Chapter 15 The Half-Demon Boy
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
“Homo-chan’s injuries have healed, so the Onii-chan/Little Brother RTA is starting now!”
The first thing I hear when I wake up is the voice. And with it comes the same small despair that fills my chest: so it wasn’t a bad dream after all.
It’s infuriating that the voice I hate so much, the one that shatters my faint hope of waking up back in that five-year-old body, is cheerfully making itself at home in my mind again today. This voice saps my energy for the day, making it a chore to even get up, but the sunlight burning through the gaps in the shutters is also unpleasant.
”…”
No good.
I’m anemic from bleeding so much yesterday. My head feels fuzzy.
“Come on, come on, Homo-chan! Hurry up and change, skip class, and let’s go find the little brother you’ve set your sights on!”
Do I really need to change clothes to skip class? And anyway, I don’t even know what a “little brother” is supposed to look like to find him.
“Around this time, when the new students are finally getting used to the academy, there’s a character who finally appears in their designated spot.”
…Does calling them a “character” mean the target is human?
“Guhaha, you guys like little brothers too, right? I need to raise flags before the school martial arts tournament.”
Well, whatever… I don’t have any right to refuse or any other choice anyway.
* * *
”—Hmph!”
”Gah?!”
One of my classmates kicked me hard in the stomach, expelling all the air from my lungs. As I writhed in pain, crouching on the ground, they grinned maliciously and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
This brutality behind the school building has been my daily routine lately. Why do I have to suffer these unreasonable circumstances? There’s only one reason—
”You’re creepy, half-demon.”
”Guh…”
That’s right. I’m a half-demon—humanity’s natural enemy, the very foe these students will eventually fight.
I can’t hide the horns and the demon eyes that assert themselves, so I attend this academy solely to show my loyalty to humanity, to protect my mother, who was r*ped by my demon father. Despite that, all I receive are gazes filled with disgust, avoidance, and unreasonable violence. Why am I subjected to this… I just wanted to live peacefully with my mother.
”…Hey, what’s with that look?”
”Is he going to use his demon eyes?”
”N-No!”
”That’s a clear case of treason against humanity.”
Damn it, why do I have to just take it silently! Is it because I’m half demon?
Is that why I’m going through this! Was I not supposed to be born! Someone, anyone… anyone at all, please help me—
”—Are you Haruka?”
Startled by the sudden female voice, I involuntarily look up. Standing there is a girl with black hair cut to her shoulders, her golden eyes peeking from beneath her bangs.
She’s beautiful in a way that makes the alley seem meaner. She’s beautiful in a way that makes the alley seem meaner.
”You…”
Not only am I taken aback by the unexpected appearance of this person, but my classmates are also flustered.
Of course they are. She’s Reina Alcott, known as the biggest delinquent in our year, a girl who suddenly says and does inexplicable things.
”What business do you have with me, you slut who sleeps with seniors?”
”…I’m still a virgin.”
”Huh? Did you say something?”
”No, nothing… I have business with him,” she says, glancing at me.
Me?
Why would someone like her bother with me… Is she planning to use me as a convenient sandbag just because I’m half demon? Besides, everyone else calls me half-demon or monster, but how does she know my name?
”Hey, you bastard, trying to take my toy?” one of them snarls.
While I’m still confused, my classmates seem to have decided to confront her, grabbing her by the collar.
Their eyes hold a mix of fear and aggression. Even though she’s the top delinquent in our year and hangs out with scary seniors, there’s only one girl here right now… Maybe they thought they could handle it.
”Will you let go?”
”You’re a girl, acting all high and mighty? Can’t you see how many of us there are?”
”Only five of you.”
I could see the anger flare in my classmates’ eyes at her response.
”Don’t get cocky!!”
”Ah—”
As expected, she’s punched hard in the face by the boy holding her collar, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. The others begin to move around her, intending to make a sport of her—
”—Ready, start.”
At that moment, the skin all over my body prickled. My human instincts and my demon senses were screaming at me, warning of danger.
”Huh? What are you—”
In the blink of an eye, the man who was grabbing her by the collar collapses… His arms are bent at unnatural angles, and he’s foaming at the mouth, eyes rolled back. I couldn’t even guess what happened to him in that instant.
While I’m frozen by the suddenness of it all, the sound of breaking human bodies constantly reaches my ears. By the time my gaze follows my hearing, only my classmates, already unconscious, are lying on the ground, further fueling my confusion.
”—Timer stop.”
An inorganic voice echoes in my mind. I don’t know what those words meant, and I’m not even sure if I properly registered them as words.
”…Are you okay?”
”…Huh?”
In the end, it seems the series of events is over, with none of us, including myself, understanding what happened. She, who should be the overwhelming victor, calls out to me with a somewhat pained expression.
”Are you hurt?”
”…W-What do you want?”
I know that’s a terrible response to someone showing concern, but I was doing my best. She’s a first-year like me, yet she overpowered us with sheer violence despite the numbers.
What could she possibly want with me? My mind is filled with that thought, and I’m terrified.
”I wanted to help.”
”Why…”
Towards me, who is trembling and on guard, she utters an unexpected phrase.
”…I’m not sure myself.”
That was how I met Reina Alcott.
Notes:
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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