"Settle down, settle down! The final bell hasn't gone just yet!" Cobalt called over the din of his class.

As per usual, his rambunctious second-years didn't listen. They continued to laugh, chat and joke amongst themselves, swinging on their chairs and sitting on desks. With a heavy sigh, the Incubus just sunk into the teacher's chair and held a hand to his throbbing head. All of this stress surrounding Diate and the Damned Defense was beginning to take its toll on him. He hadn't been sleeping terribly well, especially not when he was sharing a room.

Jelli had slept on his couch last night as a part of her night watch duties, and Cobalt could barely catch a wink of sleep with her so close. Every time he looked into her eyes, he remembered how she looked at him in the hospital. Like...

"... like she actually... agh..." the Incubus murmured, wincing as his head throbbed.

"You okay, sir?"

Lifting his head off the desk, Cobalt feigned a smile at Whitney. She just raised an eyebrow and cocked her head, ears twitching inquisitively.

"Y- Yes, Whitney, I'm fine. Just... tired," he sighed, rubbing his eyes.

She nodded understandingly and jabbed a thumb over her shoulder.

"Yeah I'll bet. Sorry about all of them. I'd tell them to be quiet, but I don't have any, like, sway anymore," she responded, matching Cobalt's smile.

It soon faded, however.

"Still worried about Diate?"

He nodded affirmatively.

"Not just him, either..." Cobalt answered, looking past Whitney.

There, at the back of the classroom, sat Izzbelle Suyas. The Oni's arms were folded, and she was staring intently at her desk, remaining unusually quiet for one normally so loud. Cobalt could see that her fists were clenched and shaking.

"Yeah... We told her about the whole Diate thing. She didn't take it so well," Whitney sighed, shaking her head.

"How so?"

"I dunno. She got really self-critical all of a sudden, saying how you getting hurt was, like, her fault or something. But she didn't, like... y'know... explode, like she usually does."

Cobalt frowned and looked back at Izzbelle. She met his gaze for a brief moment before she swiftly looked away, cheeks burning. It was good to hear that she wasn't taking her frustration out on everyone around her, but it still hurt to hear that the Oni was suffering.

Especially after what happened with her horn...

"You need a break from all this, sir," Whitney said, leaning against the teacher's desk.

"It's nearly the end of the year, Whitney. I'm afraid things will only get more stressful for me until you lot are sitting the end of year exams."

"Well... I find shopping helps relax me. Not even buying things; just going to the mall and hanging out, y'know? And I've never had a proper friend to do it with, so..."

The Nymph inched closer.

"How about tomorrow? You and me can go to the mall and relax! Forget about all this Diate crap for a couple of hours," she suggested.

Normally, Cobalt would have refused. It wouldn't be proper for him to be seen with one of his students like that. But it wasn't a normal situation. Cobalt was worn down to the bone, and he was willing to do anything to calm himself somehow.

"That... sounds lovely, Whitney. Sure," he answered after a moment's consideration.

As if on cue, the school bell went off, spurring his entire class to clatter out of their seats and bolt for the door.

"Don't forget to revise your Language assignments! I'll be testing you tomorrow!" he called, lacking the energy to stop them from stampeding out into the corridor.

A few of his students did stay back to bid their teacher goodbye, however, much to his surprise. Once they were gone, the Incubus found himself sitting at the head of an empty classroom.

The Incubus took a deep breath. Truly, things were beginning to get on top of him, enough to make him wonder how he was supp-

The shattering of glass. A high pitched whistle. The sound of leather tearing.

Eyes wide, Cobalt gasped for breath as he clung tightly to the armrests of the teacher's chair. Heart pounding, he looked over at the window to see a small hole cracked into one of the glass panes. He slowly tracked his gaze across the room to the iron crossbow bolt sticking out of the back of the chair, a mere inch away from his head. There was a piece of paper wound around the shaft.

Hands shaking, Cobalt pulled it free and unfurled the note.

Coming for you, Trayer.

The crossbow bolt disappeared in a puff of grey smoke.

