Chapter Text
The halls hushed and cleared as the trio passed. First term had effectively established the “top dog gang's” dominance, even if the top dog was a cat and no one realized it until they were bleeding out on the school roof considering the error of their ways.
The loud one of the three stomped down the hall carrying two school bags. “And I'm asking why it has to be tonight! You already spent last night training in the swamp, and you were in the caves the night before, and the mountains before that, and the jungle before that—and you did the whole cycle right before that! Are you trying to kill him before the Harvest Festival even starts?”
The cat one flicked the loud one's horn. “If he survives the training, he'll win. You certainly won't. You should've accepted my offer of mentorship.”
“No, I value my life and sanity.”
“Hmm.”
“What was that ‘hmm’ for?! Are you mocking me?!”
“Am I?”
“Guyyyyys,” the small one groaned. He dragged himself between them and grabbed an arm in each hand. “Please. Please let me sleep—walk—sleepwalk in peace. I only got a couple hours after classes yesterday. I have a really hard time controlling my body when I'm this triered. Tired.”
They both shut up.
The team separated for class, Opera into intermediate torture tactics (Kalego thought it was deeply unnecessary for them to receive any additional education there), and the others to biology.
“Wake me up if I fall asleep,” Shichirou whispered. “I really need to learn these things.”
Kalego nodded. But five minutes in, his resolve was tested. Shichirou had been blinking and nodding and taking increasingly incoherent notes, and now he was leaning. Towards Kalego. If Kalego shifted to the left, Shichirou would fall and wake up, but then the other demons would laugh, and he would have to take time after class to beat them all up. And he could just tap Shichirou’s shoulder, but… honestly, the class was going over basics his companion had probably taught himself as a toddler. Opera was going to force him to look for berries all night, or whatever they were doing, and he'd only have three hours again between the last class and dusk. With his decreasing sense of his own strength, when he'd inevitably pat Kalego’s head there would be a solid chance of decapitation. So really, for his own sake, Kalego had no choice.
Risk-benefit analysis concluded, Kalego gently guided Shichirou's head against his shoulder. Stray white hair tickled his nose and smelled like herbs and poison. He smoothed it down (it wasn't soft, but it was ridiculously thick) so he wouldn't sneeze and went back to listening to the lecture.
What he hadn't accounted for was that sleeping Shichirou was even cuddlier than usual. Kalego was drawing a diagram of type A carnivorous plant seeds when he felt something hard start sneaking around his waist.
Shichirou's arm. Okay.
But then a leg crossed over his lap, and the head shifted down to his chest, and there was still an hour left of this class and Shichirou could really use the sleep but the kid was cuddling up to him like a damn devi-koala—and it… wasn't bad. He was, however, catching whispers from classmates that he'd mention later in Opera’s presence. No need to waste his own time assaulting demons when he could waste Opera’s and get the job done more effectively besides.
When the bell rang (when the gargoyle face screamed), Shichirou sighed and nestled deeper into Kalego’s robe for a moment, before he lifted his head and blinked.
“Oh. Kalego. Where—biology? Ohhhhh, you didn't wake me—and I'm all over you—but you are very cozy. I like it a lot. Wow, I should get up now, huh? Mm, it's nice, though.”
“There's twenty minutes until the next class comes in. Get a little more rest. I'm still finishing up my notes.”
Shichirou nodded and tucked himself back into the hollow of Kalego’s body. Kalego did not, in fact, take any more notes, but he did brush some feathers out of his way and texted Opera a list of names.