A Hero in a Demon School!!!!

"Hello, everyone! Did you all enjoy the festival? Anyway, the headquarters has an important announcement to make," the speakers around the school boomed. "The vote counting is almost complete, and soon it will be time to announce the final rankings of this year's Battler Party and determine the best Battler at today's event."

******

After their delightful date, Izuku and Ameri silently strolled through the halls of Babyls, making their way towards the event hall for the Battler Party award ceremony. Both of them had a faint blush adorning their faces, and they wore contented smiles. Ameri had returned to her uniform, and Izuku had conscientiously returned all the items he had gathered for their outing.

As they continued their walk, they were suddenly interrupted by two women approaching them.

"Ameri~ finally, I found you," Kumara, the nine-tailed fox demon and co-head of the demon border patrol, who also happened to be Ameri's mom, walked towards them with a warm smile on her face. Accompanying Kumara was Moana, who closely followed behind her.

"Mom! What are you doing here? I thought you were occupied with work," Ameri exclaimed, embracing her mother tightly.

"I was indeed occupied, but I will always find a way to make time for my daughter," Kumara responded, her face beaming with delight. "Besides, I can delegate some of my tasks to my subordinates," she added, causing Ameri to shake her head with a smile of exasperation. Then, Kumara shifted her attention to Izuku. "Hello, Midoriya. How have you been? It has been quite some time since we last met."

"I'm doing well, ma'am, and yes, it has been quite a while," Izuku replied.

"That's good to hear," Kumara said. "By the way, Ameri, can you come here for a moment?"

"Sure," Ameri replied, and both mother and daughter moved a short distance away from Izuku and Moana. Ameri's expression turned worried as she asked, "So, Mom, what is it?"

"Don't worry, Ameri. It's nothing troublesome, so stop making that face," Kumara reassured her, noticing the worry on her daughter's face. "I simply noticed the scent of both you and Midoriya on each other's bodies," she said playfully, sporting a teasing grin.

"W-what?" Ameri asked, her face turning flustered.

"I'm not trying to be nosy or anything, but I really think I'm too young to be a grandmother yet," Kumara remarked, her teasing grin widening as she observed her daughter's flustered expression.

"Mom! It's not like that," Ameri hurriedly responded, attempting to contain her embarrassment. "We just spent some time watching fireworks together."

"Is that so?" Kumara asked, feigning innocence in her voice while keeping her mischievous grin intact.

"That's exactly it!" Ameri replied firmly, hoping to clarify the situation.

Meanwhile, Izuku, who had been waiting for them, observed Ameri's flushed face and grew concerned. He asked, "Is she alright? Her face looks red."

"Don't worry, it's quite normal for them," Moana reassured Izuku. Then, her smile turned slightly intimidating. "By the way," she continued, "I hope you are treating Lady Ameri properly. Otherwise, we'll have to have a serious talk, understood, Midoriya-kun?"

"Y-yes," Izuku replied, mustering a strained smile in response.

Just then, another person arrived on the scene. "Midoriya, do you have a minute? We need to talk," the person standing in front of Izuku was none other than Naberius Kalego, the homeroom teacher of the Misfit Class.

"Of course, sensei. What would you like to talk about?" Izuku responded, turning his attention towards Kalego. Meanwhile, Kumara and Ameri, having noticed Kalego's presence, walked over to join the conversation. However, Kalego was not pleased with their presence.

"I'm here to talk with my student, so I would appreciate some space," Kalego stated, giving a pointed look to Kumara.

"There's no need to worry about that, and I'm certain Midoriya wouldn't mind either," Kumara replied with a smile, disregarding Kalego's comment. "Isn't that right, Midoriya-kun?"

"Huh..." Izuku was taken aback by the sudden attention directed towards him. "Well, as long as Kalego-sensei doesn't mind..." he said, throwing the decision back to Kalego.

"Well, whatever..." Kalego sighed, shifting his attention back to Izuku. "Anyway, Midoriya, I'm here to inform you that your Battler has been disqualified from the event, and votes given to your division won't be counted."