Swallowing hard, he jammed the note into his pocket and bolted for the door, heart hammering the entire way.

It wasn't safe here.

It probably wasn't safe anywhere...

 

-----

 

Cobalt sat cross-legged upon his futon, staring hard at the note in his hands. He read the words over and over, following every loop, line and curve of the pen that was used to write it. The thickness of the line and the intensity of the ink was familiar. Far too familiar.

He glanced over at his coffee table, upon which sat his trusty, stainless-steel ink pen. The very same one Karazelle had bought him.

"He was... in my room...?" Cobalt breathed, feeling his stomach drop.

This wasn't good. If this Diate could slip in and out of the student dormitories without arousing anyone's suspicion, then...

There was a knock at the window.

"K- Karazelle? Is that you?" he called, shoving the note into his pocket.

Strange, usually the Succubus wasted no time in barging into his room whenever it was her turn to stay the night.

"... It ain't her."

Behind the blind, he heard the sound of his window being forcefully shunted open, as well as the distinctive crack of his window lock violently snapping. He heard a few murmured swears as Izzbelle pulled the blind aside and climbed out onto the Incubus' couch.

"I- Izzbelle! What are you doing here?!" Cobalt cried, staggering back at the sight of her.

"The others let me in on their little rota," the Oni responded sullenly, getting to her feet.

"O- Oh, right... You know, you don't actually have to do this if you don't-"

"He was at Inferno."

Her words cut him off.

"... Excuse me?" Cobalt breathed.

"That cocksucker Diate. Introduced himself to me and everythin'. That was probably when he put that fuckin' thing in my neck, made me...!"

Her fists were balled and shaking, ready to smash something into smithereens. But before she acted on her anger, Izzbelle took a deep breath and sat back down on the couch.

"... I heard from Whitney. That I hurt you bad," she mumbled in an unusually quiet voice.

"Oh Izzbelle, that wasn't you. Whatever he did to you, you had no control over your actions. Even Elya said as much, and she never usually vouches for anyone," Cobalt replied, sitting himself next to the Oni.

She didn't shy away, but she seemed to grow more uncertain of herself.

"Still, I... I feel bad. I... don't like the idea of you gettin' hurt. Not for my sake."

Sighing deeply, the Incubus clasped his hands and gazed up at the ceiling.

"I'm your friend, Izzbelle. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. And I promise that whenever Diate does rear his ugly head that he won't lay a finger on you."

The Oni buried her face in her hands, alarming her teacher.

"Izzbelle, Izzbelle what's wrong?!" he cried, worried that something was amiss.

"... can't do it...!"

"Wh- What?"

"I SAID I CAN'T FUCKIN' DO THIS NO MORE!"

Without warning, she grabbed the front of Cobalt's shirt and hoisted him off his feet, her teeth bared and her eyes blazing.

"Do you wanna know a fun fuckin' fact, dumbass?!" she roared, clenching her teeth tight.

"Wh- What...?!" he choked in reply, kicking his legs helplessly in the air.

"An Oni's horn hurts when anyone touches it! But do you wanna know what happened when you touched mine?!"

His eyes widened.

"I- I'm sorry...! I- I was just trying to-!"

Cobalt was unceremoniously thrown to the floor as she faltered, her voice growing shaky and her grip growing weak.

"It felt... good," the Oni breathed.

Noticing the shocked look on the Incubus' face, the fire gradually returned to Izzbelle's eyes.

"At the weddin', those things I said... I kept tellin' myself that I didn't mean them, that I was only sayin' them to get it over with, but... deep down..." continued Izzbelle.

Cobalt was still in shock. He had hoped that she didn't mean it when she said that she loved him during the vows. He had hoped that she was just lying for the sake of her father.

"I thought you wanted to forget about everything!" he cried.

"I know what I fuckin' said! But I can't forget! How can I?!"

Teeth gritted, she turned around and abruptly punched the wall, tearing the wallpaper and cracking the plaster behind it. There she leaned for a couple of moments as she gathered her breath.

