CHAPTER EIGHT - BLOODY BULLET TRAIN TO LOVE ARC - BELIEVE YOUR LIE

Signaling the end of the class, the chime of the school bell echoes throughout the halls.

As if waking from a dream, Riru realizes the hour had come and gone.

It felt like, only a moment ago, he had arrived.

"Haha, tell me about it!"

"Woah, really?"

"Come on, what was it like?"

Every so often, a single phrase can be made out from the indistinct chattering of girls surrounding Gabriel. He smiles meekly, doing his best to keep up with the unwanted onslaught of attention.

As she stares down at her feet, the voices surrounding Riru meld together into an indecipherable cloud of noise.

Nothing but a violent hum remains as her breathing quickens and her chest tightens.

Though her mind is racing, she is only able to fixate on a single thought.

...

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy."

"I'm a devil, after all."

...

"Uh, hey there."

A familiar voice snaps her out of her daze as her eyes meet Gabriel's. He shows her a soft smile.

"I don't think I caught your na-"

Suddenly, his eyes widen.

"Wait... aren't you that girl who vom-"

"We don't need to talk about that..." Riru abruptly cuts him off.

She nervously smiles and looks away while blushing, fidgeting with her feet.

"Uh, sorry, though."

She refuses to look back at him.

He smiles again.

"Don't worry about it. It's Gabriel, by the way."

"R-Riru..."

...

Riru peeks back at him, speaking quietly.

"You're... an exterminator, huh."

Gabriel looks surprised before letting out a quiet chuckle.

"I'm only seventeen, after all. While I'm here, I'm just like any of you."

His smile has a hint of forced sincerity.

"Hey, come talk with us. We were just..."

"I, uh, gotta go."

She abruptly gets up, grabbing her bag and leaving the classroom. Fukuzaki takes notice.

A girl grabs onto Gabriel's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, now listen-"

Gabriel ignores the clamoring of the students around him, unable to take his eyes off Riru.

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Riru carries a steaming bowl of instant ramen, making her way up the stairs towards the roof.

"Hey, wait up."

Fukuzaki approaches from behind, followed closely by Misaki and Inuyama.

The girls sit together on the roof, the other three enjoying their meals while Riru stares quietly into hers.

"So. Gabriel. What's the vibe?" asks Inuyama.

"Total douche," spits Fukuzaki.

"Really? I thought he was nice..." Misaki quietly mumbles.

"Oh come ON."

"What, he was!"

"I bet he thinks he looks so cool with that big.. thing he carries around," Fukuzaki mutters.

"Umm, maybe it's his lunch box?" questions Inuyama.

"Only Misaki could eat a lunch that big."

"Huh?! W-well... only YOU could eat a lunch this.. delicious!"

She swiftly grabs a piece of Fukuzaki's karaage, stuffing it into her mouth.

"Hey!"

"What about you, Riru? What'd you think of him?" asks Inuyama.

"Uh... I dunno."

She continues staring down at the swirling broth of her ramen.

Fukuzaki looks at her, concerned.

The lunch hour passes, and Riru wastes no time quickly getting up from her seat and marching back down the stairs, leaving the other three behind.

"Hey! Wait!"

A familiar voice calls out from above.

Fukuzaki quickly runs down to join her.

"Is everything good? You know you can-"

"...devil exterminator.."

"Huh?"

"Gabriel... He's a devil exterminator. I've met him before."

Riru tightly grabs the hem of her skirt.

Fukuzaki looks shocked.

"I don't know why he's here. We saw those other exterminators the other day too. It might be... he might be here because of me. And-"

"Hey, calm down.."

She holds onto Riru's shoulder, who continues walking away.

"It... it could be nothing."

Fukuzaki halfheartedly attempts to give reassurance.

"It could be nothing, right?! I mean, he's gotta go to school too!"

"Y-Yeah, maybe..."

Riru's grip on her skirt doesn't loosen.

"Listen, he's not gonna notice anything. Especially not with the whole class head over heels for him."

...

Riru stops in her tracks.

"Wait..."

"Huh..?"

"That's it! He's gotta be head over heels for ME! Then he won't wanna kill me, right?!"

She looks up at Fukuzaki with a nervous yet confident smile.

"I... I'm gonna make him fall in love with me!"

"Huuuuh?!"

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Despite the confident declaration she made to Fukuzaki, confidence was the last thing Riru felt in this moment.

She lies in her bed, silently staring up at the ceiling.

Was it even possible for someone to love her?

Maybe if it was one sided, if she didn't have to love him back, it would be okay.

