Brass wasn't wrong; jerky did actually stay down. The only issue was that the texture didn't much agree with Cobalt, and the flavours available were either too strong or downright unpleasant. As for his suggestion of eggs, it took the Incubus a while to figure out just how to ingest them. He refused to eat eggs raw, so he attempted to mix them with milk. The resulting liquid was still unpleasant in texture and taste, but it stayed down and kept him going. In the end, however, Cobalt found it best to stick with raw meat. As per his grandmother's advice, he tried all manner of things, but for some reason he found it all - while sufficient - very limp and unsatisfying. Fish was bland and uninteresting. Poultry, though it didn't make him ill, was difficult to chew and felt unpleasant going down. Most red meats did the job, but nothing came close to the bear meat he bought at that market, and even it was lacking in that one, crucial detail.

His body craved warm, supple flesh, ripe with spurting blood and awash with flavour. He no longer felt starved, but he did feel frustrated.

Not to mention, his choice of meals did not go unnoticed.

"Ooh, what's that?" called a voice from over Cobalt's shoulder as he pulled his lunchbox out of the fridge.

Feeling a shiver run up his spine, the Incubus slowly turned around. Everyone in the teacher's lounge was staring at him, though they turned away as soon as he met their gazes. Only Madam Pudon maintained eye-contact. It was almost relieving; it seemed like no-one wanted to talk to him beyond a few words these days.

"My lunch," the Incubus responded.

"Mm, yeah, but what is it?" she asked, trying to squint through the translucent plastic box.

"Cutlets."

"Of?"

"Meat."

"What kind?"

Cobalt sighed.

"Monique?" he asked, looking her dead in the eyes.

"Yes, mon chéri?" the Succubus responded, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Any reason why you're being so familiar?"

"Ah, well, it's just..."

She peered around the room, looking oddly uncertain.

"Well, a lot has changed these past few months. With you, and the school and, um... your father."

Of course. He had a feeling.

"You know... I knew him. Briefly. I may have, uh... tried to..." Madam Pudon continued, trailing off.

"Monique, did you try and sleep with my dad?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"What? Oh no! No no no, not at all! I mean, technically that was the end goal, yes, but he shot me down, don't you worry, heh! It was... not my best work, I'll admit," she stammered, rubbing the back of her head.

Cobalt took a deep breath.

"Right, well, in any case-" he began, making to move past her.

"I was just checking to see if you were okay."

He stared at her.

"Why?" he asked, slowly cocking his head.

"Is it that strange to want my friends and colleagues to be doing well?"

The Succubus glanced over her shoulder at the windows. She looked almost paranoid.

"Besides," she added, lowering her voice to a whisper, "I haven't been really able to speak much with you. Elya hasn't let me."

Cobalt's eyes widened at the mention of the Fallen's name.

"Elya? Do you know where she is? Is she okay?" he asked frantically.

"N- No, that's the thing. She's been following me around a lot, but just disappeared up until recently. I get you two are close, and I thought you might be, je ne sais pas... feeling a little lonely?"

"... This isn't you coming onto me again, is it?"

Surprisingly, Madam Pudon just took a deep breath, shook her head and pulled him into a hug. She didn't even stroke his hair or shove his face into her chest. She just held him for a moment.

"Don't let the others know I told you this, but you're like a petit frère to some of the senior staff here. You're doing so well for only your second year, and we want you to know that you can talk to us if you ever need advice. Okay?"

Pulling back, she smiled and lightly patted his cheek.

"Besides, you have enough on your plate, non?"

The Succubus winked.

"Unless you do want me on your plate, in which case you already have my number, chérie~" Madam Pudon purred, giving him a wink.

Feeling his entire body bristle up, Cobalt made his excuses and brushed past her, much to the Applied Demonics teacher's amusement.

"Oh, come now, I was just kidding!" she called after him.

With a shake of his head, the Incubus pushed through the staffroom doors in search of a quieter place to have his lunch.

 

-----

 

The canteen was out. It was absolutely packed to the gills, and while that was nowhere near anything out of the ordinary, when Cobalt poked his head through the doorway, he caught a glimpse of a student wearing an Iron Hound Faithful t-shirt underneath his blazer, which he took as a good sign to turn in the opposite direction. With a quick check of his itinerary, he decided to head to the Science classroom to eat, seeing as he had the first-years right after the lunchbreak.

After checking to see if the room was empty, the Incubus seated himself at the teacher's desk and opened his lunchbox. It was packed with neatly cut strips of raw steak. He had tried flash-frying it for just a few seconds, but even that was enough to taint the taste. Something about cooking the meat accentuated the burnt taste of char and dulled the meat's actual flavour, and after he made the mistake of swallowing it he was forced to spend an unfortunate evening running to and from the bathroom.

