trade their own son for money. Right??
Iruma could almost hear the gears turning in their heads, so he tried to explain further, "It's okay though, selling me was the best thing they ever did for me! Because of that I have a bed and I don't have to hunt for food anymore!" This had the opposite affect Iruma was hoping for.
A combined, "What?!" could be heard throughout the mansion.
"That was what your life was like in the human world?! You didn't have food or a safe place to sleep?! How could they let their own son go through that?! It is disgraceful that you should have had to live in such a way!!" Azz looked ready to burn someone alive.
"Did they even know what was going to happen to you?" Clara looked more ready to cry, heartbroken at Irumas' past.
"I don't think they cared what happened to me as long as they got their money. That's how it always was." He admitted. This wasn't how he saw this conversation going. "But my life is so much better now!" He tried to change the mood, "Here, with you guys and my family and going to school. Please don't worry about what happened to me before. It's in the past now."
Azz and Clara had so many more questions about that, but they could tell Iruma was trying to turn the conversation away from his parents. They didn't want to force him to talk about it, and maybe it was better if they didn't know all the details. Azz might go the the human world just to set Irumas' parents on fire if he knew of all the dangerous jobs they made him do. Clara might join him. Instead, they went back to asking about humans in general.
"So, no wings or magic..." Azz murmered to himself, trying to mentally note all the differences between humans and demons so he can better understand and serve his master.
"What's the human world like?" Clara asked, scooting over to press herself against Irumas' side again and grabbing one of his hands to play with. He relaxed at the welcomed touch and change of subject.
"Well, it's actually pretty similar to the netherworld. There are different plants, and most of the animals are small and can't fly. And there's no magic. The sky is blue and there's only one moon, but the forests and towns are almost the same."
"Blue sky?!"
"Only one moon..."
The two were fascinated by the description of the mythical world. Learning that not only did humans and mythical creatures exist, but their friend was from a whole other world was starting to sink in. Things like making a teacher his familiar, the fireworks, the fluffy pink tree, using unknown words, and walking to school suddenly made more sense.
"Ah wait! The flying race?! How did you--?!" Azz suddenly remembered his wingless friend being shoved off a cliff.
Iruma had almost forgotten about that, "Oh, some birds caught me and brought me to the gauardians' baby. Its' leg was injured, so I healed it and it took me to its' parent. They were actually really friendly when their baby was safe."
"You healed it? But that was before you got the ring, so you didn't have magic then, right?"
"Well, turns out human blood can heal demons? That's probably where the whole 'humans are delicious' thing came from. It can make plants grow, too."
"Healing blood... Balam-sensei never mentioned that in class."
"Yeah, we figured it would be bad if it got out that human blood could heal, and then someone saw my blood healing? It would be pretty easy to put two and two together."
"So Balam knows, too?"
"I sorta told him by accident a while ago. He gave me an earful about being more careful about my identity."
Considering the school song, demon border patrol, and general opinions on humans, they thought Balam was probably right about that. The weight of Irumas' secret dawned on them as they realized what might happen if the wrong people found out.
"Thank you for entrusting us with this secret, Iruma-sama."
"I promise to protect your secret with my life!"
Iruma felt tears of joy welling up, and tried to hide his face by throwing himself into Azzs' chest. He freed his hand from Claras' grasp only to wrap his arm around her too. "How did I get so lucky?" He asked mostly to himself. "I was so scared of how you would react, I mean, I was keeping such a big secret from you! But you just--" He sniffled, overwhelmed at how easily they accepted him. How readily they would protect him. How they didn't falter, even when learning he wasn't what they thought he was. "I love you guys."
By this point, the sun was shining brightly into the room, perfectly highlighting the slight blush on the two demons. Azz gently pet Irumas' hair, while Clara returned Irumas' hug.
He would need to have a longer conversation with Sullivan and Opera about Azz and Clara knowing his secret, but that could wait. For now, he was content in his best friends' hold, knowing that they would stay by his side no matter what.