The Reunion

Terror. That was a perfect word that described what Kiyo was feeling at the moment he saw Jinn. There was no way he could mistake the face of his arch-enemy who he trained months to defeat. The evil Demon Lord who made countless suffer and has ruled Ihari with a cold and iron fist. The Demon Lord who was supposed to be nothing but dust was standing before Kiyo in his school uniform—missing her horns and signs that showcased that she was not human.

“H-how…”

That word repeated within Kiyo’s head. He tried to make sense of what he was seeing but the world did not slow down enough to give him time to think.

“You can sit in the back Bixenta. There is an empty seat right in between Hoshi and Aikawa.”

“Yes sir!”

Jinn happily walked over to the back, everyone eyeing her in interest as she did. The beautiful white-haired girl then graciously sat down and glanced at Kiyo who was inwardly screaming.

“Hello…Hoshi…”

Kiyo gulped.

“H-hello…Bixenta…”

“Huh? You guys know each other?”

Nao poked her head out and spoke aloud to Kiyo and Jinn. The transfer student—who was in truth the Demon Lord—smiled and answered Nao.

“Yes! We met at his part-time job!”

“You have a part-time job!?” Nao repeated in disbelief. “This is the first I’ve heard of it! Where do you work?”

“U-uhhh…”

Kiyo stared into space as he rummaged through his brain to try and find a perfectly subtle lie.

“...The supermarket?”

“...Why did you say like it was a question?”

“I…I don’t know. The name of the supermarket never stuck with me.”

Kiyo sheepishly giggled and scratched the back of his head. Nao squinted and stared at Kiyo suspiciously. Jinn's smile widened as she saw Kiyo squirm.

“Well, whatever. I’ll get the true answer out of you soon.”

“T-that was the true answer Nao-san!”

“Sure…”

The day went on quicker than Kiyo expected. All of the classes and even the lunch period flew by as if they never happened and the teenager found himself at the end of the day forced to do cleaning duty in his homeroom classroom. As Kiyo was sweeping the floor he heard a knock coming from the door. He turned over and who he saw nearly made his heart explode.

It was Jinn, leaning against the door, wearing a smug look on her face.

“Hello there Hoshi~! You are doing cleaning duty all by yourself~?”

Kiyo nodded while trying his best not to look at Jinn in her eyes.

“Y-yeah…i-it’s my turn to clean…”

Jinn hummed as she walked in.

“It might take you forever to make this classroom spotless. Perhaps I can be of assistance~?”

“T-that’s not necessary!” Kiyo quickly replied. “You're a new student! I would feel bad if I made you clean this classroom on the first day…”

Jinn shook her head.

“No one is forcing me to do anything. I would be happy to help!”

Jinn placed her cold fingers on Kiyo’s hand, gently caressing it. The boy shivered as he felt like a block of ice had just touched his skin. A giggle escaped from Jinn as she watched Kiyo squirm. Easily, she took the broom out of the boy’s hands and began sweeping.

“Take the dustpan.”

“O-okay…”

Kiyo obeyed and collected the dust as Jinn swept. The cleaning process between them seemed to take a long time and the sun behind them began to set even further turning the blue sky into a bright orange. Usually at this point, Kiyo would hurry home but his cleaning duty was far from down. Despite having another person helping him, it was quite obvious that Jinn was purposely sweeping at a slow pace to waste time.

‘What am I doing?’ Kiyo said in his head. ‘Why am I so afraid? Why am I just sitting here and not doing anything? Come on, Kiyo Hoshi! Jinn is right in front of you! The enemy of Ihari is standing right in front of you! Do something!’

At that instant, Kiyo pulled back the duster. The dirt that Jinn swept missed and covered Kiyo’s shoes.

“Oh~? Is something wrong, Hoshi~?”

“I-I…”

“Hey, Kiyo!”

Kiyo and Jinn turned to the door to see Nao running in. She stopped in her tracks, surprised to see both her classmate and the transfer student cleaning together.

“W-what are you doing here Jinn?”

“I’m just helping Kiyo clean~! Poor guy was taking care of everything all by himself~!”

“W-what are you doing here, Nao?”

Nao walked in while still looking at Kiyo and Jinn with confusion written all over her face.

“I forgot my phone…just came here to pick it up.”

“O-okay, but make it quick alright—”

“W-what’s your problem!? I’m just—”

As Nao was strolling past Jinn, a sequence of events that occurred faster than the span of a minute transpired before Kiyo’s eyes. The Former Demon Lord took her arm and sunk her long black nails into Nao’s neck, piercing through her flesh as if it was made of jelly. Nao’s eyes then turned pitch black and her voice faded away from his lips as if she was a toy that was turned off.

“N-NAO!!!”

Kiyo screamed for Nao who fell to the floor, crashing against a desk. He went over and checked her pulse, she was still breathing but it was very faint.

“I put her to sleep…”

“Y-you—”

Kiyo rose his head to see Jinn checking her nails. Her eyes had become darker and a menacing aura began to surround her body.

“I’ve waited all day…playing the cutesy transfer student. Now I finally got you all to myself…Kiyo Hoshi…”

Right on cue, the iconic demon horns of Jinn appeared right on the top of her head, and the long tail sprouted from her behind. Kiyo jumped back, his body quaking knowing fully well he was in serious danger.

Jinn grinned, showcasing all her sharp teeth and mimicking the appearance of a carnivorous animal about to devour its prey.

“Now…shall we continue where we left off?”