Ball of Nothing

Mr Spiff heard about Zero's special condition from the dean. He could understand why. The kid wasn't particularly strong looking and would probably be the target of bullying. Kids these days weren't the nicest, not that he expected anything less from demons. However, Zero just struck him as the odd one. The compliments he dished out weren't full of sarcasm, malice or ulterior motive. As a mirror demon, Spiff had the ability to look into a person's heart and reflect their true nature back at them. Zero's true nature blinded the professor.

"That was awesome!" Zero's voice could be heard again just as another student finished their round. His excitement was attracting odd attention within the class but Spiff simply couldn't stop him.

"Thanks," Jeff the werewolf grinned. Zero settled in easily with the children and the mirror demon wondered if Lucifer had been wrong with his judgement. The kid might look physically frail but there was tremendous strength in his personality and the ability to gather people towards him.

"Next!" Spiff called. It was Jeremiah's turn and Zero paid closer attention now that there was a great opportunity to observe his target.

The canary demon allowed his transformation to unravel and the young doctor blinked at his demon hybrid form. Sure, the yellow streak in his hair remained but the demon now had wings instead of arms and claws instead of feet. His facial features were slightly altered to something more bird-like and Zero wondered if that was any good for combat. According to Hua Tuo, canaries are domesticated birds who no longer knew how to survive in the wild. It was also the reason for their extinction.

Mr Spiff didn't relax his stance and treated Jeremiah with the same caution he did for Kruz. Zero raised a brow. Perhaps he was wrong in his judgement. It was a purely physical combat test so nothing should happen right? Mr Spiff would be able to handle it. Still, the heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach didn't go away. Why did he feel as if something terrible was going to happen again? The last time he had such a feeling was when they were fighting against Count Carrabas in Half Moon village.

The spar began at a normal pace with Jeremiah circling around Mr Spiff. It was basic common sense to size your opponent before the actual exchange. Zero didn't see anything wrong with it. Although his time with Ruth had been brief, he learnt a few tips from the vampire through their conversations.

Mr Spiff never made the first move. That was something Zero realised after paying attention to the lesson. He was slightly nervous because his turn was approaching so he didn't notice it at first when Jeremiah was playing dirty. The canary demon was whispering in a very low tone almost inaudible to the students below as they were spiralling higher in an aerial battle. Zero didn't pick it up at first but after observing that there was something strange about Mr Spiff's movements, he started paying closer attention to the details.

Mr Spiff was swaying from side to side with no control over his movements. The mirror demon was no fool, it was definitely some sort of spell. As an experienced teacher, he had certain measures to take against students like these. The Academy's safety features would kick in soon enough if it sensed magic use out of the unrestricted zone.

Zero frowned. Mr Spiff was getting more hits and it was worrying. Jeremiah wasn't landing light blows either. It stopped looking like a spar two minutes ago and Zero wasn't the only person to notice this. The mirror demon teacher was being knocked around in the air.

"Something's wrong," Beelzebub frowned. Zero didn't respond. He was considering if he should attract attention by jumping in to help their teacher. He did make a promise to stay out of trouble and jumping in right now would not only attract trouble but attention to him.

From the corner, someone shot up into the sky and startled the young doctor from his thoughts. Mr Spiff had been badly hit and was falling out of the sky. Jeremiah's feral smile spelt trouble as he swooped after the fallen teacher. Zero didn't have much time to react to that because there was someone way faster.

Kruz was already on it. The small bat demon was hardly able to support Mr Spiff but he did his best to re-divert the mirror demon from the crazy canary demon's path. Jeremiah cursed when he missed the final strike to shatter that pocket mirror. He clicked his tongue in distaste. Instead of pursuing the gym teacher, he switched his target to the meddling bat demon.

Kruz froze when those eyes locked onto him. He couldn't see very well but he could sense that bloodlust redirected to him. With Mr Spiff still in his arms and him struggling to keep them from plummeting to the ground, Kruz didn't know what he could do.

Jeremiah lunged himself forward and Zero decided to cast consequences to the wind. He didn't like Jeremiah before but now he absolutely abhorred that demon's existence. Beelzebub saw Zero's recklessness and decided to tackle the young doctor, pinning him to the ground with everything he had. Thankfully, nobody was paying attention to them so he clasped a hand over Zero's mouth. It wouldn't do them any good if they blew their cover now. This was a perfect opportunity to confirm the traitor's identity. Beelzebub had a fairly good idea on which suspect to tail now. He caught sight of something that Zero didn't know yet and knowing how naive the teenager was, he wasn't going to share the lead.

"Stop it, idiot!" he hissed. "You're going to blow our cover."

Zero glared at the Demon Lord. There were people in trouble and his mission partner was only concerned about blowing their cover? Couldn't he see that Mr Spiff required medical attention? Kruz was also in a pinch. Someone had to help them and stop Jeremiah before things become dire.

Just then, there was a loud booming noise and an explosion in the sky.

Beelzebub, Zero and everyone else froze. The sky was covered in dark clouds that crackled with lightning. It didn't look natural at all and the two squabbling students forgot about the differences momentarily.

In the swirl of dark clouds, a holographic face started to form. Zero recognised it to be Lucifer and was almost relieved that the dean had great timing.