As he pulled one of the strips out and opened his mouth to eat, however, he heard a heavy knock at the door.

Cobalt frowned. It was lunchtime. Nobody was supposed to be in this room. Hopefully they'd leave soon.

The hammering grew louder. The Incubus gritted his teeth and placed the lid back on his lunch box, fixing to leave and find a better place to eat in peace once his unwanted visitor left.

No such luck. They kept slamming their fist until Cobalt was forced to answer them.

"Yes, yes, come in!" he called, pushing his lunchbox aside.

The door nearly burst off his hinges as a combat boot-clad foot punted it open. With an irate grunt, Izzbelle Suyas stumbled into the classroom.

"Hey," she said, kicking the door shut behind her. She looked annoyed, but also strangely antsy.

"Izzbelle. Is there, um... is there something you needed?" Cobalt asked, discretely slipping his lunchbox into his satchel.

"Yeah. You."

The Oni marched towards the desk, causing the hairs on the back of the Incubus' neck to prickle. The last time he saw her...

The psychflensing. That perverted, honey-soaked spectre of the Oni, urging him to bow his head and surrender to her carnal desire. He knew it was all just an illusion conjured by Cherry's chemical meddling, but what the cat told him disturbed him greatly. That such desires were already there, buried deep down. He couldn't deny that, could he? He could smell her from where he was sitting; a deep, spicy scent that set his blood aflame. Damn it, he could almost taste her...!

"What's goin' on with you, dumbass? You avoidin' me or somethin'?" she asked, gripping the edge of the desk.

Her knuckles were white, but surprisingly she wasn't flipping into a tantrum like she usually did. She had come so far.

"I... just have a lot on my plate. End of year, you know?"

Her eyes flashed dangerously.

"I'm gonna ask again. And you're gonna tell me the truth. Because I'm not takin' that, got it? Everyone's been actin' weird since Whitney lost her fuckin'-"

The Oni went quiet for a moment as she collected herself. He had never seen Izzbelle put so much effort into keeping herself calm before.

"... Please, dumbass. Just be honest. I hardly get to just talk to you anymore, and everythin' is just so..."

With a heavy sigh, she dragged a chair up to the desk and sat down in front of him. Guilt wore away at Cobalt's insides.

"Jelli's been really down. Quinn's bein' real prickly, and Lottie always goes where she goes, y'know? Whitney's got that shit with her arm, Karazelle's been real fuckin' cagey and Hell, even Elya's flown the fuckin' coop. I... I need you," Izzbelle murmured, staring down at her boots.

"Izzbelle, I... I had no idea-"

"Well of course you had no fuckin' idea! You've been cuttin' yourself off! Again!" she snapped, baring her teeth.

He took a deep, shaking breath. In the back of his mind, he could feel Lilith's unease. The Devil's opinion on his students had been subtly shifting, he could feel it.

"This is different, Izzbelle."

"Devil's come knockin' and you clam up! Nothin' different about it!"

"Please stop yelling, I just..."

He took a deep breath.

What was he doing? He made a vow. To keep her and the others safe. He had to push her away. Just like Jelli. Just like Quinn. Just...

"Do you remember how I went to Phrodival over the break?"

The Oni scoffed.

"No! Because you didn't fuckin' tell anyone! You just-!"

"James is alive and recovering. He wants you to know that he won't forget you. And... that he's sorry for dragging you into this-"

"SHUT UP!"

Izzbelle practically launched herself across the desk in order to clamp a hand over Cobalt's mouth. She was shaking, not with rage, but with rapid, staggered breaths. Looking down, he was shocked to find tears leaking from her eyes. Her teeth were clenched and her brow was set firm; she was trying so hard not to break down.

"Don't...! Don't fuckin' joke about that, alright?!"

Holding her wrist, Cobalt pulled her hand away.

"The Fesserites run counter-operations against predators, up Earthside. They bring them to Undercroft to recover. He's okay, Izzbelle. And he's sorry," he told her gently.

"Stop... please... this..."

"They'll wipe his memory as a precaution; just enough to forget ever being to Hell. But he'll be the man you remember. The man you-"

"I told you to shut up!"

Cobalt shook his head.

"You loved James, Izzbelle! You finally have a chance to tell him that!"

"I LOVE YOU, DUMBASS!"

The Oni's voice boomed throughout the classroom, not as an angered roar, but as a desperate scream. Taken aback, Cobalt stared at her wide-eyed. She wiped her tears and jabbed an accusing finger at him.

"How many times are you gonna make me say that until it gets through your thick fuckin' skull?! Do you think it's been fun, watchin' our little group fall to bits while you just up and disappear?! No! It hurts! It fuckin' hurts a lot!"

Anguished mixed with rage. Cobalt felt the worm of guilt ripping through him, but he sensed something else too. An opportunity.