"'The touch of those whom your heart yearns for most upon your horn shall feel like a thousand tender kisses upon your most sensitive flesh'... Read that in a book once. I thought it was just some namby-pamby romantic bullshit, but it's fuckin' true, isn't it?!" she growled.

Tentatively standing back up, Cobalt slowly approached her, doing his best not to startle his student.

"Izzbelle... I don't understand what you're trying to say to me here."

"I fuckin' love you, dumbass!"

He staggered back.

"... W- What?!"

Taking advantage of his shock, Izzbelle whipped around and grabbed his shirt once more, pinning the Incubus against the wall of his dorm room.

"I fuckin' love you! Not fake love to keep my idiot dad happy! Not stupid, throwaway, shitty love just to make you feel better! Not none of that! This is the real fuckin' thing, dammit! The proper, passionate love...!"

Her eyes were blazing and her fangs flashed in the light, but Cobalt could see tears in the corners of Izzbelle's eyes as her voice wavered.

"And I've tried so fuckin' hard to hide it, Cobalt. So damn hard. I don't want it to be like this. I want things to go back to the way they were, before you got inside my head, before the weddin', before we even fuckin' met!" she yelled, her fingernails digging through his shirt and into his skin.

Cobalt remained stock-still, unable to process these words. A confession from Jelli... and now one from Izzbelle...

"But then, I see you. You and your stupid fuckin' smile and stupid gleamin' eyes and stupid... stupid... you... And suddenly I don't hate you as much. I just want to be with you..."

The Incubus cleared his throat and tried to find reason.

"Y- You can't possibly mean th-"

Letting go with one hand, she grabbed the side of Cobalt's face and forced him to look deep into her eyes. She was crying.

"Have you even been listenin' to a single fuckin' word that I've said?! An Oni's horn never lies, dumbass! What you did this mornin' proves that! As a race, we were taught to ignore our feelin's and wed only the strongest of mates! But look what you've done to me Cobalt! B- By doin' this, by lovin' you, I'm going against everything an Oni stands for! Strength, power, toughness... And yet you, a scrawny-ass Incubus, reduced me to this!" she roared, the fire returning to her eyes.

Her lower lip wobbled.

"S- So just... let me have this..."

"H- Have wha- MMBLF!"

All of a sudden, she pulled him close and kissed him deeply. The abrupt gesture of passion shook Cobalt to the core, leaving him frozen in shock as Izzbelle shut her eyes and pulled him into her arms. She fell back onto the couch with the Incubus locked tight in her embrace, so all that he could do was flutter his wings weakly.

This was no brief kiss on the altar. Any hope that Cobalt harboured of Izzbelle being confused or false was washed away by the taste of her tongue as she passionately kissed him. There was an anger to it, but a loving fury. He could feel her hot tears dripping onto his face. The very breath was sucked out of him, and for a split second, the Incubus felt his own heart swell.

After an eternity, Izzbelle broke the messy, impassioned kiss. Saliva still connected their mouths, like a visual reminder that what had just happened really did happen.

"Why...? All my life I didn't need anybody. Even James didn't make me feel like this. Why, dumbass...?" she breathed, her voice a little hoarse.

He couldn't form a response. Cobalt just remained imp in Izzbelle's arms, unable to speak.

"You're weak and scrawny and you can't fight for shit... You can't go up against this guy alone."

Swallowing hard, he finally managed to find his voice.

"C- Could you put me down?" the Incubus asked in a small voice.

She shook her head.

"No... No, not until you're safe. I- I don't care if you and me gotta sleep like this tonight, I'm not lettin' your dumb ass go. I'm done pretendin' that I don't care, that I ain't scared of losin' you."

Cobalt's eyes widened as she held him closer.

"Izzbelle..."

"This Diate shit... It's got me scared. So I'm not goin' anywhere, dumbass. I'm stayin' right here with you, until it's over. I'll keep you safe, and not just because you're my friend."

She swallowed hard.

"But... because I love you."