"Oh... okay," Izuku replied, not quite sure how to react to his teacher's announcement. He felt a mixture of frustration and understanding, having a hunch as to why this was happening and who might be responsible for it.

"Wait a minute, Izuku! You can't possibly be okay with this!" Ameri exclaimed, expressing her disbelief. "Kalego-sensei, it's not fair to Izuku or the other members of his battler."

"Even if it's not fair, there is nothing I can do about it," Kalego explained. "The person who caused the incident was the leader of their battler, and their project nearly blew up the school. It wouldn't be fair to the other battlers to allow them to compete in the competition after such an incident."

"Mom, please say something. You can't possibly agree to this," Ameri said, turning to her mother.

"I'm sorry, darling, but there is nothing I can do in this matter," Kumara said, shaking her head. "Even though I agree that the school's decision on this matter is a little harsh on these kids, unfortunately, my authority does not extend to this situation, so I do not have a say in this decision."

"But-"

"Ameri, it's alright," Izuku interjected, offering her a reassuring smile. "I know it's frustrating, but I don't think creating a scene about it right now is going to achieve anything. And as for Kirio..." he sighed and turned towards Kalego. "Honestly, none of us, including myself, Daki-senpai, Alice, or Clara, had any idea that the shy and timid Kirio would turn out to be a sadistic psychopath who wanted to watch the school burn. At no point did any of us have any involvement with his plan. However, if the faculty still thinks that disqualifying us from the event is the right choice, then I won't protest against it." He ended with a smile, looking directly into Kalego's eyes.

'Izuku, I am so proud of you~' Nana squealed in delight, seeing Izuku assert himself to his teacher. However, it also told her how upset he is right now because normally her boy would never talk back to a teacher like that.

"Good, as long as you understand," Kalego said, without paying attention to Izuku's sarcastic remark, and walked away.

Then, when Kalego was no longer in sight, green energy swirled around Izuku's arm, and he unleashed his frustration by slamming it against the nearby wall, causing it to crack slightly. Afterward, he took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself down. However, despite his efforts, the anger and frustration continued to burn within him. So, he made the decision to direct his emotions towards Kirio, who was the root cause of this injustice happening to him and his friends.

"Izuku..." Ameri's voice brought Izuku back to the present moment, making him realize that there were three other people there witnessing his outburst.

"Oh... I'm sorry you had to witness that," Izuku apologized, feeling a tinge of embarrassment as he averted his gaze.

"No, no, you have every right to be angry about their decision to disqualify your battler," Ameri reassured him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Especially when you're the one who stopped Kirio and saved the school."

"I'm not angry just because they failed to acknowledge the fact that I saved the school," Izuku expressed bitterly. "I'm angry because this decision affects all the other members of my battler as well. We put in so much effort to create something from scratch, and each one of us gave our all to make those fireworks a reality. And now, it feels like it's all been for nothing because of one person who decided to be a dic-" Izuku abruptly halted his words, realizing that Ameri's mother was also present there.

"Anyway, I should be going now. I need to inform Alice and the others about this situation as well," Izuku stated, his voice tinged with disappointment. He turned away and began walking from the group, leaving Ameri staring after him with a frown on her face.

******

"Alice! Clara!" Izuku exclaimed as he spotted his friends and battler members outside the event hall where the award ceremony was going to take place, and he hurried towards them. As he reached their side, he noticed that Alice was frowning, while Clara had a huge pout on her face. "Guys... I need to tell you something," he said, trying to find the right words to explain the situation to both of them.

"Izuku, is this about the disqualification of our battler from the event?" Alice asked, noticing Izuku's struggle with his words.

"Yeah... they informed you too, huh," Izuku sighed. A part of him was relieved that he didn't have to be the bearer of bad news for his friends.

"Yeah, they told us about it a few minutes ago," Alice said with a frown.

"That's not fair," Clara exclaimed, her hands flapping in frustration.

"You're right, Clara. It's not..." Izuku said, patting Clara's head to comfort her. "By the way, where is the president?" Izuku asked, referring to Daki, who technically held the position of the club president after Kirio.

