Lhori stepped out of the portal holding Noah's hand. Lucifer was already waiting for them, his face solemn and annoyed, his arms crossed on his chest. Next to him was Beel, looking at the newcomer suspiciously. Noah looked around curiously, but his smile faded, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at two demons. You could cut the tension with a knife.

Lhori smiled nervously and let go of Noah's hand.

"Welcome to Devildom, Noah," she chirped.

"Your demons don't look very welcoming," he said, keeping his eyes on Lucifer.

"Some of us don't believe your intentions are pure," Lucifer said coldly.

"Oh? What am I going to do? Assault you in the middle of your city?" demon hunter scoffed.

"Oh, I'd love to see you try..."

"Ok, can we please just drop the staring contest?" Lhori interrupted, annoyed.

"Right, let's get to business then," said Lucifer. "Beel, search him for weapons."

"Lucifer! Is that really necessary?" she protested.

"You aren't expecting me to let in an armoured demon hunter, are you?"

"Why would he bring a weapon here?"

Beel approached Noah, and he raised his arms without complaint. The demon started to pick up several daggers conveniently concealed out of sight.

"See?" said Lucifer looking at her triumphantly.

"Noah!" she gasped. "I told you: no weapons!" He looked at her with a smirk.

"You really expected me to come to the demon world without any weapon?"

"And what were you planning to do with those little knives, hmm?" mocked Lucifer.

"I can show you if you want," Noah growled.

"Enough!" Lhori shouted. "All of you! No one is going to fight here, is that clear?!" Demons and the man nodded still exchanging angry stares. "Good. Lucifer, Beel, I believe you have other matters to attend to? I'm taking Noah to show him his apartment and then we'll proceed with the tour. So, let's get going everyone!" she rushed them.

Lucifer put a heavy hand on Noah's arm.

"You have three days here, demon hunter," he said, his voice low and menacing. "Lay a finger on her, and you're not getting out alive."

"Lucifer! That's enough!" Lhori protested. Noah only held his gaze, his head high. "Come on! We are going." Lhori took the man's elbow and pulled him away from Lucifer.

They walked down the street toward her old apartment.

"Charming boyfriend you have there," Noah said gloomily.

"He grows on you," she replied shrugging.

***

"Wow, it's crowded," said Noah while they were walking through RAD's halls.

"Yes, it is!" Lhori was beaming with pride. "Have you noticed that we have demons, humans and angels here? You can't really see much difference, do you?"

"Well, they all look... like ordinary students," he admitted.

"Exactly! Because that's who they are. At RAD it doesn't matter which world you belong to. Everyone is welcome as long as they are open-minded."

"It still feels weird," he said. Lhori noticed he was kind of jumpy like he shivered every time the demons passed.

"Are you ok? You look kind of pale," she asked, concerned.

"It's nothing. Just my senses are kind of overwhelmed here."

"Oh, right. You told me you could sense demons. I'm sorry, I haven't thought about it. Let's take a break in my office, then."

Noah followed her obediently through the campus. When she closed the door of her small office, he sat on the chair with a heavy sigh.

"Have some water," she said, handing him a glass. He drank it in silence, looking around curiously.

"So..." she said fidgeting nervously with her fingers. "What do you think so far?"

He looked at her with a frown. She found him hard to read. He was good at concealing his true emotions and feelings. That made her nervous for some reason.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"It all seems... kind of artificial to me."

"Artificial? How so?" she frowned.

"It feels like it's all for show. I keep waiting for some demon to jump and try to kill me."

"Noah, it's not going to happen," Lhori said calmly. "It's all real. That's how life looks like here. Did you expect anything else?"

"Yes... kind of," he admitted and sighed. "Look, Lhori, I know you have good intentions. But I've encountered countless runaway demons and believe me; they were not like in this perfect little town of yours."

"I am aware of that. But among humans, there are bad people too. It doesn't mean there are no decent ones," she replied. Noah smirked.

"You do have a point."

There was knock on the door, and a timid looking girl came inside.

"Miss Lhori! – she started excitedly, but then her gaze turned to Noah, and she stopped. – Oh, I didn't know you are busy."

"I'm sorry, Sarah," Lhori replied with a friendly smile. "If you need to talk to me we can do that later this afternoon?"

"No, that's fine. I just wanted to stop here for a moment, to let you know..." the girl paused and smiled brightly. "He said, yes!"

"See! I told you he would!" replied Lhori cheerfully. "I'm so happy for you! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you guys!"

The girl thanked again smiling from ear to ear and left closing the door behind her.

"So..." said Noah, a mocking smile on his lips. "Let me guess. You're an expert on dating demons now."

"Shut up!" she hissed. "And no, Mr I-know-it-all. For your information, she is dating an angel, not a demon. So stop being condescending, and get up. We have some lessons to attend to. And afterwards we have to go shopping!"

"Shopping?" he asked frowning.  "Whatever for?"

"Because there will be a fancy dress party tomorrow and I need a dress. And I don't suspect you have anything to wear for the occasion?"

"Well, you didn't warn me there will be a party," he said acidly. "If I knew I would have come another time."

"And that's exactly why I didn't tell you," she said with a grin. "Don't be such a spoilsport. Party is the best way to get to know people."