"Jeremiah," the voice boomed. "Come to the dean's office right now. The rest of you in Class-A and Class-B are dismissed for the day."

After dropping that abrupt announcement, the clouds dispersed and students started chatting amongst themselves, not understanding what had transpired. Jeremiah looked pale as he descended from the sky. Kruz looked worn out but Mr Spiff who had reverted to his usual form looked worse than the small bat demon.

As the students started to disperse, Zero rushed over to Kruz and Mr. Spiff while Beelzebub left to hide in a distance, intending to tail the canary demon who glared at the teenager and the bat demon with hate.

"Heal!" Zero whispered urgently and enveloped the two demons in his magic. It was a basic recovery spell that worked quickly and effectively.

Almost instantly, Kruz felt better. He didn't feel tired and was surprised that his feelings had somewhat stabilised despite the mental shock. On the other hand, Mr Spiff didn't look any better.

"Can you help me carry him to the infirmary or my room? I'm a doctor in training, I can help," he asked the bat demon.

Kruz blinked. He couldn't really see Zero's face but from the warm and sincere voice, the bat demon knew he was a kind person.

"Do you live in the dormitory?"

"Yes," Zero confirmed and Kruz threw one of Mr Spiff's arms over his shoulder.

"Lead the way, it's closer than the infirmary. Can you fly?"

The young doctor shook his head. "Not yet. I wish I could do so one day but not yet..."

Kruz was puzzled by that response but chose not to comment on it. They made their way slowly back to Zero's room. From atop the clock tower, a certain librarian smiled. He would love to get to know more about the brunet who smelled like a dragon. It was quite a nostalgic scent too. Who knew that he would get to see his old friend in such circumstances?

***

Kruz was amazed. He didn't know anything about Zero because he was a transfer student. Zero didn't look particularly strong either and was like a magnet for bullies if anything. As one of the weaker demons, Kruz tended to keep to himself and shy away from everyone else. His trait wasn't a particularly special one but it got him accepted into the ranks of those who were considered geniuses. It made him feel incredibly out of place and he was always so afraid that he would be the next to be targeted. He heard the stories about how certain students were targeted the moment they left the Academy's grounds and murdered. For someone as weak as him, the only way to survive was to not offend anyone or join the ranks of someone strong. There were many strong people like Chitta and Rayneld but Kruz simply didn't have the courage to approach any of them. Looking at Zero made him reconsider. Maybe it wouldn't be bad to be friends with him.

"How did you get accepted into the Academy?" Kruz asked at last.

Zero was in the middle of repairing the fractured pieces of mirror on Mr Spiff's main body when he heard Kruz's quiet question.

Honestly, Zero hadn't thought about his cover story. Should he just tell the bat demon that it was through Baal's recommendation or come out with something else?

"It's alright if you don't want to answer, I'm just curious."

Zero smiled. He liked Kruz already. The bat demon may be quiet and aloof but really, he was only a misunderstood person. That was another suspect stuck of the list of targets.

"Would you believe me if I said it was through Baal's recommendation? We're friends."

Kruz stiffened. Nobody sane would call a Demon Lord by their name, at least not the six established ones. Beelzebub was someone whom the Abyss had yet to recognise so nobody really bothered treating him like one yet. For Zero to call Lord Baal by his name so comfortably would either mean he had a lot of guts or really was a close friend.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know that. Please forgive me, Sir Zero!"

The teenager blinked. "Oh no! Don't call me that... I'm just Zero. All my friends call me that... Unless you don't want to be my friend?"

Kruz froze as if he had done something horrible. "Not at all! I'll be most honoured to be your friend..." He panicked when he heard the hurt in Zero's voice.

Zero beamed and did a one-eighty change in attitude at Kruz's confirmation.

"Yay! You're my very first friend in the Academy. Let's get along well, Kruz!"

The bat demon was blinded by Zero's glowing happiness. Kruz felt the heat rush to his cheeks and nodded shyly. Zero only laughed at that shy demeanour as he continued patching Mr Spiff back.

"Could you share with me a little more about how things work in the Academy? I'm still rather lost because it is such a huge place with so many people..."

The bat demon smiled and delved into details about what he knew, making sure to include advice of the people Zero should try to avoid offending and the ones who seemed particularly nasty.

"That's cool, you know so many things!" Zero complimented and Kruz shuffled in his seat. Zero pulled the covers over Mr Spiff and pulled out some tea from his inventory storage, startling Kruz.

"How can you use magic in the Academy's non-magic zone?"

Zero blinked. "It's an ability of mine? I don't think this counts as magic?"

Kruz tilted his head to a side, confused. Wasn't space-time magic and kind of magic? What kind of ability was that? Was Zero some kind of storage chest demon? That was odd. Kruz was very sure Zero was some sort of medicinal plant demon. Now that he thought about it... that was healing magic. That was still magic! Magic was banned, how is Zero able to use it?

The bat demon began to be suspicious as the oblivious brunet served tea with a bright smile. Perhaps... perhaps there was more than met the eye when things concerned Zero.

Kruz didn't show it outwardly but the gears in his head began working in overdrive. Who exactly was Zero and what was he doing in the Academy?