Do You Believe in the Existence of Demons?

"Do you believe in the existence of demons?"

A quiet voice rang out in the classroom during lunch, so out of place that it replaced the tranquil atmosphere that had filled the room just minutes earlier with something rather awkward.

It was an ordinary classroom, with no special facilities. Even the desks and chairs had been pushed to the sides, leaving a wide-open space.

At the center of the room, a boy and a girl sat facing each other.

The girl was impossibly cute, with a lovely face and delicate features, skin so fair it was nearly translucent, and long black hair that fell past her shoulders.

Her beauty was so cold that it seemed to warn people away. She had an air of mystery about her, as if she were someone no one could ever reach. She wore a black uniform with a red bow tie over a white shirt, a short plaid pleated skirt, and black knee-high socks with white trim. Red ribbons were tied on either side of her hair. Though it was just a school uniform, her appearance still drew plenty of attention.

But at that moment, the girl had a book resting on her lap and was flipping through it, all while looking at the boy before her as if he were an idiot.

The boy was just as striking. He was handsome, with deep-set eyes, and wore the boys' version of the girl's uniform. His tall, lean frame showed to advantage, and the glimpses of collarbone and muscle at his neckline and sleeves gave off an invisible aura of masculinity—enough to make plenty of less composed girls swallow nervously.

And yet this boy, who could make so many girls' hearts flutter, had said something that made the girl immediately think he was making fun of her.

"Are you joking with me, Leo-senpai?"

The girl said it without the slightest courtesy, despite addressing him as her senior.

Leo didn't seem bothered.

"That response means you don't believe in demons at all, right?"

Leo seemed to enjoy this bizarre conversation. A hint of amusement appeared in his eyes, lending his expression a playful edge.

"Could I hear your reasoning, Yukino Yukinoshita?"

Leo's words seemed to confirm Yukino's belief that he was making fun of her. Her expression visibly cooled.

"I have no interest in having this pointless discussion with you, senpai. If you came to the Service Club just to talk about something so unrealistic, then please don't waste my time."

Yukino's mercilessly sharp words met with nothing but Leo's nonchalant attitude.

"Pointless? Unrealistic? A waste of time?" Leo smiled. "Just as the rumors say, Yukinoshita, you're arrogant."

Yukino's expression was no longer merely cool. It was unmistakably cold and annoyed.

"Should I take that as a malicious insult?"

Yukino didn't hold back just because the person before her was an upperclassman. Her words were sharp and cutting.

"I'm just stating a fact." Leo folded his arms, crossed his legs, and regarded the pretty girl before him with easy composure. "You think the subject I brought up is pointless and unrealistic. That tells others you don't think it's even worth discussing, let alone pursuing. Even if you didn't say it outright, you've still made your opinion clear: you don't even need to think about it before rejecting it."

"This isn't just about being confident in your own ideas. Subconsciously, instinctively, you believe there's no point discussing this subject."

"Isn't such one-sided denial, refusal, and rejection a form of arrogance?"

Yukino's pretty brows drew together.

"That's sophistry," Yukino said coolly. "Anyone would react the way I did after hearing what you just said."

"See? That's arrogance right there." Leo's tone had become just as blunt as Yukino's. "You're not everyone else, so why assume they'd all react the way you do?"

"Have you asked anyone else's opinion? Heard what they think? Seen them react the way you did?"

"No, right? If you haven't, what gives you the right to speak for them? Isn't it because you think that, no matter what, you're right in this situation?"

"You put yourself in the right from the very beginning. I think you're even more arrogant than I imagined, Yukinoshita."

Yukino's fingers tightened around her book. Finally, unable to take it any longer, she snapped it shut, folded her arms, and crossed her legs, just like Leo.

"If you said all that to get my attention, then congratulations. You succeeded," Yukino said coldly. "This is the Service Club, a club founded to lend a hand to people in need. If you came here because you have no one else to discuss this... subject with, I'll hear you out for now."

