Chapter Text
Week One: Monday
Alice wandered through a small apartment complex checking carefully over the doors as he looked for room 36. The doors where white though most had been tainted yellow from smoke, and it was unlikely any had been cleaned. Even the walls themselves looked worn for years without ever being cleaned. Alice had felt quite sick upon entering the building, the outside was at least somewhat kept, plants cut and the grounds clear but that is where it ended. From the moment he walked in he could smell smoke, garbage and rotting food. The main lobby had letter boxes filled with letters that dropped out onto the ground. There were areas of the roof that had leaked and now mold was collecting around the room. He really didn’t want to be here and wouldn’t if he didn’t think it was important. He had been training with Ifrit since the start of the year. A couple of times throughout the week Ifrit would meet him either at the end of lunch and excuse him from his class or at the end of the day. Alice had learned new ways to use his fire magic and more importantly, new ways to be of use to Iruma. But it was during one of these lessons Ifrit mentioned that the two needed to talk and that it could not be at school. Ifrit gave Alice a piece of paper with this address on it and told him he was to keep it to himself as he would regret telling others.
On his way over Alice had thought about what this might be. He couldn’t think of anything serious that had happened recently that could be problematic and it’s not like a teacher would need to talk about grades and training outside of school. All he could think was maybe the teacher might want to teach him something that cannot be shown at the school, like the purple flames Ifrit often used but he doubted that as it was a family secret. Even around the school there was nothing really going on that could make Ifrit want or need to invite Alice elsewhere. The only other news Alice knew of was a new law that targeted creatures from other worlds. Border patrol had created a law and had it sanctioned by the crowns or at least it was voted on and those who agreed outweighed those who disagreed. The law was dedicated to finding and capturing those who did not belong in this world and specifically looking for humans. Most demons had assumed that humans were not real but now it felt like they had to be.
Still, this wasn’t something that Ifrit could need to talk about as it had nothing to do with Alice, but it was the only news that had come of late that Alice could think of. He sighed as he passed by door 34 and glanced around the very dirty walls, getting worse the further in, he went. It was likely they only cleaned the area that would be seen by others as nothing had been done this far in. Alice also wondered why Ifrit was here and not at the teacher’s dorm like all the others. Based on what Iruma had told him Ifrit had a room there like the others so why was he in this place and not at the dorm. The uneased feeling Alice had grown in strength as he moved further towards the door. Alice stood in front of the door, its off-white colour clearly stained by smoke. The number 36 on the door was black and had patches of rust in splotches along each number and the handle wasn’t even properly screwed to the door. Alice raised his hand and tapped the door lightly, but the sound felt deafening in this silent hall. After a moment the door creaked open, and Alice could make out a figured lit very dimly.
“Ifrit, it’s Alic~” Alice barely managed a whole word as he was yanked in by a hand that darted out. Panicked at the sudden action Alice created fire to wrap around him and knock off the hand though he was already inside the room before the flames had fully lit. The flames did reveal that the person was indeed Ifrit, and Ifrit had let go of Alice and stepped back after pulling him inside the room. This showed Alice there was nothing to fear though that didn’t settle his mind from what had occurred moments before.
“I told you that this had to be kept secret, and you go and use our names so causally like that.” Ifrit said and Alice understood what he meant, feeling slightly embarrassed by the situation since he should have known better. But he hadn’t really considered this to be anything meaningful beyond Ifrit acting a bit strange so he didn’t think he would need to have his guard up. Ifrit sighed and moved over to a small couch in the middle of the room, motioning as he walked for Alice to do the same. Alice hadn’t really inspected the room as he was so nervous but now that everything seemed find he took a glance around the room. The room was so small and was essentially the entire house. In front of Alice there was a gap between a wall and the couch that led to a small kitchen area on the right and on the left was a bed pushed into the corner. The wall that leads up to that area was for the only other room, a small bathroom based on what Alice could tell. The kitchen area was a row of cabinets at the back and a small bar at the front. The apartment was not that clean and everywhere Alice looked there was an ashtray filled with discarded smoke. On his left Alice could see a couch and a single chair that was placed facing a small tv, the smallest Alice had ever seen.
Alice moved towards Ifrit and sat on the other side of the couch from him. He wasn’t happy at the thought of sitting on something filthy, there were stains on most of the cushioned parts of the couch as well as dust that had built up over time. Alice sat on the edge of the couch and kept himself forward so he wouldn’t touch too much. He shifted awkwardly for a moment, still a little nervous and confused about the situation. He expected Ifrit would speak about this meeting once he sat but he didn’t seem too bothered about explaining quickly.