"I don't know," Alice replied. "She was here with us when Dali sensei told us about the disqualification, but after that, she vanished from this place."

"I see," Izuku said and thought for a moment before continuing. "Alice, Clara, go and attend the award ceremony while I go and search for her."

"Are you sure? We can accompany you if you want," Alice said, while Clara nodded in agreement.

"It's alright, I think I know where to find her," Izuku said with a smile. "Besides, it will look bad if none of us attended the ceremony, so you two go ahead. I will join you soon." With that, Izuku parted ways with Alice and Clara and headed towards a specific location he had in mind.

After walking for a few minutes, he arrived in front of the room allocated to their battler. Slowly, he turned the knob, entered the room, and sure enough, there was Daki, angrily dismantling one of the magic tools while muttering curses under her breath.

"Careful there, you might curse it by mistake," Izuku said as he walked in front of her and leaned on the nearby table.

"Midoriya? What are you doing here? I thought you were busy with Ms. President," Daki asked, staring at Izuku.

"I was, and we had a great time," Izuku replied with a smile. "By the way, you did a fantastic job handling the fireworks. Your timing was impeccable, and it really helped make my evening special."

"Well, I am glad that at least someone benefited from it," Daki said in a disheartened voice and started tinkering with a nearby magic tool.

Izuku sighed and took the magic tool away from her, much to her displeasure. Then he sat down next to her and asked, "You must be really angry right now, huh?"

"Hmm," Daki said as she curled up and buried her head in her knees.

"And you must also be feeling that everyone and everything is unfair and against you," Izuku said, and once again, Daki wordlessly agreed with him without lifting her head.

"Yeah, I understand. It sucks, huh?" Izuku said with a chuckle, causing Daki to glare at him.

"This is not funny, Midoriya!" Daki grumbled in a frustrated voice. "We worked so hard. We spent entire days cooped up in this room, trying and failing time and time again to make those fireworks, and then the school decides that our efforts won't be rewarded because of that Kirio..." Suddenly, her eyes darkened, and venom dripped in her voice as she said that name. "That bastard... next time I see him, I am going to strangle him so hard that his body will bend in an unnatural way."

A strained smile appeared on Izuku's face as he heard Daki's words. Moments like these kept reminding him that he was, indeed, in a demon realm, surrounded by literal demons. However, he couldn't help but recall encountering many humans who were far more demon-like than the actual demons in the netherworld.

"You know, I once had a teacher with a unique way of instructing his class," Izuku said, reminiscing about his past. "He resorted to rational deceptions, lies, threats of expulsion, and various other tactics that would normally shatter students' trust in teachers, all in order to drive a simple point into us that, 'the world isn't fair, deal with it.'"

"At the time, I didn't give it much thought, but later on, I had ample time to ponder those words. Eventually, I arrived at the conclusion that while the world may be unfair, I don't have to accept it passively without feeling anything about it," he concluded with a casual shrug.

"Midoriya, where are you going with this?" Daki asked, not fully grasping what Izuku was trying to say.

Izuku sighed as he stood up and then crouched in front of Daki, looking straight into her eyes. "What I am trying to say is that it's entirely alright for you to feel angry about the school's decision to disqualify our battler. It's completely okay to be upset that we aren't getting a fair chance to compete against everyone else. Hell, go ahead and rain curses on them until you feel satisfied. But just remember, staying here while sulking won't change anything. So come on, be a brave girl, and come with me. The others are waiting for us," he said with a chuckle.

Once again, Daki groaned and buried her head in her knees. "It's so embarrassing to be consoled by your junior," she said with a hint of playfulness in her voice. Then she got up, stretching her arms and legs. "Let's go, junior, let's show them that no amount of unfairness is going to hold us back."

"Hell yeah!" Izuku cheered along with her.

"Also, while we're walking, you're going to tell me what base you reached with the stuck-up red-haired president," Daki said with a suggestive grin, making Izuku groan and blush as he started walking ahead, with Daki following behind, snickering to herself.

******

"After a few minutes, Izuku and Daki returned to the event hall where Alice, Clara, and Eiko were chatting outside.

