The Rogue Reaction

“This is boring!” Reiko exclaims, her cheerful tone never once wavering. “We’ve been at this since yesterday, and we barely have anything!”

I stare at her incredulously. “How can you say that and still be so happy?” I ask. She twirls in place on her office chair, one of many in the abandoned office Gabi has apparently taken residence in.

“Easy,” Reiko says. “Because I’m never bored. I was just acknowledging the situation for everyone!”

Shaking her head, Eri turns to her and says, “Reiko, that doesn’t make sense.”

I nod. “I agree.”

“I understood her just fine,” Gabi says, raising her hand. “It means while the task is menial for us, it is—“

I laugh, shaking my head. “It’s okay, Gabi. We understand just fine, we were teasing Reiko.”

With a nod, Eri says, “As long as you remember that Reiko is a lot smarter than she appears.”

Reiko beams. “It’s not fun to know a lot, that’s for sure.” She cocks her head to the side. “Sometimes it’s easier to just let my imagination run free instead of locking it behind rules and facts.”

“Wow,” I say. “You’re pretty cool, Reiko.”

“And don’t you know it!” Reiko smiles back. “So! Now that we’ve established that our culprit isn’t at Hibayashi High, what do we do now?”

Eri begins, “Well, looking over the facts—“

“Which is what we’ve been doing for half an hour, now,” Reiko interjects.

“—we know that the explosion was an isolated incident that would have lured any radical elements out to see what was going on.” Eri finishes, pursing glaring lightly at Reiko, who giggles.

“And it can’t have been the other transfer students, because they’re my attendants,” Gabi says. “They’ve been my protectors since I came to lordship, among other things.”

“So it’s someone else,” I say, throwing my own two cents in. “It has to be at another school, or they must be hiding somewhere else.”

“Or they’re still back in the demon realm and they’re messing with things from there,” Reiko says. “And one of her spell-casters was on her payroll!”

“And now they’re planning on overthrowing the established hierarchy while you’re… here…” Eri hums. “This is problematic.”

Gabi gulps. “I didn’t think of that. I was only thinking of them wanting to overthrow the humans here. If they’re trying to do that, then they’ll have all the power they need to really finish the job.” Gabi grabs her head, sitting down on an empty desk. “I really messed up coming here, huh?”

“Why did you want to come in the first place?” Eri asks. “You didn’t have to cross the gate, right?”

“I was summoned, first,” Gabi explains as she shakes her head. “And it was more like I was forcefully sucked through the gate.” She turns to me. “Osaki was the one who summoned me, and I got so excited that I mobilized my entire castle to prepare to come through the gate.”

“Why would you get so excited about Yuki?” Eri asks. “She’s not that special, is she?”

“Don’t you remember?” Reiko smiles. “Ryoka called Yukin a demon lord!”

I wince. “That can’t be true, though, can it?” I stand up, shaking my hands and smiling nervously. “I mean, I’ve done nothing to merit that title! I haven’t ever left this city, much less this neighbourhood. I can’t possibly be a lord over anything!”

“While that is true,” Eri says, “There have been a lot of weird things that have happened to you.”

Reiko hums. “You’re able to be appear wherever there is trouble as if you were the one that caused it in the first place! And just as easily as it happens, you’re able to swoop in and find a way to fix everything. Just like magic!”

“And,” Gabi adds, “You were able to pick up our blades like it was nothing.”

I blink in confusion, and I owlishly turn to Gabi. “What?”

“When I first met you, I was outraged,” Gabi says. “That quickly changed when I realized who you were, and it solidified my knowledge after the fight that you were exactly who I thought you were.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. “All I did was pick them up.”

“Exactly.” She walks over to a pillar lined with weapons and pulls hers from it. “This is made from hell-bent silver. That means that it is incredibly heavy in proportion to the hell-bent steel used to those who do not have the necessary mana to wield it. They can also be tuned to specific resonite, but only someone with immense mana can overcome that protection. You picked it up like it was nothing, and even I admit to some balance issues because of how heavy it is.” She rests the sword against the desk and folds her arms. “Ryoka’s sword seems like it was made from blessed iron, which has been known to have the same properties.”

I watch as Eri and Reiko try to pick the same sword up, and my eyebrows raise as they struggle to even budge it. Reiko has some luck, scraping it along the desk, but Eri can only glare at it. Does that mean Reiko has some aptitude to magic? Thoughts for later.

“So what does that make me?” I finally ask. “How does this tie in to the Rogue, and the group they’re from.”

Putting it simply, Gabi said, “The Rogue, and, uh, their fellow Rogues, is looking for you.”

I stumble in place. “L-looking for me?”

“Yes, you,” Gabi reaffirms. “You must understand, Osaki, that what I said when we first met was true. We’ve been watching you.”

“But why? Even if I have a lot of mana or I can pick up your swords or whatever, it doesn’t mean—“

“Yes, it does.” Gabi grabs her sword, startling me and putting my best friends on edge. She swings the sword my way, and I stumble back, pushing against the desk I had been resting on. “If I were to strike you down right now, do you know what would happen?”

“No!” I exclaim nervously. “Please put that sword away!”

She shakes her head. “Even if I wanted to, this blade would not be able to hurt you. And if I were to really try, I would be struck down where I stood. No, Yuki, you are very special, and our Rogue knows that. All of Trenzani and the realms beyond know that.” She rushes forward, and I shriek, bringing my arms up. I can hear Reiko and Eri cry in terror with me, and I’m glad I can count on them to worry about me, even in my final moments.

