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Shichiro and Kalego are courting, right?
It was obvious- to Opera, anyway. When they’d first met their kouhai, it was clear that the only demon in the entire Netherworld that Kalego tolerated was Shichiro Balam. Opera could see it as clear as day. Shichiro was touchy-feely with everything and everyone, but especially Kalego- and meanwhile, if Opera got anywhere near him, he’d practically grow spikes and roll away like a hellhog. Kalego was rude, hostile, and unfeeling. To everyone but Shichiro, that is.
They’d thought this to themselves one day while sitting across from the two boys at lunch. It wasn’t often that lunchtime was peaceful. Opera had a bad habit of reaching across the table with their chopsticks and stealing a piece of meat off of Kalego’s plate, which had led to them getting rice thrown in their face on multiple occasions. Shichiro would try his best to keep the peace, but Opera was a menace and Kalego was an angrily puffed-up puppy… two things that didn’t mix. So, more times than not, Shichiro would slump his shoulders while Kalego yelled at Opera.
Every once in a while, though, Kalego would be too tired from whatever to bother arguing with Opera. And when this was the case, Opera refrained from teasing Kalego. They were definitely not nice to the other demon, but when they noticed that Kalego was too tired or depressed to engage in their antics, they backed off.
That day had been one of those days. Kalego was picking mindlessly at his food, swirling his spoon around in the bowl of blood tomato soup he had on his plate. Shichiro informed Opera separately about what was going on- there had been some incident in his clan regarding his older brother. Opera hadn’t pressed for more details. The Naberius Clan was extremely strict and could be downright abusive at times, from what they picked up from the things Shichiro shared with them and from Kalego complaining about it from time to time. He seemed more depressed than usual- maybe something had directly happened to Kalego, which made Opera’s stomach turn uncomfortably.
“Kalego,” said Shichiro, “you need to eat something.”
“Not hungry.”
Kalego wasn’t the biggest eater, but because he was the Guard Dog of Babylus- or at least was training to be- he had to make sure he filled his body with the proper nutrients, lest he be too weak to perform his duties once the time came for him to step up to the role. His plates of food at school often looked exactly like the ones that demons saw all the time in health class- a quarter fruit, a quarter vegetable, a third protein… you get the idea. So for him to sit down at lunch with just a bowl of soup that he wasn’t even eating was highly concerning.
“Kalego, look at me.”
Shichiro picked up the spoon that had been sitting in Kalego’s bowl. He filled it with soup and held it up to Kalego’s mouth. “Here. Open wide, okay?”
Surprisingly, Kalego did what Shichiro asked- once he opened his mouth, Shichiro gently put the soup-filled spoon into Kalego’s mouth and fed it to him.
Kalego ate the rest of his soup like that.
This is when Opera figured out that they were definitely courting each other. Only someone as special as a mate could do something like that, especially to a demon like Kalego.
It made sense, but even so, Opera couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit jealous.
Why is Shichiro courting that awful cat-demon?
Kalego first noticed it during the Rookie Hunt.
He had never been good at reading the emotions of other demons, especially when it came to romance. The Naberius Clan was forbidden from thinking about commoner concepts like courting, except in the case of arranged marriages. Even though Kalego knew that some members of the clan thought about it anyway (and were usually punished accordingly), Kalego was not one of those fools who would risk the consequences over something so meaningless.
However, this often led to some awkward moments where Kalego would, for the only times in his life, find himself being the stupidest demon in the crowd.
“Do you like-like anyone?” a classmate of his had asked him one time.
Kalego had nearly released Cerberus on the demon before Shichiro had pinched his arm and made him calm down. “Fuck off,” he had said, not even bothering to look in their direction.
Whatever. He wasn’t interested in courting anyone, especially not these lowlife commoners who gossiped about anything and everything when it came to other demons. It was rude, even for Kalego’s standards, to talk about your peers in such ways.
Months later, when the Rookie Hunt occurred, Kalego had practically gone into hiding. He’d wrapped himself in a giant black cloak that hid his entire figure except for his eyes. Since he was rather infamous- both for being a Naberius, and for the fact that a lot of the school still thought he was the Top Dog- a lot of the high-level and popular Battlers were going right for him.
Shichiro and that blasted cat followed him around, of course. It made sense for the gargoyle to stay with him, and Kalego didn’t mind that, but Opera’s presence made the stress of the Rookie Hunt worse.
“Naberius-kun! Is that you? Join our Battler!”
