Chapter Text
(The next day, back at Bablys)
"Kay, we're heading to our homeroom now!" Irumi called out as she and her brother left the student council room to start speed walking to the Misfit Classroom. The moment they turned the first corner down the hall they let out a synchronized sigh of exhaustion. "Last night was awful." The princess said, rubbing her forehead and being careful not to ruin the makeup Opera and Amaryllis applied. "Mama Amaryllis kept me up for hours trying on and designing new outfits for our future Demdol shows." She turned to her brother, who had done nothing to hide the bags under his eyes. "What happened to you and Ameri? Something spicy I hope." She teased with an impish smile, recalling how the student council president was in a similar state.
"We got our manga and binged. All night." Iruma answered as they made a turn, promptly walking into the wall. "I think dad knew we would." He groaned out, rubbing his nose while his sister giggled. "Ha ha, laugh it up." He said as they entered the courtyard of the school.
"Iruma-chi! Irumi-chi!" The twins heard a familiar voice calling, turning to find Alice, Sabro, and-
"Sabro, is Clara wearing a leashed harness?" Iruma asked as he noticed leather straps around the hyperactive demon's waist and shoulders with a cord trailing back to Sabro's hand, straining as she was trying to make her way to the prince and princess while the two men held her back.
"We... figured she'd... be too excited... to say hi... calmly!" Alice groaned out as they struggled against Clara, who was now trying to run on all fours. "CALM YOURSELF VALAC!"
"Where does she get all this energy from!?" Sabro growled, as they got closer to each other. Irumi took to defusing the situation by giving Clara head pats and belly rubs.
"There there, that's a good girl." The princess cooed as the green haired demon was now on her back and enjoying her belly rubs while the guys watched on, almost envious at how easy she managed to tame Valac. "Okay, let's get to class!" Irumi cheered after a little bit and getting the harness off.
"To class!" Clara agreed as they charged off, leaving the guys behind before they just shrugged and rushed after them. They soon reached their classroom and found the guys singing the 'Little Imp' song while Keroli was pouting at a copy of the school newspaper.
"Hey Keroli!" Iruma called out, making her jump in her seat. "Anything interesting?" He asked, seeing the cover of the paper and the pictures of the concert; the twins taking the stage, their performance, and joining Kuromu for the first song of the main act. A decent first showing all things considered.
"Listen up!" The ice demoness said, jumping to her feet in front of the group. "Y-you may be royalty, but I have no intention of losing to you as Demdols!" She continued, slight nervousness creeping in as she remembered who she was addressing. "S-so c-c-c-c-can we st-st-st-still-" She started stuttering, making the twins smile to each other before giving her head pats.
"Of course we'll still be friends." Irumi said as Keroli relaxed in their pats. "And keep up the good work so we can invite you to perform for the 13 Crowns someday." As that left Irumi's lips, Crocell froze up and starting overheating as she thought about the possible performance and the anxiety of performing for the ruling body of the Netherworld.
"And cool down." Iruma said as he pressed his middle and index fingers on Keroli's head while sending a pulse of cold energy throughout her body. "Feel better?" He asked, getting her to nod. "Good. Too bad it'd just be the three of us at that show. A couple more and we could try a Hell Dance." The Demdol froze as he said that along with Asmodeus and Sabro, Clara was in her own little world.
"...We could try that for the music festival." Irumi offered while the two kept reading the paper while Keroli looked at the royals like they were crazy, but a sense of hope did spark in her chest. "What do you think Keroli? Want to do a Hell Dance with the whole class?" The Demdol stared at the princess, seeing a smile that was a gentle lure into temptation. The most harsh and nigh impossible act of Demdols, and Irumi made it seem like it would be trivial to get them to succeed. The icy devil had a flash of memory to the last time she attempted a Hell Dance, how only her and one other demon were left standing. She couldn't stop the smile that formed on her lips as she unconsciously agreed.
