Kalego was staying late at Babyls to mark assignments and finish up reports. Well, he had been, until suddenly he was summoned by his student to the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain.
His... fur was drenched immediately. Kalego prepared his scolding as soon as he saw Iruma sitting in front of him.
"Why did you-"
"I'm sorry, Kalego-sensei!" Iruma shouted. He sounded more... distraught than usual.
He was also trembling quite a bit, and he had a terrified look in his eyes.
Before Kalego could ask what had happened, Iruma began to explain.
"I-I fell and...and I don't-I don't know where I am..." Iruma stammered. Kalego noticed the way he had trouble getting his words out. And he picked up on Iruma's shallow breathing. "And... and I didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry... I'm sor-"
"Silence!" Kalego shouted, and Iruma jumped, but it shut him up.
The kid was hugging his knees and full-on hyperventilating now. It didn't seem like he was looking at Kalego anymore, more like looking past him.
"Iruma, you need to calm down," he said. He'd never seen Iruma so shaken up before; it was startling.
Iruma brought his hands to cover his face. "I'm..."
Whatever he was about to say, Kalego would never know because a sob came out instead. And another. And another.
Iruma had faced things far scarier and far more dangerous than this, so why did it elicit this strong of a reaction from him?
"Iruma, what's scaring you so much?"
He shook his head violently, and his gasps for air sounded quite painful.
"If you don't talk to me then I can't help you. Summoning me was... the right choice judging by these circumstances," he admitted. "Talk to me, Iruma."
Slowly, Iruma drew his hands away from his face and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. His attempts to take deeper breaths fell flat, but he spoke regardless.
"Being-being alone."
The rain continued to pour, but they were both already drenched. Iruma's hair was sticking to his face and his tears blended in with the drops from the sky.
"You're scared of being alone?"
He nodded wordlessly. It appeared as though he was trying to hold his breath, but another sob broke through anyway.
"I'm sorry-"
"What do you have to be sorry about?"
"I-I shouldn't... I shouldn't be... this shouldn't be happening... because..." Iruma paused, seemingly to catch his train of thought. "Because I was always fine by myself before."
Kalego had a feeling this conversation would last in his memory for a long time.
"Before?" he asked.
Closing his eyes, Iruma tried once more to steady his breathing, at least enough to give an answer.
"Um... before my grandpa took me in," he mumbled.
Oh.
"My, my um, parents, uh, they, uh..." Kalego noticed his breathing picking up again. "I... I had to take care of myself..." he said, forcing the words out. Kalego could hear the pain in his strained voice.
The netherworld was a cruel place, but to think that the grandson of the chair-demon had faced this much of it outside of what he'd witnessed wasn't something Kalego had been expecting.
Iruma placed a hand over his chest and the other dug into the wet grass and dirt.
"I... I... it reminded me of them..." he shivered. "But-but-but I could always manage... so I don't know why I'm..."
Finishing his sentence wasn't necessary for Kalego to know what he was going to say.
Suddenly, Iruma placed a hand on the tree and pulled himself off the ground in one quick movement. He took one step before his knees buckled and he collapsed back onto the ground, with his chest hitting the mud. A whine escaped him, and he began to hyperventilate just as much as before as he picked himself up with shaky arms to lean back against the tree.
"Iruma, are you injured anywhere?" Kalego asked. The sudden fall had startled him, and Iruma did say he fell earlier...
Iruma shook his head, and it looked like he was about to try pulling himself up again. "I... I need to-"
"You need to calm down first," Kalego snapped, and Iruma tore his hand away from the tree and turned to him with wide and teary eyes.
"Listen to me, Iruma."
He nodded.
"First of all, you are not alone. You summoned me, and I'm here to help. Understood?"
Another nod.
"You are allowed to be scared, Iruma. In fact, I think it would do you some good considering how often you jump headfirst into danger."
Iruma averted his gaze for a moment and nodded once more.
"I can see that this brought back some unwanted memories, and it's normal to be shaken up by that."
"But-"
" And even if you've been fine by yourself before, that doesn't mean you'll always be fine. You've clearly been traumatized by events in your childhood, and that's what's making you panic now."
Iruma's eyes widened. Hopefully some of that had gotten through to him.
"Slow down and let yourself breathe. Trying to power through will only exacerbate the issue."
For a moment, there was silence save for Iruma's breathing. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the tree.
Kalego watched him breathe.
Inhale, exhale.
"Okay," Iruma whispered.
