Chapter 12: Unprepared Truth

Hey, I want to ask, do you remember your friends? What about childhood friends? What about a crush? And lastly, what about a childhood crush?

People think of childhood crushes as when you're still a child and had a crush on some famous celebrity that you saw, but when you grow up you'll eventually forget who it is and move on cause you know that you have no chance.

For me, a childhood crush is different... It's when you met someone you had a crush on when you're a child, and until now you still have a crush on that person.

Let me tell you a story about me, Haruki Hotaru, who fell in love with a girl when I was just a child.

It was a beautiful day, the sand is clean, the ocean waves are peacefully moving, and the sun is going down like it's melting ice cream at the ocean.

Yes, today I was at the beach with my parents, no with me only cause for what weird reason, how?! How the hell did they forget our foods?! And I've been waiting here for 2 hours already! When will they return?!

Don't get the wrong idea that they left me here, after all, they are still texting me, but I'm just a freaking 10 years old kid on a beach alone!

What makes me insane is the fact that there is no sign of a single life here, no humans, no birds, no dogs, and others! Am I really an eyesore?

Closing my eyes and shouting at the top of my lungs. "Someone talk to me!"

Just what I thought no one came, I really am invisible from the perspective of other people.

"What are you doing there? Haruki?"

Who's that? Looking everywhere beside me, I saw a cute girl about the same age as me. She has long black hair that's beautiful to look at and a beauty that can't be described.

Seeing her made me wonder, can humans as beautiful as her's exists? But there's one thing that's stopping me from complimenting her more.

Why the hell does she know my name? And who the hell is she? Why would she even talk to me?

Actually... Did my wish come true? Hmm... Seems odd, well better put my luck to good use.

"Hey, how do you know me?" I asked her.

"*Giggle* It's because I know you."

Stop, don't tell me... Is this girl a stalker? No, no, because there's no way that a girl would stalk someone like me... Then what is she?

"Answer me honestly, who the hell are you?"

"My, my, how bold of you to ask a girl you just met her name."

If I have the courage, I would've punched this girl right now, but I might get in trouble.

"Then..." She went closer to my ear, and whispered gently. "my name is ..."

"Really? What a nice name, so what are you doing here?" I curiously asked her.

"Nothing... I'm just here to be free."

This girl is really weird... "Really? So you're here all by yourself?"

"My friend is somewhere around here, but who cares about her anyway."

Yep, this girl is insane in the mind, I wonder if her friend is okay? Wait, is her friend even alive? Or did she...

Looking at me dead in the eye she said. "Hmm... Is there something wrong Haruki?"

Is this the day I'll die? Homura, Asahi, and I haven't even celebrated our two years of friendship, and now I'm dead? This world is a complete joke.

"There you are?! Hey, why did you leave me?!" Looking at where the voice came from, I saw another cute girl about the same age as me, and she has heterochromatic eyes and unnatural hair color.

'How pretty...' That is what I wanted to say to the two girls here.

Seeing both of them made me wonder, is this what a crush is? Probably. But if I fell in love at first sight then it's still okay, but there are two of them here though...

"So your Haruki huh?" The second girl looked at every inch of my body, she said. "What's so special about you anyway that caught ... attention?"

This brat, if it's legal for a boy to punch a girl, then I would've done it to her.

"Hmp! Well whatever, I'm ... you better be lucky that I gave you mine."

Hmm... My father told me that if a girl hates on you it's a sign that she likes you, so I guess I'll believe him for now.

"Hehe, Um... nice to meet you ..." I replied with a grin, but now what would they do.

The both of them laughed at me; I was confused why; what did I do? That's what I wanted to find out. Dad, you were wrong all along.

"You don't know how to interact with a girl right Haruki?" The first girl asked me with a smile.

Asking me that, of course, I don't! "What if I say no?"

Both of them looked at each other and smiled mischievously, and both of them pulled each one of my arms and both said. "Come on, we'll teach you."

Remembering this exact day, I said to myself, is fate real? Is it possible to meet both of them again?

Opening my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar room and a bright light on the ceiling.

Looking at where I am, even the bed is not familiar to me.

I see, that was just a recollection of a memory that I have forgotten, I wonder if those two are fine. Well, I don't even remember who they are; what they look like, but... Forget it, there's no way I can see them again.

Now that I'm in Hell, I can't really see them again, well... That day was the first and last time I saw them, so even if I'm on Earth I can't meet them.

Zzz. Zzz.

Who's that? When I looked to my left, I saw Millie sitting on a chair and sleeping on my bed.

"Oh so am I at the hospital? I don't really know what happened, but I guess we beat the angels." I looked at Millie again and patted her on her head. "I'm glad you're safe." I can't describe how happy I am right now that Millie is safe, as long as I can see her smile, then I can live my life with no worry.

"Ha-Haruki? You're finally awake." I looked at where the voice came from and saw Akemi at the door holding a tray with food.

"Akemi, you're here? What happened to me?"

Akemi came closer to me and put the tray on the desk. "The attack has ended, and you've been in a coma for a month."

"I see... I'm sorry for making you all worried."