"Let's do it!" She could tell, with them, seeing a Hell Dance could be a reality and not a fantasy. On top of that, competing with two royals who've been trained by the top of the Netherworld's entertainment world? What better motivation could she ask for?
"Keep that attitude Kuromu." Iruma told her. "Lord Amduscias is going to start training you as well." Another surprise to the ice mistress.
"W-why?" She asked, confused but excited at the prospect of being taught by such a legend
"I don't know the details, but dad said she was wailing like a banshee and was downing liters of Bloody Queen wine before rambling out plans to get back her 'mommy privileges'." Everyone just stared at the prince and blinked while they tried to process what he said. "She'll probably remember refining your skills, but that's because she's a perfectionist."
"So... is 'mommy privileges' just being called mom by you two?" Keroli finally asked after a short pause, choosing to focus on the one thing that made the least sense to her.
"Mostly that we act like the person is our mom." Irumi clarified. "Amduscias is doubly obsessed with that privilege since she's in love with dad."
"Ah huh." Crocell numbly said, choosing to shut off her brain from this line of discussion for the rest of the day.
The school days hit a bit of a lull after that; they wake up, do council work, they go to class, listen to lectures, practice magic, help the school faculty, and return home to get some relaxation in before doing it all again. For the standard day to day stuff that is, Keroli gave them a tour of the Devimuse agency on their first day off of classes. The main focus was the practice room; decorated with a white board to map out steps and routines, a wall mirror to examine their movements, and padding on the other three walls for the acoustics to prevent echoing and reverberations. The tour ended when Poro-chan barged in and appropriated Keroli to start her training.
Soon enough, the Demdol stuff started to get planned into their schedules and took away more of their time. Now they had their student council duties, regular school duties, helping the faculty, and now their Demdol activities. First was trying to plan out the 'style' of Aimur and Iimur and incorporating it into Devimuse's usual standard 'cuteness' theme, like Iruma being the cool and quiet musician while Irumi was the main stage presence. Poro crushed that idea under heel by making it clear that her babies could do anything and everything, having them showcase their music talents by pulling styles out of a hat and having the twins do them. The agency bowed to the will of the 13 Crown member while Iruma and Irumi started checking out mentally. Their schedules were starting to wear on them and only the most familiar could recognize the looming Evil Cycle, manga and the care of their respective betrothed doing what they could to keep them calm but it was an uphill battle.
"T-today starts the Red Moon." Amerie reminded the student council as they sat at their lunch table in Bablys. She was losing her calm and stoic demeanor because the only thing they were eating was a single bean. "We refrain from gluttony to unify and reevaluate the desires within our b-bellies." She said while nervously glancing at the twins, staring blankly at the measly bean, and taking note of the tightening of their hands. From a distance she saw Asmodeus and Sabro sharing the same nervous looks while Professor Kalego saw it proper to keep a closer eye on the two. Finally, Iruma dropped his head on the table.
"I can't take much more." He groaned out while the people that knew him tensed up immediately. One member of the student council, a glasses wearing man named Johnny Zagan, reached out to pull the royal back up by his hair. Before he could even touch Iruma, Kalego got between the two while Alice and Sabnock ripped Zagan away from the table while staring at the prince with great fear.
"Amerie, perhaps it'd be for the best to send Iruma and Irumi home?" The teacher suggested, seeing the pleading look in Irumi's eyes while Iruma stayed down.
"R-right." Amerie agreed, trying to figure out a way to spin this in a way that wouldn't damage the image of the student council. "It's not a secret to me that they've been doing much more around the school and for their family, but it's clear we've put on too-" whatever she was saying was cut off as Iruma grabbed his plate and threw it past Amerie's head, smashing into the skull of a student with a wolf-like head. There was a strong gust as the plate went flying with the targeted student getting sent into the wall on the other side. A quick glance at where the student once was told the Azazel everything. "Oh right, that was a student we were supposed to monitor because he was starting his own Evil Cycle."