As Iruma began to calm down, Kalego seized the opportunity to figure out where the hell they were.
The heavy rain from earlier had turned into trickles, making it easier to see. He flew up above the trees to get a... bird's eye view of the area.
In the distance, he could see Babyls, and he could figure out a path to lead Iruma there. That would be best, considering that when the summoning seal wore off, Kalego would still be in the area to help him.
He flew back down to find Iruma's breathing a lot slower, and his head hanging forward a little.
"Iruma, can you stand?"
Iruma opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times. He was very clearly out of it, and Kalego knew that asking him to fly would have taken too much out of him.
Iruma slowly lifted himself up onto his feet. Kalego noticed Iruma was shivering a lot, and remembered that his coat of fur had been shielding him from the cold weather, but Iruma had been fully exposed to it.
His legs were shaking a little, but he could stand. That was good.
"Follow me, okay?"
"Okay..." he mumbled.
Kalego floated in the direction of Babyls, and Iruma followed. His steps were slow, but Kalego preferred that to him attempting to speed up and falling.
Neither of them spoke the whole way there. Iruma seemed too exhausted, and Kalego was lost in thought. Had the chair-demon adopted Iruma? Did he have a kid that couldn't care for Iruma? Had Iruma told anyone else about his childhood?
Had he had a panic attack before?
He didn't seem to know what was going on during it...
Something told Kalego that Iruma had been due for a talk like that for a long time.
He would need to talk to the chair-demon... and his security devil about this. The kid clearly needed more support.
Eventually, they reached the entrance of the school.
"We're here," Kalego said.
Kalego could hear Iruma's sigh of relief.
"Kalego-sensei, thank-"
Poof!
Kalego was sitting at his desk, with his work, in his office, in his demon form.
He rushed to the entrance of the school and returned to Iruma.
"Come inside to get warmed up," he said.
Iruma nodded. Kalego placed a hand on Iruma's back to guide him to his office, and he felt how much of a shivering mess he was.
As they got closer, Iruma's steps became slower and more staggered.
"Kalego-sensei, I feel really dizzy..." Iruma mumbled, starting to fall forward.
Kalego caught him and scooped him up in his arms, carrying him the rest of the way. He could have used Cerberus but... it was only a little walk.
Iruma was still awake, but barely. Kalego could feel Iruma's heartbeat; it was rather fast. Maybe the dizziness had startled him.
Just as Kalego was about to step into his office, a familiarly annoying voice pierced through his skull.
"Kalego-sensei!" The newbie ran toward him excitedly, but the smile dropped once he got up close. "Iruma-kun?! What happened?"
The newbie's big green eyes were fixed on Iruma in Kalego's arms.
"Robin-sensei...?" Iruma blinked a few times.
"Iruma-kun, are you okay?" the newbie asked. His voice was softer in contrast to the annoyingly loud yapping akin to the screeching of a bird, but it kept the same bright energy.
"I'm fi-" Iruma stopped short. "I... uh..."
"Newbie, do me a favour," Kalego said, directing his attention away from Iruma.
"Anything for you, Kalego-sensei!" he said with those annoyingly sparkling eyes.
"Get a cup of warm hell grey tea and a blanket, and bring them to my office."
"On it!" Robin said, before hurrying away.
Kalego brought Iruma into his office and sat him down in a cushioned chair at the side of the room. His clothes had been dampened from carrying him, but they would dry.
He dragged another chair near, placed it across Iruma, and sat down.
"I'm going to call your security devil in a little bit to come pick you up."
"Okay."
Iruma stared at his fists in his lap.
"I'm sorry for troubling you so much, Kalego-sensei."
"I already told you that summoning me was the right choice to make."
"Yeah, but I'm still-"
"But nothing. It is my responsibility as your teacher to protect you."
The shaky breaths started up again, but Kalego wasn't sure why.
That was until Iruma looked up at him, and there were fresh tears streaming down his face.
"What's wrong?"
"It's-it's just... I'm still not used to being protected," he admitted.
Small sniffles and sobs were the only sound in the room for a little while, until there was a knock at the door.
"Kalego-sensei, can I come in?" the cheery voice irked him, but it meant he'd done what Kalego had asked for.
Kalego went and opened the door, grabbed the tea from the newbie's hand and the blanket from off his shoulder. He began to close the door, only for the newbie to slip through into his office and see Iruma crying.
"Iruma-kun, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting in the vacant chair next to him.
"That's none of your business, newbie," Kalego handed Iruma the tea and draped the blanket over his shoulders.
