Chapter 4: A Demon King with Second Year Syndrome

"Do you need anything?" Aliyah asked with a low tone of voice, fear of losing her job rooted down deep into her.

"Hmph." Ivy glared at Aliyah like a hawk as she slowly walked past her. Not even once did Aliyah move her sight away from her whilst she was in the room. As Aliyah glared at her with a doll-like face, she slowly left with her cloths changed into the store's blue uniform of a blue vest, a white shirt, a blue cap and a blue skirt for the female workers.

After working until the night fell, Ivy threw the bakery's keys towards Aliyah. "Clean everything and lock the doors before you leave." Aliyah wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm as she released a breath of relief, even though there was still five minutes left before the shop closes. As she was cleaning the tables, a girl entered the bakery wearing a white eyepatch and a long coat, with a white shirt. She has cut her black hair short. Her eyes were small and her lips were pink as a peach. Who knew what character of her fantasy she was cosplaying.

Seeing a customer, Aliyah put on a lovely wide smile which was indeed fake. The smile looked like the moon's glow carved into a smile like an illuminating crescent moon. As the girl looked at Aliyah, she felt as if she was standing in the middle of a field filled with roses, bathing under the moonlit sky. She widened her eyes and with a husky voice she walked towards Aliyah. For some reason, the overall unusual getup suited her but her behavior was not something that suits a normal person.

"Oh my love! I have found you at last after crossing thousands of seas and nebulas. Do you remember your king, Ariana?" said the girl.

"(What the fuck?)" Inside, Aliyah was wincing but outside, she stayed gentle and calm with a smile. "I'm sorry?"

"Ariana!" The girl cornered Aliyah with a nearby table. "Ariana, how could you forget your king and the love of your life?"

"I think that you should keep a distance." said Aliyah and pushed her away. As soon as she pushed her away, she fell into the ground holding her chest groaning and screaming dramatically as if someone has hit her with a dagger.

"Ariana...You...You have broken my heart. Please love...heal me. Heal me with your love-"

Out of the blue, Dahlia kicked on her back.

"Ah!*groan* The pain of heartbreak has reached my Piriformis."

Dahlia said with an annoyed and stern face,

"If you don't shut the fuck up then I'll break your ass too. Go home, Kiyoshi."

"Dahlia." Aliyah rushed towards Dahlia and held her close.

Dahlia was fighting in herself to push Aliyah away. She kept her face stern and straight but soon, she held her close and started to cry. "You left me alone."

"I didn't...I had to leave. I wanted to hide it from you but I couldn't bare it." said Aliyah.

"You hid what?" Dahlia walked back and looked at her.

"Your parents-"

"Dahlia! How dare you come between me and my love?" said Kiyoshi who has gotten up from the floor.

"Kiyoshi. I remember her...The half Japanese girl in our middle school, right? What turned her into this?" Aliyah was looking at Kiyoshi as if she was a pitiful object.

Kiyoshi laughed with melancholy in her voice. With a pensive face she said many words about the past she has made up in her mind.

"I used to be a king in the world of demons. In that world I found a girl in a gigantic white flower, with a blooming beauty, sleeping in front of me. I made her the love of my life, my wife."

"(Ew...)" Aliyah was disgusted.

"We both lived together, conquered the world together...until a disaster fell and pulled us apart. My soul travelled nebulas after nebulas, seas of galaxies to find you here on this planet. After being born in this world, my birth-mother named me the name a boy would have."

"(Your name is unisex.)"

"Then...I fell in love with fighting."

"Shut up. You never fought in your life." said Dahlia.

"I could feel the sense of a demon king lurking over me...And then, I came to the academy of Bernadette and found the love I have lost...Alas I am now a girl. Tsk...I do not bear the same gorgeousness that would make any woman fall in love with me within a second. I will come back to you again and again, to win your heart once more." said Kiyoshi. "And if I cannot win your heart...then please consider me as your companion at least." She ran away as if she has witnessed a heartbreaking moment. When she went outside and out of their sight, she panted as if she has achieved something.

Both Aliyah and Dahlia were staring at Kiyoshi as if it was a usual occurrence.

"*sigh* Don't think too much about her. She just wanted to be your friend. The thing is that she gets too much into the character she's pretending to be so...it's hard to snap her back to reality unless she does it herself." said Dahlia.

"Second year syndrome, huh...She has a good imagination though." Aliyah giggled.

"Now tell me what mom and dad said."

Aliyah bit her lip, looking away, not having an idea what to say.

"What did they say?!" Dahlia shook Aliyah.

"Your neighbor called your mom and dad. After that, they called me and told me to go away from you."

"Why?" Dahlia frowned.

"I don't know. It's the best if you don't ask them. I didn't want you to hate them because of me."

Dahlia rolled her eyes. She was pumped up with anger which was fueling more and more as time passed. She rushed out of the bakery.

