There was nothing. Not light, not darkness, just a vast, empty void that stretched on forever. Luke drifted through the emptiness, a phantom consciousness without a body, without a direction. He wondered where he was. The pain and cold of the alley seemed like a fading dream, the memories of a life that was no longer his. He was just a ghost, lost in the stillness. Then, he saw it. A single, golden light, shining in the distance. Drawn by an instinct he didn't understand, he moved towards it. The closer he got, the brighter it became, until it was an overwhelming beacon of warmth.
Then, with a sudden jolt, he was back. It was like being kicked out of his own dream, a violent wrenching from one reality to another. His senses flooded back all at once: the soft feel of a mattress, the faint scent of his mother's laundry detergent, and something else—the unfamiliar, overwhelming softness of a naked body beneath his hand.
Luke's eyes shot open. He was in his room, his body warm and whole, but his hand was resting on a woman's breast. He looked down and saw the crimson-haired girl from the student council office, the same girl from the magical circle. She was naked, sleeping soundly beside him. He pulled his hand back as if he had been burned, his mind a storm of questions. What in the world is she doing here?
As if sensing his sudden panic, her emerald eyes fluttered open. She looked at him with a sleepy, gentle smile. "Morning," she greeted, her voice soft and melodic.
Luke managed to respond, his voice a nervous croak. "Morning." He took a deep breath, forcing his thoughts into a straight line. "What's happening? What are you even doing in my bed?"
Riis's smile only grew. "You did kind of die yesterday, so I saved you."
The memory of the dagger thrust into his heart, the cold betrayal, and the pool of his own blood flashed in Luke's mind. He had died. He was supposed to be dead. He was about to ask what she had meant by "saved," but the sound of footsteps in the hallway cut him off. He knew that rhythm. It was his mother.
"Luke, are you up yet?" she called from the other side of the door.
Luke's eyes darted around the room, frantically searching for a place to hide the naked girl, but there was nowhere. The doorknob turned, and his mother walked in.
She stopped dead in the doorway, her eyes wide as she took in the scene: her son, his hair a mess, standing awkwardly next to a crimson-haired girl who was completely naked, wrapped in his blanket.
"Uh, morning, Mom," Luke said, a nervous smile plastered on his face.
The girl, completely unfazed by the situation, gave a sweet smile. "Good morning, Mrs. Akuma!" she said brightly, as if this were a perfectly normal morning greeting.
Luke's mother, surprisingly, didn't react with shock or anger. She simply smiled warmly at Riis. "Good morning, dear. Well, you two get ready for school now. Don't want to be late." With that, she turned and walked out of the room.
Luke was completely bewildered. He couldn't speak, his mind racing to find a logical explanation for his mother's complete nonchalance. Just as he was about to say something, a new voice called from the hallway.
"Big brother, are you up yet?" his younger sister, Miku, said.
Luke's mother's voice, now from the hallway, was calm and firm. "Just a little busy right now, dear. Why don't you head to the living room?"
Miku's voice was filled with an immediate, mischievous suspicion. "Is he with a girl?" she asked, her voice carrying easily through the closed door.
Luke quickly slammed his door shut, the click of the latch echoing in the sudden silence. He turned back to the girl who was now nonchalantly pulling up her underwear. His gaze was no longer bewildered, but cold and analytical. He had a sudden flash of clarity, connecting the girl he just met to a face he saw on a daily basis.
"What is the student council president and my third-year senior doing in my room?" he asked, his voice low and devoid of emotion.
Riis, without even looking at him, simply finished getting dressed, pulling on her uniform as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Well," she said with a sweet smile, "you did kind of die yesterday, so I saved you. And in exchange, you're my servant now. Congratulations."
Luke stared at her, the absurdity of the situation mounting with every word. He pointed a trembling finger at her.
"What do you mean by your servant?" he asked, the confusion finally breaking through his composed facade.
Riis responded to his confusion with a smile and a flash of otherworldly power. Two large, black bat-like wings, with a deep red membrane, unfurled from her back. They weren't like Yuma's angel wings; these were different, more primal and sinister, yet Luke was completely unfazed. He simply took a step back to give them space.
She retracted them just as quickly, and then offered a small bow. "My name is Riis Morningstar. It's a pleasure to finally introduce myself properly. I'm a devil."
Luke, completely unworried by the revelation, simply gestured for her to continue. "I see. So, how does this relate to me being your servant?"
Riis's smile was so casual it was almost unsettling. "Because I reincarnated you into a devil, of course."
Luke blinked, the calmness he had meticulously maintained finally cracking. "You reincarnated me into a devil and I'm supposed to be okay with this?"
Riis nodded, her expression completely genuine. "Of course. You're alive, aren't you?"
Luke ran a hand through his hair, a long, weary sigh escaping his lips. "You're really not going to take this seriously, are you?" he said, his voice a flat, deadpan tone. Riis just smiled, a hint of genuine amusement in her eyes.
He had been changing his clothes during their conversation and finally finished, pulling on his Seishu Academy uniform. He looked at her, his composure fixed once more. "Shall we go then?"
