"Ugh." Dio groaned. He tugged on his hands, but they were held firm in place by a rope. He was covered in bruises. He searched around, but found he wasn't in the storage room anymore, but the equipment room. The storage room they'd previously been in was now in shambles because of Rood's carelessness.

Dio looked up and found Rood staring down at him.

Rood was freaked out in many ways. He'd tried not to use force on Dio, but he just made it hard.

"Th-This is going too far! What the hell?!" Dio screamed as he struggled to untie his hands, but had no luck. "Let me go!"

"Who was the one that ran at me like he wanted to kill me?!" Rood spat back.

"P-Please don't do this, Rood." Dio's eyes changed to normal as he releases fake tears from his eyes. "Didn't you say we were friends?" He pleaded in a pouting manner.

Rood only stares down at Dio in disgust.

"Tsk. It's in your best interest to let me go while i'm asking nicely." Dio's eyes changed again, and he puts on a devilish grin. "If I feel like it, I can make you and this school disappear. Unless you want to see the school become crater of flames, and bodies of its students strewn everywhere, you should listen to-"

Rood grabbed a hold of Dio's cheeks and stretched it, preventing him from saying anymore.

"I'm gonna rip your mouth off. I want to talk properly without you saying things like that." Rood lets go of Dio's cheeks. "If you really are the one that used to be my friend, Dio Varus."

Dio fell silent, then grins. The grin turns to chuckles, then to laughter. "i think you're mistaken about something." Dio sat up to meet Rood's face. "I'm done pretending to be your friend."

Rood looks at Dio intensely. "You're..Not human, right?"

"Indeed."

"And you're not a demon either."

Dio didn't respond, but just stares.

"Done being my friend?" Rood unties Dio. "Then let's just start over." Rood smiles hesitantly.

Dio looks at his free hands. "...What do you mean?"

"It's just like I said." Rood brought his head down. He remembered how Lin had told him about the demon she saw in Ishuella. How it had saved her and Carmille.

"But...Didn't I tell you that i'm not human?" Dio looks up from his hands.

"Either way. You're Dio."

Silence fell between them.

"But..." Dio began. "I tried to kill you just now."

"Don't make me laugh. Why did you get beat up if you really meant to?"

"Well, that's because I'm in my human form." Dio points at himself.

"Yeah? Then why don't you kill me right now in your true form? Of course, that's probably impossible right now."

"...Maybe you don't understand. In my true form, you're just one gulp."

"One gulp? So you eat humans too?" Rood open his mouth in awe.

"I-It's just an expression!" Dio says, trying to dismiss any misunderstandings.

"You probably don't know But I'm pretty strong among humans."

Dio looks up at Rood again. "I know. You're the Black Magician."

"...What?..." Rood was already shocked that Lispen had figured out his secret, so with second witness, he didn't know what else to say.

"You smell like him."

Rood thinks back to ishuella. How Dio had nuzzled him on the cliff. He just decides to let it go.

"Well. Get up." Rood extends his hand to Dio. "Let's get back to the classroom."

"Is this alright? You still trust me?"

Rood wrinkled his eyebrows. "Of course it's not. How can I trust you? Would you?"

Dio stands with a frustrating  stomp. "Fine! I don't need you!"

"Come back here tonight. We'll talk more then." Rood heads for the door. "We've already wasted too much time. Lidusis and the others will think its odd if we're gone for too long."

  Rood arrives at his classroom later. He'd left Dio in the equipment room to recover from his bruises. Since apparently, it'd take him no longer than thirty minutes.

At the door way, there were a bunch of Iduns staring in. Mostly girls. Rood got worried. if it were about Lidusis, he needed to take action. He made his way through the door as quickly as he could.

"Li-" Rood yelled, but was cut off by the unexpected. In the back was Lidusis, yes, but with him was also Baldwin. He sat in Rood's seat, arms crossed.

"Rood." Lidusis says.

Rood remains in place and stares down at Baldwin.

Baldwin gives off a grin. "Hello. Rood Chrishi."

There were clamors of chatters between the gathered Iduns.

"Hello my ass." Rood murmurs to himself.

Baldwin stands and walks over to Rood. He brings his face down so he could meet with his face. "Why won't you say anything?"

Rood thinks to himself a bit. If he made one wrong move, it would lead to his demise. There was now no doubt that the so called Baldwin was Shicmuon. Considering the magic concealing stone on his left ear, Rood couldn't think otherwise.

He finally decides not to hesitate. To act as normal as possible. He brings his hands over to his mouth and releases a fake cough. "U-Um...W-What did you want from me?" Rood opens his eyes in a childish way and brings up his eyebrows. "Did i...Do something wrong?" He spoke in a gentle tone.

"Ah...You just look like someone I knew." Baldwin was confused. "He was black all over...maybe." Baldwin stares at Rood for a while, then continues. "Do you know spots?"

"I don't know him!" Rood answers immediately

"...Yeah. He's not some tiny kid like you, anyway." Baldwin brings his hand over Rood's head as demonstration.

All Rood could do was stand still with the irritation eating at him.

"I guess...You're not him."

  Classes had began, but Rood didn't and couldn't do anything. He lowered his head and clutched his hand in frustration. Finally, he looks up and decides to speak.

"...Excuse me." Rood says. "I...I can't see the board."

"So?" Baldwin turns and stares down at Rood. He sat on Rood's desk with his legs and arms crossed, and as short as Rood was, there was no possibility of him seeing through Baldwin. "Are you telling me to move?"

Rood smiles nervously. "That's not it but..."

"Why is a shorty like you sitting in the back anyways? You probably can't see even without me here. Do they seat students from tallest to shortest here?"

Rood's hands twitched. He had to pinch himself to remind him that there was to be no sudden outburst. But Baldwin was making it harder and harder.

"Um..." Lidusis looks over with a worried look. "Aren't you supposed to come to our class starting tomorrow? Why did you come today? There isn't even a seat reserved for you anyways."

"Because I want to?" Baldwin gave Lidusis a menacing look.

"Okay." Lidusis brought his head down. "Um, then..." He folds his fist and gathered all his courage. "Please sit on my desk. I'm pretty tall anyway."

"What if I don't want to?"

Rood brought his hands over his face. He stands from his seat. "Ah! Now that I think about it, I left something back at the dormitory."

"Yeah?" Baldwin follows Rood's example. "Let's go together."

"Ah..." Rood thinks for a while then brings his hands over his stomach. "Oh man, my stomach hurts all of a sudden. I think I have to go to the bathroom." He glances back at Baldwin to make sure he bought his excuse.

"Let's go. Bathroom."

Rood stands and stares at Baldwin, annoyed. He didn't know what to try. Baldwin was just too persistent.

Rood was interrupted by a loud crash. Not crash, an explosion. It came off in the distance, and Rood could tell that it was around where he'd left Dio as he glanced through the window.