“Kalego, Kalego! Here’s a flyer!”
Kalego was going to throw someone out the window- most likely himself at this point. He stormed away from Opera and Shichiro, sitting down in a corner nearby where the three of them were standing and pulling his cloak tight over his body. This was quite possibly the most overstimulating experience he’d ever been through- and he’d been forced to attend the Naberius Clan’s crowded formal events, which were exactly as bad as they sounded.
“It’s okay, Shichiro-kun. Come up. I got you.”
The surprising softness of Opera’s voice made Kalego peek out from behind his hood. Shichiro was being gently cradled in the cat-demon’s arms- he was visibly shaken by the amount of demons around (something Kalego definitely understood), and Opera was gently petting his head.
Shichiro didn’t even let Kalego do this. (Not that he’d ever tried, but Kalego was sure that if he did, Shichiro wouldn’t let him.) As physically affectionate as he was, no one was ever that way with him- except Opera, apparently.
And Kalego, in his very limited knowledge about romance, took this to mean that Opera and Shichiro must be courting.
He had no romantic interest in either of them, at least as far as he was aware. But seeing Shichiro being held by another demon- and Opera holding another demon- made envy bubble up under his skin.
I wonder if Opera and Kalego like each other…
Really, Shichiro Balam had little to no basis for believing this- besides pure hope that his best friend and new senpai would get along and stop going at each other’s throats constantly. There was a fine line between hope and delusion, though, a line that Shichiro seemed to be walking on like a tightrope. It wouldn’t have ever crossed his mind if he hadn’t picked up a new book from the library.
The gargoyle had always been a bookworm. This was obvious to most demons who spent any sort of time around him, because he was always proudly boasting a picture book- either one he’d picked up from the fledgling’s section of the library or one he had spent hours writing and drawing himself. Kids books were his preference to read, of course. They were way below his actual reading level (which was one of the highest in his grade, according to the assessment they’d all been forced to take in Magical Literature) but there was something about the brightly-colored images and short, simple sentences that appealed to him. It was a way to learn new things and entertain himself without having to throw too much brain power into it.
However, just because easy-to-read children’s books were his preference, it didn’t mean that he never read books for demons his age. For one thing, the books they were required to read for Magical Literature were meant for those well above Shichiro’s age, which led many of the students taking that class to struggle. But every once in a while, Shichiro found himself leaving the fledgling’s section and moving towards the young adult books.
Most of them were romance. Shichiro didn’t mind that. He was a demon who loved love. He’d never been in a relationship before, because he was too scared to ask anyone else out and no demon ever approached him because of his looks. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t long for it sometimes. Some of the books were a little too graphic for him (even then, secretly, he would read them under the covers of his bed and kick his feet), but he still enjoyed reading them.
One book in particular stuck out to him. It was the story of a demon who had challenged a high-ranking demoness to a duel and lost, and was then forced to do her bidding. But the more time that this particular demon spent around the one who had defeated him, he found themselves falling for her.
The situation reminded Shichiro of what had happened with Kalego and Opera. Which then led him to think, what if Kalego ends up falling for Opera-senpai? It would honestly make sense if he did. Opera was a very attractive demon, at least Shichiro thought so. And Kalego’s face always seemed to go red when Opera would pinch his cheeks or bump their head against his. Shichiro had thought he’d gone red out of anger, but what if he was flustered because he liked Opera?
Shichiro found himself surprisingly upset at the idea.
As you can imagine, these misunderstandings caused quite the number of the problems for these three demons.
Each of them had the same problem- they thought that the other two were courting and that they themselves were stuck as the third wheel. Not only that, but each one of them had a crush on the other two (yes, even Kalego had a crush on his senpai, although it took him a long time and a lot of bashing his head into the wall to figure it out and come to terms with it). And since they all thought they were the outlier, they never said a word about their crushes.
Well, that was until they were older.
It was the last day of school before End of Terminus- and since it was Opera’s sixth and final year, this was also the last time they would be attending Babylus as a student. They would be starting their career as a full-time Security Devil of Lord Sullivan, one of the Three Greats. Kalego and Shichiro were unsure of how they managed to score such an important role- but they couldn’t help but be proud of their senpai.
The three demons were sitting outside in the courtyard under a willow tree, having a small picnic. Opera was a fantastic cook and they often brought in treats for their kouhai. This was one of those times- they’d prepared an array of sandwiches and pastries for the three of them to enjoy.
Shichiro was the first to speak up.
