Clipped

Chapter 2

It was obvious to Marbas and everyone there that their usual happy peppy student had a darker past than he let on, or maybe even knew himself. Whether how the child was able to have a rough childhood with the principal as the definition of obsessive is still in question but that is not the most important matter in hand at the moment.

"Clipped my wings? I-I dont know what you mean...w-what does that have to do with m-m-my..." Irumas voice became more broken and quiet as he tries to comprehend everything.

Faced with evidence of Iruma's traumatic past, Buer-Sensei attempts to gain control of the situation. As usual with things involving Iruma, they rarely go as planed.

'Was he too young to know what happened to him? What about Principal? Does he know about this?' Marbas thought as Irumas body somehow became smaller. A million quesrions going through her head per second

"Okay so lets start with this... Iruma, do you know what subject I teach?"

"S-s-sorry I-I dont remember... please forgive me! I-I-" Iruma began to shake ones more as his hands clutched his hair in frustration.

"Its okay Iruma-kun. Its understandable since you dont take my class, I mostly teach 2nd years*. Now the answer to my question: its Torture Arts. I discuss the history of torture and how ancient demons perform it and why. In advance classes and the battler that I supervise we sometimes have demonstrations." Marbas quickly replied to pull the small boy out of his spiral.

"What does that have to do with me sensei?" Iruma said in a quiet voice. Atleast now he wasnt pulling his hair out.

"Okay so..." Marbas took a deep breath before looking at Iruma with soft but sharp eyes. "Teachers in Babirus are the top in their field and anything less is unacceptable, your grandpa males sure of that. Me, as a teacher of Torture Arts can i dentify the methods of torture used in just one look, its a testement to my devotion to the study. Iruma, the scars on your back, show heavy signs of abuse, and by the looks of it, its clearly intentional."

"Wha- okay stop for one moment...please. First I dont understand when you say I was tortured. And how does this connect with me being wingless?" Iruma said with slight hits of agitation in his voice.

"Let me give you a short lesson my dear student. In the old days, back when demons were still figuring out what was okay and wasnt, crimes were punished with certain torture proceedures that are now illegal. One of those is something called Clipping. Its the process of tearing of ones wings by pulling it off, either with brute strength or magic. A very cruel punishment to demons who were made into slaves of stonger demons and didnt satisfy their masters whims." Marbas explained patiently, informing Iruma of of how dire his situation is.

Iruma was still processing everything when Buer finally spoke once more.

He realized that his student was clearly sheltered as a child for whatever reason-good or bad-, and does not know how heavy losing ones wings were to a demoms identity.

"Wings are demons symbol for freedom, and once cut means we lost our ownership to ourselves. For a normal demon, after losing their wings they usually kill themself, not willing to live a life without their freedom. Demons value our wings like our life. Wings are the only thing that are consistent among demons, the one thing that makes us identify each other as the same species. Now Iruma do you understand what this all means and how it affects you?"

Iruma didnt speak. More like he couldnt. The words were stuck on his throat, as frustrated tears fall down his face. He refuses to believe that he was tortured, no it just cant be. His kind nature refuses to believe that there was someone so sick to do that to an unknowing child. To him. 'So thats why I dont-'

"Iruma, for your safety, please tell me who gave those those scars so we can deal with them personaly." Marbas said carefuly. She knew this was a very personal thing for her student, but as a teacher its her responsibility to make sure that their stidents are okay home life included.

"N-no it cant be, this is nothing really! The scars on my back are nothing! Ive been through worse. Im fine! Im fine." Iruma exclaimed more to convince himself then the teachers.

Robin couldnt hold it in anymore and let out a loud cry, as he gasps for air as his crying is closing up his throat.

Iruma immediately reacted and stood up, sped walked to his sensei out of instinct. Him being slightly taller he rests the green haired teachers head on the crook of his neck as he hugs him. Drawing circles on the others back.

"Its okay Robin sensei, theres no need to cry! Im okay, really, now dont waste your precious tears on me. I dont want to see my strong sensei in such a weak state..." This contiued on as Iruma tried to coax his sensei to calm down.

Iruma then lifts his head for a moment and sees Mononoki crying. Luckily for him, the female teacher was just at arms reach.

With the hand thats drawing circles on Robins back, he digs his hand into his pocket, navigating through his stash of snacks to finf the hankerchief his granpa enbroidered himself.

"Mononoki sensei dont let your tears ruin your beautiful face. Here! Wipe those tears away with this. You are an amazing teacher, so please be strong, there nothing to cry about." Iruma said as wipes the tears of his teachers face with a caring smile.

'When comforting someone, its best to not also be crying. It makes you more convincing' Iruma would say to himself as he uses his left hand to pat Robins head, while his right one is wiping tears off Mononoki.

For the other teachers in the rooom, they stood in disbelief as their student was the one comforting their coworkers. Their opinion of Iruma became higher as his kindness knows no bounds.

'Hes been through worse...?'

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*I am not sure whether Marbas does indeed mostly teach second years, but for the sake of this story lets just roll with it.