"That doesn't matter Haruki; all in all you woke up, that's enough for us."

Getting a close look at Akemi, a memory of that first girl came to me, beautiful and black long hair also has a mysterious side on her, could she possibly be...? No, no, no I said that I won't see them again.

"Hey Akemi, have you ever been on Earth?" But to make sure that it isn't true, I need proof.

When Akemi heard what I said she looked shocked and nervous at the same time too. "Yes, only once to gather information." Looking at her while saying that, it feels like she's hiding something.

"Enough talking, here eat my lunch, you're probably hungry." Akemi took the spoon and tries to feed it to me.

Wait, is this the time that I eat the food she's giving me? Is this my popular phase with the girls?! Then, "Thanks for the food!" Right when I was reaching for the spoon a loud bang from the door came.

"Haruki! Your alive!" The man who came in shouting is the one I didn't want to meet the most after I found out that I have a coma, is the old guy, Ifrit.

The old man ran to me and tried to get a hug, but with Akemi here I don't have anything to worry about.

That's what I thought but Ifrit successfully hugged me tightly. D*mmit this guy's muscle is harder than a rock.

"Master... I'm gonna die."

Why didn't Akemi helped me? Looking at Akemi I saw her eating the food while looking angry at the same time.

D*mmit, my popular phase is gone because of this old bastard.

Millie woke up after that loud force of the door banging, Millie instantly looked at me and saw me being hugged by the old man, and Akemi eating beside me.

"Big brother, you're okay." Seeing me with relief, Millie cried. And the only thing I can do was to say to her is. "Of course, after all; your big brother Haruki is tough and strong."

"Sorry for the intrusion." Another voice came from the outside said. "*Groan* Good thing you're fine Haruki." And another one too.

Those two were Shota and Sora, they came after Millie woke up, and instantly sat at the seat with souvenirs with them.

"We got this for you Haruki." Shota gave me the souvenirs that he and Sora bought together for me, and I saw tons of variety of chocolates that are unique here in Hell.

"Thanks, everyone. Oh yeah, how did you found out that I woke up?" It was confusing that Master came inside at a good time when Akemi was about to feed me, so there's got to be a reason why.

"We instantly knew that Akemi wouldn't tell us instantly that you woke up, so we set up a camera here, and it looked like it worked properly, this was my plan by the way."

Akemi after hearing the boastful Sora went in rage and with one touch Sora was frozen solid. You better not do something that'll piss her off again, Sora.

"But where's Lucas and the others?" They are not here, I only noticed it after seeing no one came inside.

"Lucas is meeting someone, and the older gens are having an assembly with some of the Archdukes." Shota replied. "But, I guess they're about to finish."

"Really..." I guess I can just meet them after I'm discharged; because I don't want to disturb them from their meeting. After all, they might be talking about the attack.

"*Sigh* better not disturb them, also there not here, maybe father and mother are in the meeting too."

When the others heard that, they were in pain and almost on the verge of tears, especially Millie and Akemi.

"I guess I can talk to them later."

Ifrit who can't take this anymore talked and he said to me with pain in his eyes. "Haruki we're sorry, but you won't be seeing them anymore."

"What do you mean? Are they really that busy? D*mn they better take a break if they're overworking themselves."

Ifrit who wanted to say more was disturbed by Akemi, and what Akemi said with tears already in her eyes shocked me. "Haruki, I'm sorry... But the King and Queen are both dead, they were killed in the attack."

"Come on enough with the joke, this might be one of your pranks right?" Of course, anyone would do something like this, after all, I just wake up from a coma, so a nice prank would do.

Millie cried and hugged me tightly. "I'm sorry big brother, I'm sorry..." The others almost in tears held it but instead showed their pain and grief.

They're dead? This is a joke, people do this to their friends all the time so it must be a joke, right? Yes, this is their prank to make me cry, and if I cry they'll laugh at me, that's it.

"Haha, come on guys, if you want to prank someone; better not do it with me, because I can easily tell if someone's lying or not."

Shota clenched his fist and shouted at me angrily while shedding tears. "Haruki! Stop! Just accept it, can't you see? You're just in denial!"

"Haha! Come on, your lying right? I know, you're just lying because you don't want your prank to fail, right? They're alive and well, and talking with Satanael, yes. And maybe when they're done now they are gonna visit me some times soon."

The Generals stopped talking because they knew that I don't want to face the fact that they're dead, and at the same time I want to know if they're lying or not.

"Come on, don't stop talking; what did you all now accept that the prank won't actually work? I told you that you can't prank someone like me."

I want to hear what their responses would be, but they won't and every time I kept saying it as a joke, their mood became worse.

What's wrong with them? Why can't they accept that they failed to prank me? are they telling the truth? No way, my parents are both strong, they can take down any angel with their strength.

"Please tell me you're all lying..." Tears are already starting to fell. "Lies right!? They're still alive! They can't die! They both promised that we'll stay together!" Yes... I was already getting that I can't accept the truth.

"TELL ME PLEASE?! THEY CAN'T DIE!" Please just tell me...

"LIES! DON'T ALL OF YOU DARE LIE TO ME! PLEASE!" Am I really gonna experience the death of my parents again?

