“Luke never did come back last night.” Beel was talking to me after class and I couldn’t help the knot that was forming in my stomach, I felt really concerned about the fact that Luke was still missing and he didn’t just show up yet.
“You saw it too, right Yuki? You saw me push him into the closet. So then why did he just va?” Beel quickly stop talking when he saw someone approaching from behind me. Looking at the new person I felt my face get warmer and my heartbeat increase when I saw it was Simeon.
“Well, hello Beel, Yuki. Good to see you. You two are looking after Luke, right? I hope he isn’t causing you too much trouble. I’m sorry you had to get caught up in our private squabble. I tried to stop him before he could run off, but Luke is just too quick, I’m afraid. I’d appreciate it if you could take care of him until he’s ready to come back again. Thank you both.” Simeon gave a gentle smile but that smile was like a knife to heart when I keep remembering Luke is missing and we didn’t know where he was.
‘Would it be best to tell Simeon about Luke’s disappearance…?’ I was biting at the inside of my mouth as I looked at Simeon nervously and then at Beel whose expression wasn’t better either.
“Luke can be a real handful. He’s still young and immature as angels go, and he knows little of the world. So, he tends to judge everything in life from the perspective of someone in the Celestial Realm, using its logic. Though that’s also one of the positive things about Luke. He’s honest, genuine, and he adheres to a strict set of values that he doesn’t break. When the two of us were originally chosen for the exchange program in the Devildom, he was extremely upset and depressed. It was hard for him. But personally, I thought that studying in the Devildom would be a good opportunity for Luke. Here, Luke is able to come in contact with demons as well as human students like you, Yuki. It’s a chance for him to expand his perspective. And on top of that, it’s my hope that he’ll be able to grow as an angel as well. I’m guessing Michael must have felt the same way, which is why he chose Luke for this program. Though Luke himself hasn’t figured that out.” Simeon really wasn’t helping with my guilt as he talked so fondly of Luke like a parent would do for their child, he was killing me here!
“Why not tell him?” I feel like if he just told him this then this situation and this guilt wouldn’t be happening right now. I am about to die from how guilty I feel, you know?!
“I believe this is true in the human world too, but some supervisors like to teach the people they lead directly?to give them the answers they need. But other supervisors like to make those they lead think for themselves and have them figure things out on their own. I belong to the latter group. I like to sit back and watch Luke find the answer on his own.” Simeon said that with a smile on his face but I could see how that could be annoying in Luke's eyes.
“...That’s really mean of you.” I wanted to frown at Simeon but his face was too attractive so it just turned into a frown. His face is literally too hard to frown at!
“Heheheh. Perhaps it is, yes. If you find yourself unable to put up with him anymore, go ahead and kick him out. I’m sure he’ll come back to me if he has no place else to go. Well then, I’ll be seeing you.” I felt like I could breathe when Simeon finally left and I decided it was for the best that me and Beel didn’t tell him that Luke was missing.
“...We’d better track down Luke ASAP.” Beel's expression didn’t look okay either from the talk with Simeon, he must be feeling guilty as well. I really can’t handle this guilt in my heart!
Back At The House Of Lamentation…
I was frowning as I met up with Beel in front of his bedroom door, he didn’t look happy either so that meant he didn’t have any luck locating Luke in his area either.
“From the look on your face, I’m guessing he wasn’t anywhere on the second floor either, huh? Although honestly, it really isn’t possible to search all of the second floor since my brothers’ rooms comprise most of it.” Beel was right about that, I had to be really careful with my searching so that nobody would realize I was looking for something. I was so tense while I was doing that.
“Well, I didn’t find him either. I looked all over the first floor, but didn’t see him anywhere. We should try one more time. This time you look on the first floor, Yuki, and I’ll search on the sec?” Beel was cut off by another voice that made my heart jump in my chest.
“So, you’re looking for something, are you? What are you two whispering about?” Satan was looking at us with a raised eyebrow and I tried not to panic as I looked all over the place but never directly at Satan.
“I don’t know what you mean. We’re not whispering.” Beel looked nervous as well as he quickly hid what we were talking about.
“Oh yes, you are. And you’d better give me the truth, or I might have to go tell Lucifer about this.” Satan had a smile on his face but it felt like I was looking at an ice-cold prince at the moment. Why did this have to happen?! Why couldn’t it have been Mammon?! I looked at Beel and waited for him to say something.
“We’re looking for a dog named Luke.” Beel had a completely straight face as he said this and I felt so relieved that he had such a hard to read expression.
“So, you really are hiding a dog in your room then… I did think it was awfully strange that you didn’t finish your breakfast. I won’t say anything to Lucifer about this, but after you’ve had your fun with this dog of yours, you need to get rid of it.” Satan gave one last smile before he left us alone once again. I let out a long sigh when he was far enough from us.
“Looks like we managed to worm our way out of that somehow, huh… We’d better find Luke fast.” Beel's expression was serious as he said this and I could only picture what could happen if someone found Luke before us. I couldn’t help but think I would be the one who will get hurt in the end…
After a few more minutes of searching, we still couldn’t find Luke at all. We met up again at the entrance of the house and I was slowly losing hope that we will find Luke before anyone else in the house.
“It’s strange that we still haven’t found him even after searching for all this time. If we assume he left the House of Lamentation, then did he go back to Purgatory Hall, or could he have gone somewhere else? Still, we definitely hid him in the closet. I know we did. So even if he did go somewhere else, it’s weird that he disappeared while inside the closet. Could Luke actually be somewhere inside the House of Lamentation?” Beel was thinking really hard and I was trying to figure out where Luke could have disappeared from the closet.
As I was doing this I saw that there is a decorative dollhouse near the entrance of the house. It’s an accurate, scale model of the House of Lamentation itself. Beel also looked over to the dollhouse and his eyes widened in surprise.
“Wait a second. Look at the dollhouse here… That’s strange. There’s an extra room here, one that doesn’t exist.” I went over to look at where Beel was pointing and I noticed that there was an extra room.
I am pretty sure I didn’t see any door to the room and I searched this house really thoroughly for Luke. So could that mean… There is a secret room in this house?! This is like I am in a mystery anime! If I wasn’t so nervous about finding Luke I would actually be pretty excited about this discovery.