For whatever reason, a single phrase unexpectedly crawled its way out from the depths of Riru's mind.

"You just wanna fuck, don't you?"

...

"Aaaaaghhhh!" she screams out, kicking her legs.

Her horn rips out from within her skull, shooting up high to smash a gaping hole in her ceiling.

...

She violently throws her pillow across the room.

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The next morning, students chatter idly on their way through the halls. They stop to take a better look at the girl who walks past them.

The door to class 1-E forcefully swings open with the slam, and everyone's eyes are immediately guided towards the source of the commotion.

"Sup, bitches."

Making her presence known is none other Riru, wearing sunglasses with her hair slicked back. She wears a stylish leather biker jacket over her school uniform.

She stomps over towards her desk and flips the chair around backwards, straddling it while resting her arms at the top of the backrest.

Fukuzaki's jaw drops.

"Love the new look, Ruriri!" Inuyama shouts.

"New look? I've always been this smoking, baby."

She tips her sunglasses down so her eyes are slightly visible to wink at Inuyama.

A few giggles erupt throughout the class.

She gets up and sets her hand on Gabriel's desk, leaning against it as she looks down at him.

"So... you from around these parts?"

"Pfft."

Gabriel can no longer contain his laughter.

"Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!"

A few students look towards him with confused expressions.

"Woah, didn't expect that from Gabriel..."

"I've never heard him laugh like that before!"

Gabriel slams his fist against his desk as his laughing fit finally begins to subside.

"Hahahaha... hehe... you're really something, Riru."

Riru's eyes light up.

"Hell yeah I am! Motherfucker!"

She kicks a nearby chair.

"Hey! Quiet!" snaps the homeroom teacher, having just entered the room.

She blushes, quietly tiptoeing back to her seat.

"Alright, now listen up. The class trip to Kyoto has been moved to next week," the teacher scowls.

He clicks his tongue.

"What a pain, always shifting our schedules around..."

Somehow, Riru had completely forgotten about the prospect of a class trip. For whatever reason, it would be happening a few weeks earlier this year.

The rest of the class groans.

"Huh? Kyoto again..?"

"But I've already made plans!"

Gabriel takes the opportunity to shoot a whisper across to Riru.

"Psst! Hey!"

"Huh?"

She turns around to see him leaning over his desk.

"We're doing karaoke tonight, apparently. Got dragged into it again. But listen, you wanna come?"

Her eyes widen as she vigorously nods up and down.

He shoots her a thumbs up.

"Alright, let's meet at the gates."

Riru can barely contain her excitement.

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After making their way through the busy late night streets of Shibuya, Riru and Gabriel arrive at the karaoke venue along with a group of other students from the class. Despite being at the school for over a month, Riru had a hard time remembering any of their faces.

"Gabriel, come on, we GOTTA sing that one together!"

"Haha, alright, alright," he replies in resignation.

"Anyways, who decided to bring her along..?" a girl whispers under her breath, looking off towards Riru.

"Come on, don't be mean!" a taller male student chides.

He suddenly looks confused.

"Uh, what was her name again..?"

“It’s Riru, baby. And don’t you forget it!” Riru shouts, having overheard the comments.

“Huh?”

She smiles confidently, staying close by Gabriel’s side.

Entering the assigned karaoke room, everyone chooses their preferred seats around the long couches lining the walls. The faint neon lights illuminating the darkness cast a warm glow against Riru's skin.

"Come on, Gabriel! You gotta go first!", a talkative girl teases.

"Eh, I dunno... How about Ichimi? She seems like she's been raring to go."

"H-Huh..? But I’m never sure what to pick..."

"Yeah, come on, Ichimi!"

"Ugh, stop it, Hori!"

The girl, clearly flustered, is unable to stand up to the pressure and eventually leaves to choose her song.

Gabriel breathes a sigh of relief, having successfully deflected the responsibility.

"So? What do you like to sing?"

He sits down next to Riru, flashing a quick smile.

"That ain’t none of your damn business."

She crosses her arms, pushing up her sunglasses.

"Heh..."

...

"It's, uh... my first time," she awkwardly mumbles, becoming self conscious only for a moment.

"Oh? Same here."

Riru looks surprised.

"Huh? Seriously?"

Even if it were just due to the simple fact that she grew up in Hell, Riru was completely unfamiliar with what would be considered normal after-school activities for high school students her age. Could the same possibly be true of Gabriel?

There was no way, not if his good looks and the constant swarm of girls accompanying him were anything like the ones he has now. At the very least, he didn’t seem quite as good at receiving awkward silences and questioning stares as Riru was.