Riis nodded, her wings retracting as she did. She walked beside him, the silence comfortable as they made their way out of the house. The gate to his home was an impressive sight, large and ornate. The yard was sprawling and beautiful, a testament to wealth.
Riis glanced at the house, a thoughtful look on her face. "For someone with a calm stature, your place is very high class."
Luke simply humbled himself with a shrug. "I suppose so."
He noticed a black limo waiting at the curb of the entrance. "I assume that's your ride?" he asked, pointing to it. Riis nodded, and offered to ride along with her.
Luke declined. "I just like to walk," he said, and it was the truth. "Also, I need to clear my head a bit." Riis seemed to understand and with a small wave, she got into the car. He watched as the limo pulled away, its dark windows obscuring the view.
Luke then began his walk down the route to school, the morning air refreshing and cool. He entered the school building and made his way to his classroom, Class 2A. As he walked in, he saw Yuma Chisato sitting at the desk beside his, waiting.
He sat down at his own desk, and a deafening silence hung in the air between them. Yuma broke it first.
"Good morning, Luke Akuma," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"It was a good morning before you came," Luke replied without a second thought, his head resting on his hand.
Yuma's smile didn't falter, but her eyes held a new, analytical light as she tried to read him. He was a closed book, his expression giving nothing away.
"You're very hard to read," she said.
"Then you probably don't know how to open the book."
Her smile faded slightly. "Have you always been this sharp-tongued?" she asked.
Luke didn't respond, his silence its own answer. Yuma's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked away, her thoughts a jumble. So, betrayal would be a bad move with him, she thought to herself. I may have my own personal feelings, but I need to keep them away from him.
The silence in the classroom was a vacuum, but Luke didn't mind. It gave him time to think. He then looked at Yuma, his cold expression unwavering.
"What do you know about Lamina Mortis?" he asked, getting straight to the point. "What are his motives?"
Yuma tilted her head, her hand idly spinning a pen on her desk. "Honestly," she said, "he's very hard to read. But unlike you, he really does hold a grudge against the chief governor, Azazel."
Luke's eyes narrowed slightly at the new name. "Why?" he asked.
"I tend not to care about that man and what he does," Yuma said with a casual shrug, her gaze drifting out the window. "I'm fine with my life as it is."
Luke shifted his focus. If she wouldn't talk about Lamina's boss, maybe she'd talk about her own. "What about Miss Kyra?"
At the name, Yuma's body stiffened, a reaction so subtle Luke almost missed it. Her nonchalant facade wavered for a split second before she regained her composure.
So she's probably close to her, Luke thought, his mind filing away the detail. I might have to keep that in mind.
Yuma looked at him, her eyes guarded. "I don't want to talk about her."
Luke simply nodded. "I see." He knew better than to push for information she wasn't ready to give. The silent agreement settled between them once more, the secrets of the supernatural world now a fragile bond in the quiet classroom.
Luke, his thoughts now a storm of calculations and theories, wondered if Yuma had a grasp on the full scope of their world's cosmology. He looked at her, his gaze direct and piercing.
"Do you know anything on cosmology?" he asked.
Yuma's eyebrows raised slightly, a hint of surprise in her eyes at his sudden and strange question. She leaned back in her chair, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Yes," she replied, and began to explain.
She started with the basics, things he already knew. "There's Heaven, Earth, Hell, and our universe, all coexisting. But there's more to it than that."
Her explanation continued, delving into details he'd never heard of, despite having read the bible from cover to cover. "Heaven isn't just one place. There's a higher-dimensional plane, known as God's Plane, where he alone resides. There's also the dimensional gap, a place where neither space nor time exists. And the underworld isn't just one single domain."
Yuma's eyes, filled with knowledge he could only guess at, stared into his. "The underworld is divided into several subdivisions. There's Hell, where Mephisto reigns. There's Krossroads, a literal crossroads of dimensions where countless realms collide. There's the Lake of Fire, where sinners are sent to perish. And then there's the Prison of Satan, where the first true Lucifer is held captive."
Luke's expression remained calm, but his mind reeled. He knew about Heaven, Earth, and Hell, but the rest was completely new. He'd never heard of a higher dimensional plane, a dimensional gap, or the different subdivisions of the underworld. It was all so much larger than he had ever imagined. I did not know it was that large, he thought, the sheer scale of it all a sobering realization.
He simply nodded, letting the information sink in. "Okay," he said, the single word a silent acknowledgment of the vastness of the cosmos.
Yuma gave him a curious look. "What good does knowing about it help you?" she asked, her voice skeptical.
Luke just offered a small, knowing smile. "Trust me," he replied, "it helps."
Yuma's eyes, still filled with a questioning light, settled on Luke. "Will you answer my questions?" she asked directly.
Luke returned her gaze, a small, knowing smile touching his lips. He said, "I don't really know much about the supernatural world." He thought, even though I became a devil yesterday.
He then continued, his smile never wavering. "So I don't know what you intend to get out of me."
Yuma's smile became more seductive, her eyes locking onto his. "It doesn't matter if I get to know you better," she purred, her voice a low, teasing whisper that only he could hear.