"I guess we missed the award ceremony," Izuku said as he noticed several students and parents exiting the event hall.

"Who cares? We weren't going to win anyway," Daki said with a shrug as she and Izuku approached their group. But then Eiko spotted them and ran towards Izuku, hugging him.

"Izuku!!!! We won the first prize!" she exclaimed while embracing him. Then she stepped back and proudly displayed her rank badge to him. "Look! Look! I even got a rank up!" And sure enough, her rank had been raised from BET (2nd) to GIMMEL (3rd).

"Hehe, good for you," Izuku chuckled, appreciating her enthusiasm. "But wasn't a rank-up limited only to the battler president? So how did you get one?"

"Well, apparently she pulled off some kind of stunt in the main courtyard during the panic on Party Eve," Alice replied, earning a glare from Eiko.

"Don't make it sound like I did something bad," Eiko glared at Alice and quickly turned towards Izuku with a sweet smile. "What Azz was trying to say is that I helped in calming the students during the panic, that's why Kalego-sensei praised me and gave me a rank up," she said while grinning from ear to ear.

"Honestly, I am more impressed by the fact that you earned praise from someone as stern as Kalego-sensei, more than anything," Izuku said with a thoughtful expression but then noticed pale expressions on his friends' faces.

'He's standing behind me, isn't he?' Izuku sighed while rubbing his temples.

'With your luck, he definitely is,' Nana said, sounding equally exasperated as well.

Izuku slowly turned around, and just as he predicted, Kalego was standing there, staring at him with an indifferent expression on his face. "If you want to earn my praise, then do something worth earning it instead of causing trouble for people around you."

'Something he will consider worthy of praise; the bar is set too high from the beginning,' Nana said, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, this is Henri Azazel, co-head of the Demon Border Patrol. He wants to talk to you about... you know who," Kalego said, and a tall demon with a suit and crimson hair walked forward, offering his hand to Izuku.

"Izuku Midoriya, I presume. I have heard quite a lot about you," Henri said while shaking Izuku's hand. "Also, if you don't mind, I would like to hear the details of the incident that occurred yesterday," Henri said and gestured for Izuku to follow him. But before they could go, Daki butted in.

"I was also there during that incident, so I should accompany you as well," Daki said, narrowing her eyes at Henri. Of course, she wasn't going to entrust her favorite person in this entire school to a redhead demon.

"That won't be necessary for now. I will trouble you if I need any information from you," Henri said with a wave of his hand.

"But-"

"Daki senpai, it's alright," Izuku said in a calm voice, making her give up her efforts to accompany them. "Mr. Henri, let's go."

******

Away from all the noise of the festive atmosphere, Henri and Izuku were sitting on one of the benches in the school courtyard, where Izuku was narrating the events that occurred on the night of Party Eve.

"I see..." Henri said while making notes on his notepad. "Aside from what you just told me, did you notice anything else or find anything odd in Kirio's behavior?"

"Hmm... something odd..." Izuku thought, replaying the events of that day in his mind. "I don't know how odd it is, but his behavior was almost animalistic when he talked about wanting to see despair."

"Animalistic, you said..." Henri's expression turned serious for a moment. 'He is perhaps one of those demons with 'return to origin' ideologies.'

"Also, he mentioned a senior a few times during the conversation," Izuku said as he recalled Kirio's monologue.

"A senior?" Henri's ears perked up upon this new information. "Did he mention a name or a motive?"

"No, he didn't mention any name in particular, but he did say that the reason he wanted to destroy Babyls was to disrupt ranks and order in the Netherworld," Izuku explained.

Henri nodded and went into deep thought, going over the information that Izuku had given him. Then he let out a tired sigh, knowing that his days were going to get a lot busier than before.

Now, the main reason why Henri had cornered this boy... this human boy... well, he didn't have any concrete evidence about it, but according to Baal, Sullivan-sama had made an illegal trip to the human world and forcefully brought a human to the Netherworld, and the green-haired boy in front of him was most likely the human he brought along with him.