To keep her safe when the time came. And to ruin everything they had built up, from the moment she first squared up to him on his first day.

"... I know, Izzbelle. But I..."

He took a deep breath.

"... I don't see you the same way."

That wasn't a lie.

Or...

Was it...?

No. No, it had to be.

"This isn't healthy, Izzbelle. I'm your teacher. You're my student," he told her, straightening up.

The Oni scoffed.

"We've moved way past that by now, dumbass! Or did you already forget the weddin'?! The thing with Diate?! Everythin' else we've been through?!" she growled, her voice growing louder and louder as she spoke.

"Of course I haven't! But you have to see sense!"

"I don't wanna see sense!"

"At the gym you told me you wanted to marry me, Izzbelle! That's not normal!"

"So what?! What if I fuckin' do?! Is that so weird?!"

"I don't love you, Izzbelle!"

"After everythin' you said?! Everythin' you did? I don't fuckin' believe you!"

"TRY ASKING JELLI, THEN!"

He gritted his teeth, his veins pulsing erratically beneath his skin. Izzbelle met his enraged stare, only for her eyes to slowly widen as the truth gradually dawned on her.

"Jel... wha..." she murmured, her breath catching in her throat.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the Oni's face crumpled with pure, unbridled rage. Smoke and sparks hissed from her mouth as her fists balled.

"What... What the fuck did you say to her...?" Izzbelle hissed, her entire body running hot.

No going back.

"The truth. I don't care how many of my students profess their love to me; I cannot and will not reciprocate it. I'm sorry, but I am not sacrificing my career for-"

"KID LOOK OUT!"

Lilith's warning came just in time. Cobalt swiftly ducked to his left just as Izzbelle threw a mighty haymaker. She tore through the desk and drove her fist right into the chalkboard, shattering it into pieces and boring a hole in the wall.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FUCKIN' HURT SHE'S BEEN?! THAT WAS YOU?!" she roared as she struggled to extricate her arm.

Cobalt gasped for breath.

"That... That's not my problem, Izzbelle. I'm your teacher."

"YOU'RE MORE THAN THAT! YOU FUCKIN' KNOW IT!"

"Well I was wrong! Now stop acting out and calm down!"

It hurt him so much to do this, but he had to. In order to get her to leave and stay gone, he had to get her to...

His neck prickled.

... hate him.

"You, Jelli, all of you; you're my students. I can't have you be any more than that."

"YOU MOTHER FUCKER!"

Cobalt bared his own teeth. Beneath his skin, his blood ignited and his veins alighted, filling his body with Incubus fervour.

"That's enough, Miss Suyas! You've taken your fantasies too far! Now, stop this foolishness before I am forced to write you up for-!"

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP~! YOU BASTARD~!"

Ripping her arm free, she wheeled around on her foot and slugged Cobalt with every ounce of rage-enhanced strength he had, square in the chest. Realising he had no time to move, Cobalt shut his eyes and braced for impact.

The sickening crunch of broken bones filled the classroom. He felt his chest grow hot and the dull impact of her knuckles, but the pain was deadened. Slowly, Cobalt released his breath and opened his eyes.

Izzbelle was frozen, staring at her arm with pinprick pupils. Neither needed a medical professional to tell them what had just happened.

She was the unstoppable force. He was the immovable object. Something had to give.

And that something was the bones in her arms.

"Agh... guh... a- agh..." the Oni gasped, staggering back as she clutched at her shattered limb.

Every movement she made seemed to pain her, forcing her down onto one knee as she struggled to catch her breath. Sweat slicked her brow as saliva dripped from her gaping, panicked mouth. Cobalt wanted to help her. To comfort her. To tell her that he didn't mean it; any of it! That it was a stupid idea! That he just wanted to keep her safe! That this was a mistake! That he lo-!"

No.

He was in too deep.

This was enough, surely. He just...

He just had to drive the final nail. Slowly, he took a deep breath.

"Maybe you'll think twice about attacking your teachers now, Miss Suyas," he said, almost choking up.

The Oni just stared. Her eyes were filled with rage. Hurt. Sadness.

Betrayal.

"Don't worry, I won't write you up. I'll go ring for an ambulance."

The Incubus turned on his heel.

He had to get out of there. Those eyes... they killed him. In the back of his mind, Lilith was begging for his attention, but he just kept a straight face and left the room.

Until he was alone in the hallway. Then he ran, as fast as his legs would carry him. Tears forced their way down Cobalt's cheeks as he sprinted, holding a hand to his face in order to hide his shame from any passers-by.

He felt sick.

He was sick.

This was all necessary, right?

It had to be.

For her sake.

For all their sakes.

Fuck!

Why did it hurt so much?!

What the Hell was wrong with him?!

Why?

Why?!