Chapter Text
From the moment Sullivan became his grandpa, the sudden lifestyle change was almost overwhelming. All his life he had suffered, and tried his best to stay alive and fight for survival. Then almost all of his problems had vanished. Iruma had a comfortable bed to sleep on unlike when he would have to stay at shelters with people all around him or on some cold sidewalk. He didn’t have to work odd jobs to be able to have enough money to buy his necessities, Sullivan gave him more than enough to buy what he wanted. Iruma no longer lost sleep, those nights where he had to stay up to make sure no one stole his bag, he could rest comfortably without a worry in the world.
And most of all, he didn’t have to worry about food.
Food was always scarce for Iruma. Being left to fend for himself often left him to find food wherever he could. That would either be in some dumpster, or he would have to go out and catch it, sometimes begging on the streets for at least a scrap of someone's food is how he survived. Sure it wasn’t the most ideal, which probably led to how malnourished he was. Before being taken in by Sullivan, Iruma was practically skin and bones, being compared to other boys his age he was so much smaller than the rest of them. Iruma never knew when he would have the chance to eat again, so whenever he had food he’d eat it like it was his last meal.
Of course, ever since being in the demon realm, he had tons and tons of different foods to choose from, Opera would always give him delicious meals, though by the fifth plate, he’d get told that he shouldn’t eat too much before bed. Most people would laugh at him, tease him about eating too much or how he seemed to never get full. Usually, Iruma would blush and retort back that the food was good- which in his defense was good, but he thought that almost every food was good (even if it wasn’t he’d still eat it, he couldn’t waste food!)
But there wasn’t anything else much to it, Iruma was just a boy who ate a lot, teenage boys are like that, he was normal.
Until the final exam.
The final exam seemed to flick a switch in his brain— in an instant it was like he was in the human world all over again, fighting for his survival. All he could think of was getting past the day, being hyper-vigilant of his surroundings, to eat what he could. Whatever his mentor taught him flew out the window as his only goal was to survive.
Iruma did manage to snap out of it— if only a little, but he passed the final exam, but not without a few people raising their eyebrows as some of the people who watched were unnerved by the sudden change in him.
“Dude! This is like your tenth plate, save some for the rest of us!” Lied said, a little amazed at how quickly Iruma’s plates were stacked on top of one another.
“Iruma-chi! You will get fat!” As if to prove her point, Clara pinched Iruma’s little stomach fat.
“Did you not eat today Iruma-sama? Is that why you’re more hungry than usual?” Azz asked with a hand on his chin, he was more than certain he saw Iruma snacking earlier, and it wasn’t like the principal who always doted over his precious grandson would let Iruma go hungry. Iruma wiped the crumbs off his face as he held a troubled expression, something that did not go unnoticed as Azz immediately bowed to him. “Wait! I’m sorry Iruma-sama!!! I was just worried about your eating habit! It’s not like you’re going to get fat-“ he nudged Clara who also seemed to be sweating a bit.
“Right Valac?”
“Yes! Iruma-chi you won’t be fat! Even with eating all those sweets everyday-! Ouchie!!!” Clara yelped as a quick smack to the head shut her up.
Trying his best to control his breathing, Iruma heaved over the toilet, sweating profusely as the nausea passed by in waves— god he really shouldn’t have eaten that much. It was so good though, the feeling of eating all the delicious food he couldn’t eat before, he needed to eat it before it all went away. Even if it made him so sick, he needed to finish it, Iruma was never one to waste food. Iruma doubled over as he then wrenched. His throat burned, the stomach acid bubbling up as whatever he ate earlier was discarded into the toilet. What a waste. He panted, his eyelids felt heavy, and too much of his energy was used from him puking so hard. Shaking his head, Iruma knew he had to get back to his friend soon, or else they’d worry. With everything he had in him, he willed himself up, flushed the toilet, and stumbled towards the sink. Iruma’s eyes were a little glassy, his cheeks were flushed and his usual fluffy hair stuck to his forehead. He wiped his mouth off as well as put some water on his face to clean himself, or what he could. Making himself presentable he took in a big breath and walked out.
Kalego was fond of Iruma, though it wasn’t like he’d admit it to anyone. Iruma since the moment he was in misfit class was difficult, Kalego knew that he would have his work cut out for him when it came to the misfit class, especially when it came to someone as troublesome as Iruma. It was strange, from afar Iruma seemed like your typical naive boy, clueless about everything around him, but as Kalego looked closer it became more and more apparent that Iruma wasn’t normal. Of course, it isn’t noticeable at first— you had to look for things, and (un)fortunately for Kalego he knew what signs to recognize.
Iruma screamed signs that he was neglected.
He furrowed his eyebrows, Sullivan loved Iruma too much, the principal worshipped the floor Iruma walked on. But Kalego wasn’t stupid enough to believe that there wasn’t at least something suspicious that was going on, Iruma’s sudden appearance raised many questions such as, why had Sullivan not mentioned having a grandson before? Where were Iruma’s parents? When did the principal even have kids???? How was Iruma’s past life? How—more importantly WHO were his parents? Why did it take so long for Sullivan to have him in his care? All these questions were often left unanswered, Kalego was only his teacher but it didn’t stop him from worrying thinking about Iruma. His signs were concerning, even more so after the final exam. But it wasn’t like Kalego could just confront Iruma- or the principal for that matter, he had a sneaking suspicion they wouldn’t tell him the truth anyway.
Kalego sighed, this was a worry for another day. When the time came, he’d step in when he needed to.