"I hate parties," he complained, rolling his eyes.

"You will love this one, I promise!"

***

"Lhori! So good to see you!" squealed Asmo, when they entered his boutique. He kissed both of her cheeks and then looked curiously at Noah, his eyes sparkling. "Oh, and who is your handsome friend? I don't think I've seen him before."

"This is Noah. Noah, this is Asmo. You'd better not look him in the eye if you don't want to be charmed."

"Lhori!" protested Asmo. "Don't spoil the fun!"

"You are forbidden from using your power on him," she said sternly. "And he's a demon hunter, so it probably wouldn't work anyway."

"Demon hunter, you say. Now I'm even more interested!"

"Don't mind him. He's always like that," Lhori said to Noah. He was carefully observing Asmo as if he was a dangerous creature ready to attack any second.

"So, pleasantries aside," said Asmo looking back at her. "I'm guessing you came to buy a dress for tomorrow party?"

"Yes. Do you have something for me?"

"Of course, I do. I have a couple of dresses in mind. Let's try them on!"

"Can you also find something for Noah?"

"I can, but I will have to take measurements," Asmo said with a lustful smile, eyeing the demon hunter.

"Or I can just tell you my size," Noah said sternly.

"Ugh, he's even stiffer then Lucifer," Asmo sighed. "Let's get to work then!"

The Lust Demon provided them with a couple of outfits to try on and pushed them into the changing room.

"I think I like the red one," Lhori said, looking at herself in the mirror. The dress has a vintage shape and has a black ribbon around the waist. It looked quite cute.

"Come out, little kitten! I want to see how you look in it!" said Asmo excitedly.

She pulled off a dividing curtain and stepped out of the changing booth. Asmo clapped his hands, looking at her with a wide smile.

"I knew this dress was made for you! What do you say, demon hunter?" Noah said nothing. He was just staring at her in astonishment.

"What? Is something wrong with the dress?" she asked, confused, looking at her dress in search of any defects.

"I think he is, what do you call it? Smitten!" giggled Asmo. Noah grunted, his face turned a bit red.

"It's a very nice dress," he mumbled. Asmo laughed.

"What he meant is, you look sexy as hell, my dear," the demon said.

"Thank you, Asmo. I'll go with this one." She looked back to the man, who was wearing a black tuxedo. "You look good too, Noah. Do you like it?"

"I don't really care," he said shrugging. "I can go with it if you like it," he added, his cheeks still slightly red.

"Ok, we are sorted then. Let's change back, and we need to head back to RAD for rehearsal."

"What rehearsal?" Noah asked.

"I'm also running a music club," she said, getting back to changing booth, and taking off her dress. "You don't have to go if you are tired. There won't be anything particularly interesting. Just bunch of us playing together."

"It's not like I have anything better to do anyway," Noah replied.

***

Noah was sitting in the corner of the room observing Lhori, as she was talking with the students. There were all mixed up, humans, angels and demons. It didn't seem to matter to them. They looked like any other student club, laughing and joking around, bickering with one another.

"Miss Lhori, I don't think I can do this," whined a blond guy with a perfectly handsome face, after striking the wrong accord on his guitar again. Noah was suspecting he was an angel, as his aura was different from human, and didn't belong to a demon. He didn't have much experience with angels.

"What are you talking about, Kenny?" asked Lhori with a gentle smile. "You're doing great!"

"But I'm so nervous already! I don't think I'm ready to get on the stage in front of the whole RAD! I'd probably just freeze and won't be able to do anything! Or throw up!"

"That's normal to be nervous before live performance," said Lhori and sat down. "Come here guys, let's talk it out!"

The students were talking freely with her. Noah still couldn't put his finger on what was it exactly, but there was something that was drawing people to her. And demons. And angels too. Like a moth to the flame. He couldn't help it either. Since the first day he saw her in the theatre he couldn't take her out of his mind. He sighed and massaged his temples. He knew it was hopeless even though his stupid heart kept desiring something that could never be.

So, he kept looking at her, every time noticing more and more details. How she smiled encouragingly to shy students. How her brilliant blue eyes light up when she spoke about music. And how she was becoming a completely different person the moment she started to sing. Someone endlessly confident, and powerful, without any fear.

She turned her gaze at him as if she could sense his thoughts. Her cheeks turned slightly red, and she quickly looked back at her students, pretending she hasn't noticed his staring. He sighed silently and hesitantly looked away from her.

He was surprised when his superiors agreed for this crazy visit in Devildom. He expected them to oppose. To even forbid him to go. And yet they were very enthusiastic. A bit too enthusiastic, he noticed. It was weird enough that he and other demon hunters were never informed about this exchange program. With this sort of scale, with so many humans involved, they should know about it. He closed his eyes and dismissed troubling thoughts. He was not important enough to question his superiors' methods. And they surely did not owe him any explanation for their decisions. But he couldn't get rid of the feeling, that something fishy was going on.

At that moment, the band started playing again. Noah could get back to staring at Lhori without feeling guilty about it. He felt his mouth curved up with a smile. When she was standing on the stage, she was shining. She looked so happy like she doesn't have a care in the world. She smiled at him. When she was up there, she knew all eyes were on her. And she did not blush anymore.