"Looked like he was about to eat that other student." Kalego added while the rest of the council gawked at the swift and brutal action. "Good job on his part, right?"
"Indeed." Amerie agreed before directing the other council members. "Restrain that student." As they went about doing that, Amerie leaned down to her fiancee and whispered in his ear. "I'll get you plenty of sweets afterward. Please hold on." Iruma responded by giving Amerie a tight hug while pressing his head against her chest, letting her heartbeat soothe him during this small bit of secrecy. Irumi dragged Alice away to a secluded corner to give her head pats and it was agreed to cut back on the Demdol stuff until the twins were freed from their punishment. Two days later, Amerie was called away by a mysterious broadcast message during lunch.
"She's been gone for a while." Irumi said as she and Iruma split a stack of paperwork to take to the teacher's lounge. "Lunch is almost over."
"The president can handle herself with pretty much anything, but this is starting to become worrisome." Johnny added before the broadcast battler president burst in the room.
"Broadcast battler here. Would the president happen to be in?" He said in a nervous tone. Iruma didn't wait to hear him out and bolted to the first preparation room where Amerie was directed to go. Nothing could reach the prince's senses, the only thing on his mind was ensuring the well being of his beloved. He reached the room, illuminating its darkness with the light from the hallway, finding Amerie laying curled up on her side.
"Amerie!" He shouted as he went to her, cradling her upper body against him. "Amerie, wake up! Please!" The rest of the student council came in but that didn't matter to the royal as he checked her over for any injury, finding only a very faint scent on her face.
"I-Iruma?" Amerie groaned out as she awoke from what was apparently a drug induced slumber. "Please calm down. I'm alright." She said, calming the prince in breathing a sigh of relief before he noticed that something felt off in her tone. "A-and c-could you get me something to cover up with?" The two looked at each other and Iruma could see a shyer and more timid version of his beloved Amerie. At that moment Iruma had two terrible thoughts; 1) Now everyone could see how adorable his beloved is and that made him possessive, and 2) he was going to tear the person responsible to bits.
"Iruma! Calm down!" His sister cried as she held the other council members back, the group frozen in shock as the prince grew in size and was releasing an oppressive aura fitting for the child of the Demon King in their Evil Cycle as his hair turned dark. Amerie seemed to snap out of whatever was going on and pulled Iruma in for a deep kiss, shocking the council members again and more importantly, Iruma. "Good thinking Amerie!" Irumi cheered with a thumbs up.
"Iruma, control yourself." Amerie demanded, her usual self back the moment she recognized the danger. "You swore on our love that you'd never lose control again." Iruma took a few deep breaths and gently grabbed her hand before lightly pressing his head against hers.
"I'm sorry my love." He whispered, softly smiling. "Thank you for reigning me in." They stayed snuggled up like that before they heard someone clearing their throat, looking up to see a smirking Irumi.
"Soooo, I'm going to explain things to the rest of the council. You two can keep cuddling." She said with a smile before walking away, giggling to herself the whole while knowing she ruined the moment.
"KYAAH!" Amerie screamed in a muffled tone as she covered her face and started rolling back and forth on the ground. "So embarrassing! I can't believe I did that in front of everyone! My image is going to be ruined like this!"
'I can't tell if she's cured or reverted back.' The prince thought while his fiance curled up into a ball.
(Back to the Council Room)
"-so please try to not interfere with their relationship." Irumi said, having just told the rest of the council members about Amerie and her brother being engaged. The reactions varied with Johnny being in shock, Quichelight Kimaris(Blonde hair and freckles) and Grave Guison(Black hair in a ponytail) seemed confused but accepting, and Smoke Astaroth(Purple girl) asking a simple question.
"Can I see any photos from previous dates?" The whole council snapped to attention at the thought of prying in to her private life. Well, Johnny wanted to respect her privacy while the rest wanted to see the softer side of Amerie Azazel.
"Maybe later." Irumi offered, thinking back on the various photos her brother might've been willing to share with the others now that they were in the know. As that settled, Iruma came back still standing tall with Amerie noticeably absent.