“You told me we needed to talk outside of school, this is rather odd for a teacher to do so I was a little concerned about what was going on. If you could get straight to the point, I would appreciate it.” Alice said he spoke as clearly as he could to make sure Ifrit knew he wanted to be done with this as soon as he could be. For a moment there was silence between them and Ifrit took a long drag from his smoke before snuffing it out in the overly filled tray. He shifted for a moment as his hand went to his pocket and pulled out a small device.
“It’s a recording, though it is only the copy of the real recording so smashing it won’t do you any good.” he said as he passed it to Alice. Alice thought of those words as he took the device, if Ifrit felt this was something meaningful to Alice it was likely he would show him outside of school hours but still, what he said sounded more like it was going to be hurtful than anything good. It was also odd that he would think Alice would smash the device. Alice had never acted rashly around him before so why the sudden assumption.
“Why would I want to smash it?” Alice asked, taking the device and bringing it closer to himself. He could see that it was already on and that it was ready to play the moment he hit the button. He pressed it before receiving an answer from Ifrit.
“Because I’m human” the voice on the recording shattered Alice as he realised both who the person was and the words they had spoken. Alice gripped the device so tightly but what would that do, he felt scared though not for himself. Ifrit probably overheard this being played by another, or maybe he found someone with it like a student. He must want to protect Iruma right, why else would he be showing Alice this. Alice felt tears clinging to his eyes, he truly didn’t think for one second that Ifrit had wanted to protect Iruma, Ifrit was more likely indifferent to the situation, but he needed to believe it was for Iruma’s protection. What could he want?
Alice couldn’t say a word, his lips quivered every time he tried to speak. There were a lot of things running through his mind currently. Some thoughts questioned what Ifrit’s intentions were as having this recording didn’t seem like something friendly. But a larger part was trying to comprehend how this related to Iruma. He had known something about Iruma was different for the longest time but being another species entirely wasn’t something he took into consideration. Iruma had things he sometimes seemed to want to tell them but was unable to speak. Alice had always assumed this was just because it was hard, maybe it was about his lack of parents or the peculiarity that happened around him sometimes.
It hurt to realise that Iruma didn’t feel confident enough to share this with him. Though Alice understood his fears and hesitation it did nothing to quell the pain he felt, knowing the truth by this means. It should have been Iruma who told him. In his hand were the device now sat Alice could feel a slight pain, he hadn’t realised just how tightly he had held the recording. It was now marked on his skin, if his grip was any tighter it might even snap the device.
“It seems that boy you spend so much time with is keeping this from you. Shame really but you know now.” Ifrit spoke but the way the room felt right now, it was so different from earlier. It had been so open a moment ago but now Alice felt like the room was surrounding him, his thoughts echoing on the now tightly packed walls. “You know if this was slipped too anyone with maybe a picture of the student, well they wouldn’t be around much longer.” Alice had still been lost in thought for a moment, but the statement had smashed though harshly, and Ifrit knew he was listening.
“But you intend to help protect Iruma right, that is why you showed me this?” Alice stood and faced Ifrit, clutching the recording so tightly that a small creaking sound could be heard from it. He could feel tears starting to wetting his eyes, as he thought of what would happen. If someone knew the truth, they would take Iruma away. Alice would never tell anyone how much he enjoyed Iruma’s company. How Iruma took him out of that loneliness that had he felt for a long time.
The smirk that appeared on Ifrits face, something twisted, “I could keep this too myself, though it wouldn’t be free.” Ifrit said. Alice was already hurting and now he felt worse, he had liked and respected Ifrit. It was his idea to learn from this teacher. Since the heartbreaker event Ifrit had shown that he believed in Alice’s abilities and had helped him grow. But this was bound to happen, Alice’s family was rich and influential, there must be something Ifrit wanted.
“What is your price, I will do anything?” Alice said his voice was shaky and reflected how hurt he was feeling. He sat down again trying to keep his mind as calm as he could. He hoped whatever Ifrit desired was something he could do that his mother wouldn’t notice or that he could at least prove would be worth the family’s time. The last thing he needed was for his mother finding out the real reason. She was a crown; she couldn’t hide this information from the other crowns, and she couldn’t protect Iruma for Alice’s sake.