"But I must warn you first, Leo Eligos-senpai. The Service Club I founded accepts requests to help people solve their problems, but if someone tries to use that as an excuse to approach me for some ulterior motive, I won't let it go."

"Keep that in mind."

At that, Leo looked at Yukino with a strange expression.

Then he smiled.

It was a smile that left much unsaid.

"Tell me, Yukinoshita, you don't think I brought up this subject to get your attention because I'm pursuing you and want to date you, do you?"

In the eyes of other girls, Leo's smile would probably have seemed bright and sunny.

But to Yukino, it was simply grating.

"Are you saying I'm imagining things?" Yukino asked, her tone displeased. "Your behavior was what gave me that impression."

Leo shook his head, then shook it again with a smiling sigh.

"That's understandable. Someone who's convinced she's right and arrogantly dismisses other people's views would naturally think that—especially when she's a woman who has good reason to believe someone might pursue her."

As he spoke, Leo stood up.

"It looks like there's no point continuing this conversation today. Sorry for wasting your time, Yukinoshita."

With that, Leo turned and walked away without hesitation while Yukino stared after him in surprise.

"Wait!" Yukino stood up too, her expression beyond mere displeasure. She was genuinely furious. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you treating me like an idiot?"

"You're getting a little emotional, Yukinoshita." Leo stopped and turned to face her, meeting her furious gaze with a smile. "Don't misunderstand. I meant exactly what I said."

"While you still haven't seen the truth of this world, and still believe in the ideas instilled by the education you've received over the past seventeen years, there's no point in continuing this conversation. It would be a waste of time."

"So I've decided to wait. Once something happens that truly shatters everything you've believed in until now, then we can talk about today's subject again."

After saying this without a hint of urgency, Leo took out a piece of paper about the size of his palm and placed it on the desk beside him.

"Consider this payment for our conversation. Keep it with you. I believe it'll be useful. Of course, you can throw it away too. That would sever all ties between us and let you stay away from a man with ulterior motives like me."

Leo raised his eyes and looked at Yukino with a meaningful gaze for the first time.

"Lastly, let me correct one more misconception, Yukinoshita."

"When a demon sets his sights on you, he absolutely isn't trying to date you. He wants you to sell your soul."

"Keep that in mind."

Having returned the girl's warning to her word for word, Leo opened the classroom door without a trace of reluctance and left the Service Club's clubroom.

"What was that guy's problem?"

Yukino watched Leo leave, trembling with anger.

Whether or not she took his words to heart was another matter, but she thought he had definitely been provoking her.

If the Yukinoshita Family's upbringing hadn't stopped her from doing something too undignified, she would have chased after him right then and used her usual sharp tongue to verbally tear him apart until he shut down on the spot.

It took Yukino quite a while to calm the anger in her chest. Then she walked over and picked up the piece of paper from the desk.

It wasn't an ordinary sheet of paper. It was some kind of old-fashioned parchment, marked with a bright red magic circle that made it look rather eerie.

Seeing it, Yukino became certain once more.

Leo Eligos, a third-year student at Sobu High School—if he wasn't making fun of her or deliberately looking for an excuse to get close to her, then he was surely a pitiful man who had lost touch with reality and was hopelessly lost in his fantasies.

And a demon's goal absolutely wasn't to date her?

Even if she went blind and jumped out of the clubroom window, she would never date a guy who claimed to be a demon!

At that moment, Leo, who had angered the Second Young Lady of the Yukinoshita Family enough to make her swear a solemn vow, was making his way up the stairs to the rooftop.

Many people greeted him along the way, and he smiled and returned each greeting. He was nothing like the "arrogant and unruly" person he'd been in front of Yukino.

Once on the rooftop, Leo looked around. Seeing that there wasn't another soul in sight, he stretched.

"Snap!"

The next moment, a pair of pitch-black, batlike wings abruptly unfurled behind Leo.

The wings beat softly, lifting him into the air.

Though he had neither horns nor a tail, there was no denying that he looked just like a demon...