"MILLIE TELL ME, THEY'RE LYING, RIGHT? FATHER AND MOTHER CAN'T DIE, RIGHT? YOU TOO AKEMI? TELL ME! MASTER, SORA, SHOTA!" Can I go through this without them?

"Big brother, sorry."

"I'm sorry Haruki we didn't get there in time."

"I'm supposed to protect my students, I'm a f*cking failure as a teacher."

"If I didn't leave them in the first place... They wouldn't die."

"We failed to do our work Haruki, but we now have a new goal, I promise to protect you and Millie."

"That's not the response that I wanted... THAT'S NOT THE F*CKING RESPONSE THAT I WANTED! THEY'RE ALIVE, THEY'RE F*CKING ALIVE!" Akemi hearing me both in pain and anger hugged me. "Please, don't cry Haruki, I know that I and the others are failing to answer your question... But I don't want to see you in pain, so please accept reality."

Crying and screaming out in a loud voice is all I can do right now, I can't accept this... I won't accept this... why? WHY?! GOD! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO F*CKING TORMENT ME?! EVERY GOD IN ANY RELIGION OR MYTHOLOGIES, TELL ME! DO ALL OF YOU F*CKING HATE US DEVILS THAT MUCH?!

WHAT DID WE EVEN F*CKING DO TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU?! Why can't you all accept what we truly want..?

"Who killed them..?"

"The Archangel Michael was the one who killed your parents Haruki, you went insane and fought them alone, but still lost, I guess you don't remember anything about that."

"Michael... That's his name, I'll get my revenge for losing to that son of b*tch, and kill him to avenge everyone they killed..."

Everyone after hearing what I said was shocked, because this is not the Haruki that they knew for the last couple of months.

Right now, the Haruki Hotaru with them is someone filled with the thoughts of both revenge and avenge.

"Haruki... When Lucas comes here we want to show you something." Akemi whispered to me. "Also I know that you won't accept what we will show you, but please I ask of you to stay strong."

Ifrit patted me on the head gently. "Haruki... If you want to get stronger just ask me if you want to train, because even I want to avenge them, but I'll leave it up to you."

"Sure Master..." I need to get stronger, for now that's my goal, so wait for me Michael, cause I'll beat you up with my own hands someday.

"Oh, so you're finally awake... Haruki." Seeing who the person was, I saw that it was Milicas who came.

"Milicas... You're here too..."

"I'm sorry about your parents Haruki, I tried my best to kill Michael, but in the end, I'm still weak compare to them." The Generals and Millie after hearing that were hiding their anger toward him; because they thought that how can he lie with that straight face.

"Tomorrow, the doctor said that Haruki can go home, so everyone we'll meet at the meeting room, including you all Generals, Faust, and Ifrit would go because the Archdukes on the eighth floor are all needed to come."

"But Haruki needs to rest right?"

"Don't worry Akemi, I can take it."

"Then you all better be early, because tomorrow is an important day."

***

[Lucas Asmodeus POV]

Somewhere in the city, Lucas is having a conversation with someone part of the Archdukes of Hell.

"So Lucas, what do you want to talk about? You know that Satanael is waiting for me for tomorrow's meet-up, right?"

"Vladamir, what would you think of going to war with the angels again?"

The one Lucas is talking to is one of the Archdukes of Hell, and one of his trusted friends, because he was trained by him when he was still little.

The king of vampires, and famous in many stories back on Earth, Dracula.

The real Dracula is Vlad Tepes, but in the past war he died, which meant someone took his name and title, now the Dracula he's talking to; is Dracula Vladamir, one of Vlad's trusted friends.

"What do I think? War with them is inevitable, so we'll have war with them anyway, but if we use the people then I'm against that, so why do you ask?"

"Satanael is planning to have war with the angel, but the problem is that he'll use the people as pawn and sacrifice, also he's a warmonger right now with four other people."

"What do you mean Lucas?" Vladamir was in disbelief at what Lucas has said. For him to see Lucas acting like this seems odd for him, since this was the first time Vladamir has seen Lucas serious.

"The attack last month. Both Sora and Millie saw Satanael, Mammon, Milicas, and Azazel talking to Yahweh, and they found out that the four of them have known that the war from the past would happen."

"So... You're telling me that they planned the pasts war before it happened? Show me your proof that you're not lying to me."

Lucas sighed and showed his memory to Dracula, and when Dracula saw that he was in immense anger and hatred toward Satanael and the others.

"I can't believe this, and if people find out Satanael's plan, they would protest or even worse cause a civil war in Hell."

"Some people would agree to help Satanael and use themselves as sacrifices for the war, and some like us wouldn't use their life for the war to start, or be more bloody."

"Then it's our work to persuade them, don't worry I'm on your side Lucas, because I don't want to see people die anymore."

"I'm counting on you, old man."

Vladamir immediately went back to where he was going, and Lucas was left alone at the alleyway of the city.

With a smile on his face, Lucas is now returning to the castle. "Now we have seven, I guess I still have more work to do later on."

Lucas looked at the sky and raise one of his arms. "I'll protect everyone, even if it causes my own life."