“I’m glad, because there is something I would like of you.” Ifrit said and as he spoke, he moved, reaching his hand towards Alice and tilting his chin slightly. Alice became even more scared than he was and now it was for himself as Ifrit moved closer to him, his body hovering over Alice’s. It wasn’t hard to understand what he was asking and Alice felt so repulsed by the very idea. He shrunk back and put his hands up to create distance between the two of them. He couldn’t even look at the man in front of him now that he knew what he desired was Alice’s body. It was repulsive and made him think back on all the times they had trained together. Ifrit had always pushed Alice when training, forcing him to deal with things that made him uncomfortable. But not once had he ever shown this type of desire for him.
Alice tried to consider the information at hand. If Iruma was human, it wouldn’t take much for him to be found out and turned in especially if this recording was handed over. Alice couldn’t go to his mother either, it would be wrong for him to put her in this position, and he just couldn’t do that to her. His only option couldn’t be this. “What’s the matter, didn’t you say you will do anything?” Ifrit asked and the smirk that appeared made Alice so mad. Of course, he thought he was willing to do anything but was this something he was willing to do?
“I thought so but what you want, is there nothing else I could give you.” He hadn’t realised till he spoke how soft and broken his voice had become, he assumed he would still have the confidence he had earlier but apparently not. Alice hadn’t spent a great deal of time thinking about this sort of thing, and while his mother encouraged him to learn he simply decided not to. He felt more focused on his future then sexual acts and had already decided that he would wait till he felt ready. He had never desired anything sexual either though he wasn’t oblivious to how some people would look at him.
“How about a day to think it over, I’m not so cruel I’d make you decided on the spot but know that if a single person hears about this Iruma will be revealed. I have a friend that knows, if they don’t hear from me, they will send the information.” Ifrit smiled and moved back to his seat, offering a small amount of space for Alice who was still struggling to understand what to do. He was thankful that he had at least a little time to decide but was uneased still. This teacher wanted to do lustful things to his body that he himself wasn’t ready to experience. He hadn’t ever even thought about doing that sort of thing and now it was likely to happen. “Come back here tomorrow, and don’t tell anyone.” Ifrit said and with that he was back to his nonchalant act, a new smoke already lit and spreading its smoke around the room.
Alice stood in silence for a moment before headed to the door; his hand trembled as he lifted it to turn the knob. He felt dizzy and nausea and all at the same time he was angry and ashamed. The things Ifrit wanted, the fact that Iruma had kept this from him, the fact that he hadn’t figured it out for himself. He left and headed home just trying to get there before he would pass out. The knot in his stomach seemed to get worse the more he thought about it all, and all he wanted was to just go back to not knowing.
He walked inside and did his best to wave off all concerns about his unusual appearance as he went to his room. He said he was simply exhausted and that he needed to rest, that once he had laid down, he would be fine. He knew it was a lie and honestly his mother could read him so well she would know, so he was happy she was currently at an event. Most of her evenings were spent out doing her job or socializing at events so he mostly saw her in the mornings or just before she left.
Alice collapsed on his bed, not bothering to change or even remove his shoes. Normally he would be disgusted by this but right now he simple wished to lay down and never get up again. He tried to think through all the information he had just learned. First, Iruma was a human. Iruma’s past was unknown and Alice had always thought that it was something difficult to speak about. But the truth that he is a human made some sense to Alice, especially when thinking about Iruma’s knowledge of the human world compared to what Iruma knew of this world. His grades made so much more sense now too, and Alice felt a little ashamed that he hadn’t considered this from the beginning. Truly there was no way for him to know such things and he knew that but since they were so close he couldn’t help but wonder had Iruma ever done something that could have hinted at it. There were many things that popped into his mind, but most were explained away the moment he considered them.
Alice groaned as he shifted to his back and stared at the ceiling of his bed, he felt so thoughtless to have never realised any of this before. Though now that he knew the truth he was less than thrilled. Knowing had come with a price, his own body was meant to be used as a toy to protect the person he cared so deeply for. Ifrit made it clear that what he desired from Alice was his very body. Alice had spent his life around people like that, mostly they would desire his mother, and Alice would see them trying many things to earn her favor, but nothing ever came of their attempts. While he understood the basics, he truly didn’t desire that sort of thing and wanted to have a real relationship before ever even considering doing something like that. But now, would he have to give it all up?
He finally pulled himself from the bed, still feeling overwhelmed, he got up to get ready for bed properly. Showering, changing his clothes so that he could still smell ash on, brushing his teeth and finally laying down again with a soft groan. He was so exhausted, he just wanted to rest.