This was a bad idea, Luke thought to himself, the full scope of his miscalculation setting in.
"I have a few questions for you," she began, her tone changing to a crisp, almost academic curiosity. "First, how is it that no one has ever been able to move you from tenth place on the school ranking since the first year?"
She didn't wait for a response, moving straight to her second question. "Second, where do you rank out of the boys in terms of good looks?" she asked, her gaze drifting over his face in a way that felt both professional and unsettlingly personal.
Her questions continued to come, each one more specific than the last. "Third, I hear that you're second place in the chess club. That's interesting, because our senpai, Sora Sitri, who is the best chess player in the entire school among third years in her class, has never beat you. All her games with you end in stalemates. And yet, your friend Kuze has beaten her a number of times. I need to know how you do that, because stalemates all around is impossible."
Yuma leaned in closer, a strange glint in her eyes. "Fourth, you're pretty muscular in PE, even though you never take any sport. You need to explain that, and also, can't you try to participate in the next sports festival next month?"
Her smile returned, sharper this time. "Lastly," she said, the finality in her voice cutting through the air, "what is up with those eyes you used that day?"
Luke simply looked at her, a hint of weariness in his expression. "I knew you'd ask about my apostle eyes," he said, "but I wasn't expecting the rest."
Luke let out a weary sigh, a sound of resigned acceptance, and then began to answer.
"The school rank is about efficiency," he said calmly, his gaze on the window. "I complete all my work to the highest possible standard but no more. I'm not trying to get into the top three, just maintain a consistent place with minimal effort. It's a calculated move to avoid unnecessary attention from teachers."
He then moved on to her second question with a simple, matter-of-fact tone. "In terms of our second-year class, I'm third. In terms of the entire school, I'm fifth."
Yuma's brow furrowed slightly as he answered her third question. "Sora is an excellent chess player; her talent is unmatched. The reason all our games end in a stalemate is that I can see every possible outcome of every single move. It's a defensive strategy. I don't move to win. I move to ensure that neither of us loses. Kuze wins because he plays with pure human skill, which allows for mistakes and brilliant moves. It's an unpredictable match. A true game."
He then addressed her fourth question. "I've been in martial arts since I was a child. The musculature is just a byproduct of my constant training. I don't participate in sports because I have no interest in competition." He then added, "and no, I will not be participating in the sports festival."
He saved her last question for a final, vague response. "And as for my eyes, the answer is not what you think it is, and you won't like the answer anyway."
Yuma's confident, composed demeanor completely shattered. Her eyebrows furrowed, and a small, frustrated pout formed on her lips, a sight so out of character it would have made any other student at Seishu Academy gape in disbelief.
"What do you mean, 'efficiency'?" she questioned, her voice losing its usual smooth control. "Why wouldn't you want to be number one? What's the point of holding back? And your looks? You're definitely not just fifth in the entire school. And those chess games—how do you just force a stalemate? That's not a real answer! You're the best player, so you should be winning! And your muscles are crazy! Why don't you participate in anything?"
She then slammed her hands on her desk, leaning forward to look him directly in the eye, her pout deepening. "And why not the sports festival?! Why not?!"
Her questions came in a rapid, frustrated flurry. Her composure had completely vanished, replaced by a pure, almost childish curiosity. "And don't you dare give me a vague answer about your eyes. What's the real story?!" she demanded, her gaze unyielding.
Luke watched Yuma's outburst with a quiet, analytical patience. After she finished her flurry of frustrated questions, he finally spoke, his voice calm.
"You're still not letting me go free," he stated, a simple observation.
"Not until you give me a good reason to," she replied, her arms crossed in a defiant stance.
Luke sighed inwardly. He was tired of this conversation, but more than that, his hyper-awareness told him they were no longer alone. He could feel dozens of eyes on them from the hallway, though he couldn't sense any malevolence or threat. He knew, however, that if this continued, the rumors would be endless, and his carefully constructed, ordinary school life would be over. The attention would be a complication he didn't want to deal with.
"Fine," he relented, a small, begrudging look on his face. "I will only deal with the chess club president, Sora Sitri, and I'll participate in every event in the sports festival."
A slow, amused smile spread across Yuma's lips. She nodded, her pout completely gone. "Is that fine?" she asked, a satisfied gleam in her eyes.
"It is," he replied. "Now, can we go?"
"We can," she said, just as Luke looked past her and directly into the hallway.
"Okay, come out," he said, his voice flat.
The classroom door swung open, and all their classmates, led by a sheepish-looking Kuze and a grinning Ichirou, walked in. They were already chattering amongst themselves, their voices buzzing with the confirmation of a handful of long-standing rumors.
"So he really is ranked in the top ten!" one student whispered.
"And he's apparently a chess prodigy! Kuze, you gotta tell us about Sora Sitri!" another exclaimed.
Yuma's face, for the first time, flushed a brilliant red from embarrassment. She quickly averted her gaze from the class, leaving Luke to face the onslaught of questions alone. The school day, which had started so normally, had just become far more interesting than any other day before it.