“Kalego-kun, Opera-senpai…” he said, his voice soft behind his metal mask. “Since one of us is graduating, and we’re not gonna be able to hang out every day like we had been, there’s something I need to tell you both.”
Opera and Kalego exchanged glances, but they both set down the food they were currently eating and turned their full attention onto Balam. “What is it, Shichiro?” asked Kalego.
The gargoyle anxiously wiggled his fingers, trying to calm his nerves. “Well… um… I have a crush on you. Both of you.”
All three of them went silent as soon as Shichiro spoke. The only sounds heard were the quiet chirping of demon birds hiding in the branches of the tree above them.
“Shichiro, what the hell are you talking about?” Kalego asked. He noticed the gargoyle flinch and slightly curl in on himself when he said his words, but he pushed forwards regardless. “Aren’t you courting this fool?” He stuck his thumb out and pointed to Opera.
Both Shichiro and Opera sputtered. The cat demon’s pointy ears flattened against their head. “What?”
“Yes, haven’t you been courting since our first year?”
“NO?” Shichiro replied, his mouth agape. “No, no, I thought- I thought you and Opera-senpai were courting!”
It was Kalego’s turn to blush and freak out. “W-What- no, definitely not!” he hissed. “Opera- you- you aren’t with Shichiro?!”
The cat demon shook their head. Their face was nearly as red as their scarlet eyes. “No. I’m not,” they replied quietly. “No, I thought… I thought that you two were courting. I thought that since I met the two of you.”
The three demons, all of them blushing bright shades of pink and red, looked at each other, and immediately groaned in tandem embarrassment.
“So, you mean to tell me,” Kalego growled, “that for the past five years, we’ve all each thought that the other two of us in our group were courting?!”
“It seems so,” Opera replied, their voice shaking ever so slightly.
“Oh my Devi, this is so embarrassing.” Shichiro was covering the bit of his face not hidden behind his mask with his hands. “I’m so sorry. Oh my Devi.”
Kalego reached out and put his hand on Shichiro’s head. The gargoyle flinched, but not away from his touch. He peered out from behind his hands.
“I suppose the three of us are just… very, very stupid,” he grumbled.
Opera chuckled from beside Kalego. “I suppose so,” they said. “Come on out, Shichiro-kun. It’s okay.”
The smaller demon removed his hands from his face and uncurled himself. “So… what do we do about this?” he whispered, his voice soft, like he was afraid to ask the question. “I like you both a lot, and I would want to c-court you. Both of you.”
“I’m not opposed to the idea of a polyamorous courtship,” said Opera. “That is, if Mister Grumpy Guard Dog over here can stand the idea of being with me for your sake.”
“Wha- excuse you?! I was going to say yes until you opened your big mouth, you cursed cat devil!”
Shichiro’s eyes went wide. He bound up from his spot and stood upright, looking down at Kalego (who was basically eye-level with him now that the small demon was standing) with surprise in his expression. “Wait, Kalego-kun, you… you would actually do something like that?” he asked.
“Of course I would,” Kalego said as he folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve liked you for years, Shichiro. And Opera-senpai, even though you piss me off to no ends and make me want to tear out my hair sometimes, I… I unfortunately have found myself rather enthralled with you as well.”
Opera, for once in their life, was speechless. “I don’t know what to say,” they whispered. “I’m actually quite honored.”
“Don’t let it go to your head, you bastard!” Kalego hissed, flicking Opera on the forehead.
“So… we can?” Shichiro asked quietly. “We can all court each other? You two can be… my mates?”
Kalego’s face turned a little redder, but he nodded. “There’s no other demons in the Netherworld I’d rather be stuck with,” he said.
“I agree,” replied Opera. “Both of you are very special to me, and I care for you deeply. I only wish we had figured out this conundrum sooner, so we could have more time together before my graduation…”
There was a bit of silence, but then Shichiro raised his hand up high with light in his eyes. “Then let’s do it over break, before you go to work with Lord Sullivan!” he said excitedly. “Let’s spend End of Terminus making up all of the things we never got to do before! We can go on dates! And snuggle! And kiss! And…” He shut himself up, noticing how red his new mates’ faces had gotten as soon as he mentioned kissing. “I-If that’s all okay with you two, of course.”
Kalego was still red-faced and bushy-tailed, but Opera smiled an actual, genuine smile, and put their hand on Shichiro’s head. “Sure,” he said. “Let’s make our last End of Terminus together our best.”