"Sir... is there something on my face?" Izuku asked nervously as Henri kept staring at him.

"Ah, no, forgive my rudeness," Henri said while clearing his throat. "By the way, I will tell you a secret."

'Why?!' Izuku and Nana thought in unison.

"Well... the truth is I have met a human before," Henri said casually, unaware of the turmoil raging inside Izuku's mind.

'What the hell! Why does everyone from the Azazel family seem to figure out my identity?' Izuku screamed internally.

'Calm down, Izuku. I don't think he has figured anything out yet,' Nana said. 'For now, just play along and try to keep your answers as vague as you can.'

"Wow, that's actually kind of strange, huh?" Izuku said with a strained smile. "Then what happened with that h-human?"

"We captured that human, of course," Henri said, and he noticed a slight change in Izuku's expression, so he decided to push a little further. "After catching that human, the upper body was sent to a lab, and the lower body was thrown into a boiling pot," he said as he created a sinister aura around himself. Henri observed how Izuku's body stiffened, his eyes steeled with a dangerous glint, and his hands clenched, ready to throw a punch at a moment's notice. "It was a joke, sorry."

Then Henri noticed that Izuku's expressions were back to normal, but now he was much more cautious of him than before. "Jokes aside, the human was 'protected' and was safely sent back to the human world," Henri continued and decided to go straight to the point he was trying to make. "This means that after completing some procedures, we can send you back to the human world."

"I see..." Izuku said calmly, while internally he was preparing himself for the next conversation. "So you think I am a human? What makes you say that?"

"We have some evidence that points towards that," Henri said, not wanting to dance around this issue anymore.

"Evidence?" Izuku raised his brow. As far as he knew, there shouldn't be any evidence of him being human other than some verbal confirmations from very few people who knew his identity, and even among those people, he couldn't imagine anyone going as far as to report to the border patrol. "What kind of evidence?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot disclose that," Henri said. "That aside, what I am trying to say is that the number of demons who follow the ideals of 'returning to the originator' is increasing, and it is not safe for a human to live here. So we will erase all your memories and send you back-"

"Woah! Hold your horses there, sir. I never said I was human, did I?" Izuku said as he made some distance between them. "Besides, if I were human, how would I be able to do this?" he said, and green energy danced around his hand.

"I... don't have an answer for that," Henri said while narrowing his eyes at Izuku's hand. It was another mystery that surrounded this human boy. Humans had various talents in various fields, but the kind of strength that Izuku Midoriya demonstrated wasn't one of them. Especially if there is any truth in the rumors that surround this boy.

"Oh well, there is your answer," Izuku shrugged. "And just in case, I am neither human nor was I forcefully brought into the Netherworld."

"In that case, why don't you come with-"

"Ah, Henri! There you are," Henri's words were cut short when Kumara, his wife, and Ameri, his daughter, approached him. "Oh, and Midoriya is here as well."

"Yes, I wanted to hear details about the Kirio incident from him," Henri said while fixing his glasses.

"Really!?" Kumara asked, narrowing her eyes at her husband. "Is that the only reason you brought him here, in this isolated part of the school?"

"I brought him here because I didn't want any unnecessary ears prying on any sensitive information," Henri replied, his eyes not wavering even a little bit. Then, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed Izuku and Ameri chatting... a little too casually, making his eye twitch. "It looks like you two are acquainted with him."

"I have met him on a few occasions, but..." A devilish grin appeared on Kumara's face. "Ameri has quite a close relationship with him."

*Crack*

"Is that so?" Henri said as a crack appeared on his glasses, and his eye kept twitching.

"Izuku is really famous in our school. He has had a lot of good results since he entered as a student," Ameri said with a vibrant smile on her face. "And at this year's Battler Party, he showed everyone a gorgeous performance..." She turned around and glanced at Izuku with a bright smile and then turned back to her father. "Izuku is a very excellent Demon!"

"I see..." Henri said, staring right at Izuku, who had a faint smug smile on his face.

'Izuku, you are playing with fire here,' Nana warned him, though it's not like she wasn't enjoying seeing this side of Izuku.