The last thing Iruma needed was added stress, and the newbie could be such a headache.
"It's a long story..." Iruma said as he drank a sip of tea.
"Don't worry about it then," the newbie said. "Everything will be okay, I promise!"
Kalego had no idea how he always had an overwhelming amout of energy.
He sighed, preparing to tell the newbie to get out, when to his complete and utter surprise, a small smile made its way onto Iruma's face.
Maybe that energy was slightly good for something.
Standing there in silence, Kalego continued to watch the newbie shower Iruma in reassuring words, and questions ("What do you like to eat? I can whip something up if you'd like!" ...that one made Iruma smile more than ever).
It was getting a little late. Kalego knew he should call Opera soon.
"Iruma-kun, I'll go make you some food right now! I'll be back!" the newbie said, turning to leave.
"Wait," Kalego put a hand up and he stopped in his tracks. "Iruma, why don't you go with him? I have a call to make."
"Oh-okay!" Iruma replied, and relief washed over Kalego when he found that the light had come back into his eyes.
They left the room, but before closing the door, Iruma poked his head back in.
"Kalego-sensei?" he asked in a small voice.
"Yes?"
"Are you calling Opera-san?"
"Yes."
"Okay..."
Iruma wanted to say more. Kalego could tell.
"I'll come get you when they're here to pick you up," he said.
"Thank you, Kalego-sensei," Iruma said, and then he closed the door.
Kalego sat at his desk. Time to make the call...
They answered immediately.
"Kalego-kun?"
"Iruma is at Babyls. Please come pick him up."
It was quiet for a moment, and then on the other side Kalego heard the chair-demon's screams of relief.
"We'd been worried sick. He was supposed to come home from playing with his friends a while ago before the weather got worse. Where did you find him?"
"He was in a forest not too far from Babyls. He said he fell... he might have slipped because of the mud."
"Is he okay?"
"I gave him some tea and a blanket to warm him up. He seems to be doing better now."
"Okay. I'm on my way."
"Come to my office when you get here."
Kalego figured it would probably be best to give them the details in person.
Some time later, Opera arrived.
They opened the door with no warning, startling Kalego. "Where is he?"
"He's in the teacher dorms. The newbie is making him food."
Instantly, Opera turned to fetch him.
"Wait-Opera-senpai, I need to talk to you about something serious. Please, have a seat."
Opera closed the door behind them and thankfully sat across Kalego without argument.
"When I... found Iruma," Kalego started-Opera didn't need to know about the summoning, "he was having a panic attack."
Opera's cat ears were already not very high up, but Kalego saw them drop even lower. "A panic attack? What was happening?"
"He was shaking, hyperventilating, having trouble talking, crying, he couldn't stand up, and he kept apologizing. He seemed unaware of why it was happening."
"Do you know what triggered it?" they asked, leaning in.
"It seemed like getting lost like that brought back traumatic memories of his childhood. He said that he was scared of being alone, and before the chair-demon took him in he had to take care of himself. Also, he was convinced that he shouldn't have been scared because he was alright in situations like that when he was younger."
As much as Kalego wanted to inquire about how Iruma became a part of this family after such a rough childhood, he refrained, because the most important matter was making sure he would be alright now .
"I see," Opera said.
"Iruma needs reassurance that he doesn't need to be fearless. And I think he needs some extra support, especially now," Kalego said. "I had never seen him like that before. It seemed to have taken a lot out of him."
"Thank you for informing me."
"Of course."
"He's in the teachers' dorms right now?" Opera said, standing up.
Kalego nodded, standing up as well.
The two made their way to the teachers' kitchen, and Iruma was sitting next to the newbie at the table with a plate and two bowls stacked on top of one another, all of which were empty.
Iruma was smiling more now, probably listening to the newbie spouting nonsense as he always did.
Opera walked up to the table, and Iruma latched onto them with insane speed. They said something to him, and Kalego couldn't make out what it was, but he hugged them tighter.
"Kalego-sensei, do you know if Iruma-kun is alright?"
The newbie looked up at him with his wide and curious eyes.
"Iruma is resilient," Kalego said, watching him talk to Opera while clinging to them. "And he's surrounded by support."
Opera and Iruma began to walk toward the exit, and Iruma glanced at Kalego and the newbie with a smile. Then they turned to leave.
"He'll be okay."
In fulfilling his role as a teacher at Babyls, Kalego would make sure of that.
.
.
*END OF STORY*