"Okay, here's the situation." The prince started, recounting the events from when they found Amerie to now. "I took her to professor Morax, the young one with that crush on Kalego."
"Think we should help with that? Get him to ask her out?" The princess suddenly asked, causing everyone to imagine Kalego attempting to court a lady and subsequently snort with laughter.
"Later Umi." Iruma answered, shaking with restrained laughter before taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Anyways, the only thing different about Amerie was that her personality was altered. According to her the assailant sprayed her with something but both professor Kalego and Morax don't recognize what it could be. Morax sensei even suggested it was just recently created. Simple and temporary, but it couldn't... or rather shouldn't be forced. Turns out Amerie nearly broke it when I was about to shift to my Evil Cycle."
"That makes sense." Johnny said, beaming with pride. "President Amerie's will is second to none."
"That's right." The prince agreed, reflecting on the number of times she's been trying to make a perfect cake since he moved in with her. She's so cute in that apron. "Anyways, I had her sent home and volunteered to cover her duties till she gets back. All in? She'll probably be back in a day or two." He asked the council. Johnny seemed ready to protest, mainly out of concern since Iruma nearly snapped and still seems ready to, before Irumi stomped on his foot.
"We'll follow your lead Uma!" She declared with a bright smile while everyone else seemed wary of the two royals.
"Thanks Umi. I'll start by going to see a certain someone." Iruma said before leaving the room, Irumi waiting a few seconds before turning back to the council.
"Just do whatever he says." The princess said in a tone that offered no room for argument. "Yes, he's teetering on his Evil Cycle and one wrong move can leave someone broken. Right now it's being focused on finding whoever attacked Amerie, but get in his way and he might lose control. This is 'angry' Evil Cycle Iruma and our best hope is to work with him until we get 'happy' Evil Cycle Iruma."
"What's the difference?" Quichelight asked, confused that there's a distinction.
"Happy is us being slightly more forceful and ambitious for the things we want. Angry means he has a target and may the Aether have mercy on them." She said, thinking back to the first time Iruma had his 'Angry' Evil Cycle.
(Later that Day at Amerie's dorm room)
Iruma let out a sigh as he stood before the door, reflecting on what happened after he sent Amerie home ahead of him. The things he did to make up for Amerie's absence made him appreciate her all the more, truly she'd be an idle queen to his king. Healing his heart and mind while capable of managing the school, and idly the Netherworld with him and the future crowns. Now he just had to brave her cooking and there was no telling what this shifted personality of Amerie's cooking would be like.
"I'm home." He said, opening the door and his nose was hit with the pleasant smells of herbs, spices, and cooking vegetables. The scent felt invigorating as his eyes drifted to Amerie in the kitchen, in an knee length dark pink skirt with a light pink blouse and an orange plaid apron and headscarf to hold her hair back. For a moment, Iruma forgot everything bad that was happening lately.
"Oh, welcome home." She greeted with a smile before turning off the stove before walking over to him. "Please, take a bath while I set the table." She told him, helping him out of the jacket of the student council uniform. "I've made hamburg steak with grilled vegetables and citrus tea." She informed him while his mind caught up again.
"O-okay." He said, taking another sniff. "Smells delicious." He was being serious about it too. For the first time since Amerie first cooked him something he was looking forward to her cooking. He had his shower and found himself at the table with Amerie across from him, shaking with nervous anticipation. Unlike last time that appeared somewhat burnt and misshapened, this one looked like it came right out of a cooking manga. Iruma took a fork and picked up a bit of sauce covered meat and put it into his mouth. The flavor exploded in his mouth with each chew before he swallowed. "Perfect." He whispered. "Better than Opera! This is delicious Amerie!" He shouted before digging in while her expression lit up.
"Great! I'm so happy that you like it!" She said before indulging herself. Iruma would never want his beloved to change who she was no matter what, but this was one thing he was hoping would stay.