"Dahlia, wait!" Aliyah shouted. But she didn't respond to her. Aliyah sighed as she looked down and bit her lips out of guilt.

On the next day, she was sitting together with Dahlia in the cafeteria, eating her meal. The cafeteria was buzzing with the students' chattering. Out of the blue, as Ivy entered the cafeteria, the cafeteria became quiet. She walked towards Aliyah with a group of girls behind her. Everyone were looking at her as if she was a celebrity but also someone they all feared and admired.

As she got near Aliyah, she asked, "Why are you here?"

Aliyah rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Speak you little-" Ivy held Aliyah by her collar harshly. Aliyah looked at her grimly and replied,

"I'm here because I'm paying for it."

"Ivy, stop it." Dahlia got up from her seat but got dragged down by a girl in the group harshly. The girl held her mouth and pulled her hair as she was staring at the circus Ivy was making out of Aliyah.

"Oh?" Ivy rose her eyebrows. "How about stop the way you're getting the money then?"

Aliyah looked at her head to toe with clenched teeth which was an unapproved expression to Ivy. She poured the drink that was on the table on top of her head and the crowd shrieked. The cold drink has stained her uniform and left her in an embarrassing state. Ivy opened the lid of the plastic glass and poured the ice on her which slowly started to melt. Aliyah nodded as the ice fell on the ground, handling the lump in her throat. "(Don't cry...don't cry...)"

Seeing her in that state, many in the cafeteria couldn't handle the laughter.

"Are you gonna cry?" Ivy laughed.

"Ivy!" said Miss Spencer as she rushed into the cafeteria. "I've been seeing what you've been doing for a long time. Go to the principal's office. You three, go with her."

"You little shit- You were looking at her." Ivy furiously tried to rush towards Aliyah as she was clenching her fist. Miss Spencer reached out her hand and yelled. "Go!"

Ivy and the other girls left the cafeteria giving Aliyah a death stare. The girl who was holding Dahlia let go off her harshly enough to make her scream out of pain. Miss Spencer left the cafeteria whilst the students were all silent. Aliyah ran out of the cafeteria and rushed to the bathroom.

She was cleaning herself in the bathroom, in front of a sink. As the water was pouring, she stared at the faint reflection of herself on the water. She kept thinking that nothing has gotten better in her miserable life. A girl beside her tapped on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Aliyah looked at the girl. The girl looked familiar to her. Her hair was short and her lips were pink as peach. Her eyes were small and her voice was soft. Even though her overall appearance did not match with the distinguish being Aliyah has seen last night, she recognized her.

"Kiyoshi?" said Aliyah.

Kiyoshi moved back as she stuttered with her eyes widened. She kept looking away from Aliyah to process an excuse to tell.

"Ariana! Tsk...I have to wear this simplistic cloth now...What an unbearable fate I am witnessing." said Kiyoshi. "All for you." She frowned as she smiled.

Aliyah was speechless because of the wince she was getting from Kiyoshi's behavior.

"Now tell me, what caused you to bear such stain on your cloths? Who could commit such heinous sin?" Kiyoshi put her palm on her forehead as she looked at Aliyah.

"Kiyoshi, go back to class." said Miss Spencer and entered. She stood in front of Aliyah as she nodded down.

"Y-Yes ma'am." said Kiyoshi and walked outside of the bathroom quietly like an obedient student.

"(That was a fast transition...)" Aliyah was not surprised knowing the description of her she has gotten from Dahlia.

"You can go home if you want to." said Miss Spencer.

"I'm willing to take the classes but...is it possible to give me a change of cloths?"

"I don't think that it will be possible at the moment. Knowing the students, I suggest that you don't do the classes with these cloths. I may be able to silence one but I can't silence this many. Stay a bit longer after school ends tomorrow." Without a chance to let Aliyah speak, she left. Having no other choice, Aliyah went back to her home.

After school, Kiyoshi put on her costume of a demon lord again to go and meet Aliyah. As she stroked her hair and looked into the sky, she wondered many scenarios in her mind. "It is time to meet my destined one...Whom I will forever be with whether as a companion." She looked at an imaginary camera. "Or a lover."

Kiyoshi bumped with Elias along the way, who was talking with Aliyah on the phone. After bumping with him, Elias kept the phone away from his ear.

"Hey, uh...you look familiar." said Elias. Kiyoshi looked at his phone and saw Aliyah's name. She laughed with melancholy in her voice as she palmed her forehead. "Heh...So she has already chosen someone else..."

"What are you talking about?" Elias frowned.

"I will defeat you, Golden Knight. Remember my name. I am King Darkwin, the king of the demons. We shall meet again." Kiyoshi walked away dramatically with a pensive face as if she has just returned from a battle.

"What the fuck was that?" Elias was speechless.