Gabriel wastes no time making an artificial effort to move on from the topic.

“Hey, look at that. She’s actually doing pretty good.”

Ichimi, seemingly having overcome her anxieties, is belting out the lyrics to her favorite pop song.

“Alright, you go, Ichimi!” Hori shouts.

Reaching the conclusion with one last passionate note, Ichimi becomes extremely aware of the red returning to her cheeks. She meekly walks back to her seat, receiving applause from a few in the crowd.

“Woohoo! Okay, who’s next?”

Riru boldly stands up.

“I will- I mean, uh… just leave it to me.”

She walks up towards the front of the room, fiercely grabbing onto the microphone.

In one fluid motion, she spins it around and points it towards Gabriel.

“This one… is for you.”

Gabriel blushes, caught off guard by Riru’s forceful declaration and the loud chugging guitars that immediately start blasting through the speakers.

“Excuse me?!” yells Hori.

“I can’t stop this feeling running wild…”

Riru screams the lyrics with the strength of her whole chest, an emotional performance even if her singing ability was sorely lacking.

“Woah, what the hell..?”

“She’s like, totally shit…”

Ichimi’s eyes light up, seemingly having found a kindred soul.

“Go for it, Riru!”

Riru smiles, completely caught up within the excitement of the moment.

She wasn’t confident that her plan to steal Gabriel’s heart would succeed. And even if it did, her secrets would catch up to her sooner or later. Her true identity would be discovered and she’d be killed by a devil exterminator, dooming her and the rest of Hell to a fate of eternal oblivion.

Everything would eventually come to an end.

But right now, she was having fun.

Before she knew it, the song was over.

“Another! Lemme do another!”

“Umm, let’s give someone else a chance…”

Hori looks as if she's about to speak, but gets interrupted by a laugh from Gabriel.

"Hahaha, okay, let me up there..." he says, getting up from his seat.

"Seriously?! Gabriel?!"

While in the middle of selecting his song from the screen, he quickly turns around to point a finger towards Riru.

"And this one's for you," he says smugly.

An uncomfortable feeling stirs within Riru's chest.

The music starts playing, and he begins to sing.

"Don't take my heart, don't break my heart..."

He's noticeably off-key, but from the cheers of the crowd behind him, you'd think he'd just discovered a new hidden talent.

Eventually the music comes to an end, but doesn't stop singing.

"Funny how time flies..."

"Hey, come on, your time's up!" laughs Hori.

Gabriel blushes, realizing his mistake.

"Haha, I was having too much fun, I guess..."

He sits back down next to Riru.

"That... was terrible," she says.

...

"Huh?"

...

Why did she just say that?

"S-sorry," she apologizes.

"Nah, I know I wasn't great," he jokes.

An awkward silence fills the air.

...

"I'll admit, I was pretty nervous," he seems embarrassed.

"Me too..."

"Huh? Come on, you don't need to lie. You don't care what anyone thinks. You should've seen yourself up there!"

She adjusts the sleeve of her leather jacket.

"Uh, right..."

"No, seriously, I respect it. I could do with being a little more like that myself."

Gabriel smiles, and the two sit in silence.

He knew that he couldn't keep going out for karaoke nights forever. He would confront the devil hiding in the school, eliminate it, and then be assigned yet another job.

Everything would eventually come to an end.

And his song was already over.

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Five men dressed in black devil exterminators kneel on the floor in a straight line, with cloth gags tightly tied around their mouths.

Another devil exterminator stands behind them, holding a long and slim katana.

With a quick slash, the first man's right arm is cleanly sliced from his body.

"MMMPPHHGG! MMNNGGHH!" he screams from under his gag.

SLASH!

The right arm of the kneeling man beside him falls off.

Blood splatters onto the next in line.

"MPPPHHHH!"

SLASH!

SLASH!

The exterminators make their best attempt to haggardly breathe through their gags.

The katana, now smothered in blood, is thrust down into the floor. The swordsman calmly collects the severed right arms, arranging them in the shape of a pentagram with the katana stabbed directly in the middle. He wets his fingertips with blood, using them to slowly draw a circle around the cruel display.

The arms melt into a pool of blood, perfectly contained within the circle. The katana sinks down into the floor.

From within the pool rises a single gigantic arm with blood red skin and two separate hands joined together at the wrist.

The swordsman looks nervous, though with a hint of excitement hiding beneath.

"State your intent."

The two hands and open and shut as if to mimic the movement of lips.

The swordsman seems terrified.

"W-W... We would like to make an exchange."

He gulps.

"We beseech thee, Mammon... Greed prince of Hell."