'I am friends with Alice, I think I can handle a little fire myself,' Izuku replied internally, chuckling to himself.

"Honestly, I didn't expect you to evaluate one person that much," Henri said, trying to regain his composure. "Even Kumara seems to think highly of him."

"Oh well, that's because we often hang out together," Ameri said, not noticing a blank expression on her father's face.

"Hang out? J-just the two of you?" Henri asked, his voice trembling a little, while Kumara was enjoying the sight.

"Yeah, most of the time it's after school, together in a room, drinking tea..." she said while fidgeting with her fingers, totally oblivious to the trembling form of her father.

"What do you do in the room...?" Henri asked, a dark aura surrounding his body.

"Oh, we-," suddenly she stopped as she realized that she couldn't tell her father that she was reading sacred text (manga) with Izuku. "We mainly talk about love."

'No... you shouldn't have said that,' Izuku thought, resisting his urge to facepalm. He had a vivid feeling that Henri definitely didn't want to hear that.

"L-love...?" Henri asked with a trembling voice.

"We talk about other things too, like dreams, ambitions, and our future," Ameri said in an excited voice.

'Future... wait a minute! Love + Future = Marriage!' Henri connected the dots in his mind, and as soon as he arrived at the conclusion, his glasses shattered, and he started feeling dizzy, almost losing consciousness just by the thought of a little girl getting married to someone.

"Father!" Ameri quickly moved to his side, trying to support her father. "Are you okay?"

"Sir, are you all right?" Izuku asked, trying to approach the man but then...

"Listen, the relationship between us is not good enough for you to call me 'Father'," Henri yelled while glaring at Izuku.

"I didn't even call you that..." Izuku retorted in a low voice.

"Hey Izuku-Kun you can call me 'Mother' if you want in turn I will call you Izuku, all right?" Kumara said with a huge grin on her face giving Izuku the impression that she was actually enjoying whatever was going on there.

'Oh trust she is enjoying this as much as I am,' Nana said with as wide a grin as Kumara had.

"Hey! Don't encourage him!" Henri yelled, but before he could say anything else, Ameri grabbed his arm.

"Izuku, I am going first. See you later," she said and started dragging Henri away while talking about taking him to the infirmary.

"Is he going to be alright?" Izuku absentmindedly mumbled as he watched Ameri dragging her father away.

"Don't worry about Henri, he just becomes over-possessive when it comes to Ameri," Kumara said while giggling to herself. "By the way, I wasn't kidding when I told you to call me 'mother,' you know," she said while smirking at the younger boy.

"I think I will pass on that," Izuku said with a strained smile.

"Shame," Kumara said with mock sadness. "Anyway, I should be going now. I have to make sure my husband is alright." With that, she left, leaving a very bewildered Izuku behind.

'Azazel family is really something, huh?' was the thought Izuku had in mind as he walked back to the festive ground.

******

And so, with a lot of ups and downs, the Battler Party finally came to an end, and now Izuku was outside his house with Sullivan and Opera walking in front of him.

As he was walking, there were quite a lot of thoughts running through his mind. The events that took place during the party had given him much to think about. Kirio's plot and the things he said. His promise to Ameri. His talk with Henri and how close he was to losing the home he had found after so long. After thinking for a while, he came to the conclusion that the answer to all of his thoughts was strength.

He needs to become strong. Much stronger than he is right now. To handle threats like Kirio. To fulfill his promise to Ameri. To solidify his place in a world full of demons. He needs to become strong enough to fend off anyone who threatens him, his friends, or his place in this world.

But he can't do this alone; he needs help, and luckily he knows where to get it. So, he entered the house and told Sullivan and Opera that he needed to talk to them. So after everyone freshened up, Sullivan, Izuku, and Opera were sitting in the main hall, with Hell-Grey tea served in front of them.

"So Izuku-kun, what do you want to talk about?" Sullivan asked in a calm voice.

Izuku took a deep breath and steeled his nerves and started, "So before we start let me ask you a question..." Izuku said and noticed a curious look in both of their eyes. "Do you believe in reincarnation?"

To be continued...