When Little Demons Meet

It was difficult for Akane to pay attention in her classes when there were all these fascinating creatures to observe. Every day she had to hold back comments on people's cute animal ears, gorgeous wings, and amazing (or scary) powers. Her social awkwardness didn't help things, considering there have already been a few times where she tried to compliment someone on their inhuman anatomy and insulted them instead.

She snapped back to real life and out of her thoughts when she heard her name get called out by the teacher. It took her a bit to remember why her name was called out, leaving her sitting in her seat for a few seconds in a daze, then moving to where the teacher instructed her. Already she was starting the day poorly. She was an excellent student back home, but now her peers must have thought of her as being a social mess and a maladaptive daydreamer.

Sitting beside her new partner in the empty seat she was ordered to sit in, Akane tried her hardest to not stare at the girl's arms, eyes, and horns. Despite her attempts to not look rude, she still managed to return Amber's smile and give a polite greeting; although, it took her a few seconds to figure out the proper way to give eye contact to a six-eyed being. "Hello! Nice to meet you, Amber." Was that too formal? "And, uh, yes. I've only been here for a few days. I just moved from Japan and didn't expect everything to feel this unreal. I-If that makes sense. How long have you been here?"

It was a pleasure to Akane that her partner was the talkative type. As much as Akane enjoyed conversing with others, she never got to grow into a social butterfly and had difficulties keeping a conversation rolling. That was the best part of extroverts: they willingly took the strain of giving conversation topics. Not that Akane wasn't an extrovert herself, but she had a long way to go before she could reach the level Amber was on.

After Amber finished talking, Akane took a few seconds to process everything she said. Already she was confused by her partner. "Hell? You lived in Hell?" She squinted her eyes, unsure whether to believe this girl. Why shouldn't she? Amber was a half-spider person, and Akane was a half-demon, and yet, the idea of Hell existing and coincidentally meeting someone who had direct connections to it felt unreal. All of this felt unreal. "What is Hell like? My mom said my father is an emotion demon, but I never got to meet him. Is it as bad as people say it is?" She stared intensely at Amber, excited to learn everything about this world she was supposed to be connected to but never got to see.

But now probably wasn't the best time to interview Amber on what Hell is like. They had schoolwork to do, and judging by what was written on the paper, it was going to be harder than Akane would have hoped. At least she was paired with a partner familiar with Manta Carlos; otherwise, Akane would have been entirely lost on what she was supposed to do. "Two-tailed fox? Is that like a kitsune?" I bet I sound stupid, she thought to herself. It was going to take a while to get familiar with everything, but until then, Akane might as well find some acceptance in being ignorant to how everything worked here.

Akane's eyes widened at the spider girl. "Really? That's so cool!" Already Akane was meeting people like her. On the one hand, she felt great knowing she was no longer alone with her abilities, and on the other, immense anxiety tainted her thoughts, making her worry that she was not acting like a true demon. How did demons act anyway? Not all of them were evil, obviously. Amber was polite and sweet, and there had to be some other demons like her that were following the laws just fine. It could be because she was not a complete demon, but Akane knew better than to be stereotypical. She already faced a few stereotypes herself for being part human, but luckily, she did not see those people again and did not experience any major discomfort.

Amber's explanation on Hell gave Akane some confusion, butc she tried not to worry too much about that. This was a whole new world, and she was exploring a whole new part of herself. Confusion was natural, even if it did make her feel small, confused, and scared. That was the most positive way she could put her anxieties. "I want to visit Hell someday then. The good places, of course. I would like to meet my dad and meet other emotion demons. I don't know how common they are, but they don't sound *that* uncommon. Right?"

Akane shifted topics with Amber, going back to focusing on the two-tailed fox. It was not like they could not have two conversations at the same time. As long as it was clear they were focusing on the assignment, Akane thought it would be just fine if she continued talking about her heritage and wondering what demons were like out loud.

"This will be easy then. We can talk about what makes them different from normal foxes and kitsunes, or what makes them similar? Or we could find stuff about why they grew two tails instead of just one. I'm just saying what I am thinking." She got out a piece of paper and began writing down every question that came to her mind, hoping Amber would expand on them or suggest better ideas. She sounded like a smart girl, so Akane had no worries that she was paired with a lazy or slow partner.

Part of Akane told her this project would be easy. It would be like any other project back home. Only six paragraphs? The two-tailed fox did not seem to be rare either. Another part of Akane told her that this was her first big project in some strange place full of animals she knew nothing about. Her anxieties were not assisted by Amber asking how good she was at art. She was not terrible and was told she was quite good, but she was anxious about showing off her drawings.

"Uuum, I-I'm better at designs. Animals and people aren't my best." She gave a small smile, trying to show some resemblance of confidence in her skills.

"The internet works here, yes?" What a stupid question. Of course it worked. She saw people on their phones all the time, and others would gossip about the latest news on social media. "What I meant is, we can look up information on the fox here? I was told some things are limited so the veil isn't broken. That's the right term, I think. If we can't use the internet, there have to be books." She scanned the classroom, looking for books that could help out. There had to be an area students could go to to get books without needing to run to the library. Not that she minded if there was none. It would be fun going to the library with Amber. It was a big place that intimidated Akane, but being with someone she knew and had a specific goal to achieve with would make it easier.

Akane blushed, unsure of what she meant either. Not being specific enough was a bad quality she had, and something she should have gotten over with a long time ago. "I like to design places, like beaches and buildings, but I like to design patterns more. It's fun filling up pages with as many colors and shapes as possible." Akane always felt proud after turning a blank white sheet of paper into a rainbow burst of lively whatever. She was never certain where she was heading when she drew her patterns, but she was always proud of the result. Even when she used darker and bleaker colors, the page still looked beautiful to her.

But she was getting carried away by less relevant details. Art was not what she should have been concerned about. That could come later after they gathered all the necessary information. Good thing for Akane that she got a partner experienced with the island. Amber managed to explain the Veil to Akane in a way she could sort of understand. The filter must have been magic. Magic explained everything on this island was one of the most valuable things Akane learned since coming here.

"Thank you. So the internet and library then? This project sounds much easier now." She smiled at Amber, pleased with how well things were going. "So what should we do now? Wait until class is over?" It looked like the class was going to end soon. Today was just the planning stage, after all. Next kids would be working together after school, or during times the teacher said it was okay for them to continue working on their project. Akane did not feel like time restraints were weighing down on her. So far, they were progressing at a good pace. They were moving, but it was not like they were fooling around and overlooking vital information.