I feel a soft thud on my arms, and wince a little. Cracking one eye open, I see Gabi staring at me painfully, as if she had just done the hardest thing in her life. Reiko and Eri were staring at me wide-eyed, and that was when I noticed the sword pressed against my arms. Its wicked blade was pressed deep, and yet it felt like nothing more than a cold baton.

“W-what?” I ask. Gabi responds by sliding the sword on my skin, causing another round of yelps, before she flicks her blade and sheathes it. “Why’d you do that?”

Gabi grimaced. “To prove to you that no demon or demon-forged weapon can hurt you. There is an enchantment on every anvil and every fire in the demon realm that weaves one single line into the very soul of each weapon. To serve and protect the true Demon Lord.” She shows the back of her hand, showing off the tattoo imbedded into her skin. “When we all turn ten, we have this insignia burned into us, to punish us if we ever turned our ill intentions toward the one who advocates for all demons.” She bows her head as her cheeks start pinking. “And I just want to apologize for scaring you, but you needed to know.”

Feeling like I knew where this was going, I gulped, venturing to still ask, “Know what?”

Gabi lifts her head and looks me in the eyes. “That you are that Demon Lord, the only one who can claim such a title and be recognized for it.” She huffs. “And that the Rogues; this extremist group they’ve built, are hunting you down.” She hums, looking up thoughtfully. “The Rogues… that’s as good a name as any for their entire group.”

Eri saunters up to Gabi and slams a fist down on her head. Gabi, unsuspecting, cries, holding her head as tears start to well up. “That’s for trying to cut Yuki down” She then pats her head, ruffling it slightly, and Gabi does a complete 180, sighing in happiness. “And this is for explaining the best you could.”

Reiko bounces on the balls of her feet, hugging Gabi tightly. I wince as I hear Gabi wheeze. “So they’re hunting Yukin, our best friend,” she begins, “Who we’ve now established is a reluctant Demon Lord (“I take offense to that!), and they are trying to overthrow Trenzani so they have all power to destroy the human realm and us along with it!” She lets go of Gabi, who crumples against her desk, heaving. “Nothing fancy about it. We’ll have to work hard to find these demons!”

“You got that right,” Eri says. “This is hard enough as it is for a bunch of high school students. Now we have to worry about demon politics and a radical group, as well as Demon Lord Yuki, while we search for these Rogues.” She finally decides to sit, leaning back in her office chair. “Ugh. I actually can’t wait to go back to school. At least we don’t have to deal with so much drama there.”

This time, it’s Reiko who responds. “Uh, Eri? I don’t know what high school life you’ve been living, but if anything, this is tame compared to what usually goes down in high school drama.”

Eri looks at Reiko incredulously. “You’re not being— No, wait. You’re always serious. Damn.” Eri sighs. “I guess I’m as much of a social outcast as Yuki is. That’s depressing.”

“Why is it ‘Take-a-Jab-at-Yuki-Day’ today?” I ask solemnly. “This isn’t fun.”

“No one ever said it would be fun,” Reiko says with a nod. “That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the journey, though!”

Eri folds her arms as she broods in her chair. “As long as we remember our purpose.”

“Yes.” Gabi says. “We need to find these Rogues and call them out. And I’ll need to train you all while we’re at it, though I can’t say that I’ll have success. It all depends on you.”

With a nod, Reiko takes a stance and surprises me with a kata. “I’ve been learning kendo and judo since I was a kid, so I think I should be fine!” She turns to us and asks, “What about you two?”

“I’ve been taking some self-defense classes?” Eri questions more than she states.

As for me, I shrug, and I can feel myself start to sweat a little. “I, uh, thought about it once?”

Gabi smiles. “Not to worry, Osaki. Your very nature protects you. I’ve seen enough of it throughout my life that I know you’ll be fine, and your magic seems to be returning. I’ll teach you some while we search.”

That really isn’t reassuring. And wait, returning?

She looks at Reiko and Eri and says, “As for you two: Reiko should be fine with a normal sword. I trust her. Eri, I’ll try and think of something for you to use. I don’t think a sword of any caliber is a right fit for you, but maybe…” She shakes her head. “Anyways, we can think about that later. We’ve still got work to do.” Pulling out a number of discs, she explains, “I have a few messages waiting for me now that my scouts have finished patrols, so I’ll watch those once we’re done here and I can report on our findings. We can come up with a better plan after that.”

“It’s like a communicator from Space Fights!” Reiko suddenly pipes up. “Wow, so cool!”

“You’re right, Reiko,” Eri says. “That is indeed quite interesting.”

“I thought it was awesome first,” I pout, and Gabi smiles.

“Okay,” she says. “We’ll talk more in a bit. For now, try and digest some of the things I’ve talked about, because I can see you still don’t believe some of the things I’ve said.” She looks me in the eyes once more. “Especially you, Osaki.”

“Yuki,” I blurt out. “I know I said to call me Osaki, but you’ve earned the right.” I look down, feeling my cheeks flush. “You saved my life twice already, after all…”

I can feel Gabi’s radiant face shining at me. “Okay, Yuki! But remember, it’s the truth. You have to decide on whether you will accept it or not.”

Those words again. A decision. Why does it have to be me?

I sigh. I watch as Gabi turns and walks to another part of the room while Reiko turns to me and begins chattering away. All the while, I’m lost in thought, because how am I supposed to accept this?

A true Demon Lord… what does that even mean?