Hey everyone!

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my other stories. I've just been excited about this one.

I hope you enjoy what I've been cooking up.

Sumaru stood in a stone room. Morning light shone through the tall twin windows, and he could see soldiers doing drills and formations. There were too many for him to quickly count.

The demon army, huh? How did I end up here?

After Sumaru and Marrow finished gorging on the delicious cake and were laying on the floor with their distended stomachs, Incubus cleared his throat and pulled a paper from his coat pocket, "Ahem. I have your orders for dispatch here."

"Uhuh..." Sumaru and Marrow answered in delirious harmony.

"Miss Marrow, your prowess in combat has been proved time and time again, you're going straight to the front lines." Incubus turned a cold glare toward Sumaru, "Your servant however remains untested in the eyes of the higher ups. As such, he will be sent for training among the general infantry. If he proves himself, he will be permitted to join you on the battlefield. Until such a time, you will have to do without your servant."

"Uhuh..."

Sumaru's jaw clenched. Damn that Incubus. What did I ever do to him?

A stack of papers tapped against the desk, grabbing Sumaru's attention, "Alright, everything looks like it's in order." There was a man sitting across from him. He leaned forward and Sumaru got a good look at his face. Blue skin on a stern face with two stubby horns poking out of his forehead. He seemed pretty par for the course for a modern oni, especially with his pencil mustache and military fatigues. His smile felt sarcastic, "Welcome to the twelfth division of the Demon Army. I am Commander Spleen and you will be training according to our very strict regiment here at Baronfall keep." He spoke as if someone had ordered a coffee, "You will be expected to-"

Sumaru put up his hand, "Wait, let me get one thing strait." When Spleen nodded, Sumaru continued, "This isn't the Demon King's Castle?"

The oni behind the desk scoffed at Sumaru, "What gave you that impression? This is where the more difficult soldiers get sent for remedial training." Spleen smirked, "I can only imagine the kind of trouble you're attached to, since you've been sent here for your basic training."

Sumaru muttered, "Damn it Marrow."

"Oh? So you're connected with that feisty nature spirit, eh?" The man looked him up and down, then he smirked, "We're gonna have fun with you."

"..." Sumaru squinted at the demon, "...So am I done here, or are there a few dozen more papers for me to sign?" Then he adopted a thoughtful look, "The health care package is a lot more cohesive than I thought."

"Pft. Who do you think we are? Humans? Hahahahahah!" The demon slapped his desk and waved Sumaru off, "That's just a little joke around here. Take this and pick up your basic equipment from the armory," He tossed a punched ticket on the table, "Now get out of my office."

Sumaru grabbed the ticket and fled the room as fast as he could.

Commander Spleen's office was on the third floor of the keep, overlooking the huge pavilion that made up the infantry's training ground, so Sumaru and his guide passed through quite a few halls and stairways on their way down to the armory.

In one such hallway, as Sumaru followed his guide to the bottom floor, a rowdy group passed by like a hurricane and flew up the stairs. Sumaru was bumped and slammed right into the wall.

Winded, Sumaru posed a question, "What was that?"

"That-" The soldier answered, also up against the wall, "-was the special training unit."

Sumaru nodded and rubbed his head, "Special?" They looked more like inmates than soldiers.

The soldier helped Sumaru up, "You can move, right? We need to go. They're all crazy, but their captain is worse."

"Worse?" Sumaru could see the fear on the soldier's face.

He nodded as they shuffled down the corridor and checked around the corner, "They say if you make eye contact, he'll make you join his squad without a second thought." The soldier was dripping with sweat, "He once caught a buddy of mine."

What is this, a horror story? Sumaru gulped, "W-what happened?"

The soldier turned back to Sumaru with a hollow look in his eyes, "I'm sorry!" And he fled the other way with tears streaming down his face.

"Hah?!" In shock, Sumaru watched the soldier flee back the way they'd come. Suddenly, he heard something go crunch right behind him. Sumaru's voice jumped up an octave, "Huh?!"

There was a hand grabbing onto the wall corner that the soldier had been looking around. It was definitely a strong hand, the stone was crumbling beneath it. A severe face appeared next to the hand, "I sense that someone was talking about Shinji. How nostalgic. I'm sure the afterlife gave him what he deserved."

Sumaru looked up at the huge man, "..."

He hasn't seen me yet! Legs, it's time! Now run! Sumaru recieved no response from himself, and his legs remained where they were. Betrayal?!

"Hm?" The man's eye drifted downward.

No! Don't look down here! I'm just an insignificant bug... Sumaru tried to make himself smaller by hunching over, but just it wasn't enough to completely disappear.

(Sumaru used minimize!)

(...But it failed!)

"Hey, you."

Sumaru looked behind himself, on the off chance that this man was talking to someone else. The soldier was long gone, so Sumaru pointed to himself, just to make sure, "W-who, me?"

"Who else?"

"..."

"..."

Sumaru tried to keep himself from trembling as they stood in silence, the man had quite the presence. Sumaru reminded himself of the soldier's words. Something something eye contact, that's what soldier-kun told me, right? Internally, he nodded to himself. That's exactly right! Soldier-kun's friend was taken because he didn't make eye contact! He was percieved as weak, that's why he failed! Sumaru grit his teeth as he mustered his resolve. That's exactly what it was! That means that what I need to do here is make eye contact!

Sumaru lifted his face and glared into the intimidating man's face, with his sharingan spinning furiously. The message he wanted say with his eyes was simple. I'm strong, now get put of my face!

The man only had one eye, and though his face could have been considered handsome, there was something savage about his presence. Maybe it's because this man is huge, or maybe it's because this huge man has a sword even bigger than him on his back. Can that even be called a sword? In the face of Sumaru's determination, the man grinned, and Sumaru's heart stopped.

Sumaru was enveloped in a warm feeling completely around his body, as if he were submerged in a wonderful bath.

"It's time to wake up."

The warmth left him, and it only took a moment for him to awaken.

Sumaru sat up, "Aaaaah!" He was in a small room, like a medieval version of the school infirmary. There was even a desk and a row of beds.

A door slammed open and the man from before appeared once more, "Doctor-san, I heard. So he's awake?"

"Huh?" In his 2 seconds of consciousness, Sumaru had overlooked the one other being in the room. There was a person shaped, translucent green blob in a lab coat standing at his bedside.

The thing raised an arm and bubbled.

Sumaru blinked, "Doctor-san?"

It bubbled again.

A heavy hand landed on Sumaru's shoulder, and metal dug into his meat. He squeaked in pain.

The thing in the lab coat bubbled more intensely.

The man glared, "Gentle is for the afterlife."

"Afterlife?" Sumaru couldn't believe the words coming out of this mans mouth.

"Hm? That's right, you don't know yet."

"Know what?" Sumaru couldn't help the dread that welled up in his stomach, and he quickly said, "Hey, can I have my shoulder back?"

The man glared down at Sumaru, "You just arrived, right?" Sumaru nodded with a cramped face, "You've been assigned to my squad. From now on call me Captain."

"You're squad? You mean the special squad, right?"

The Captain clicked his tongue, "They're still calling us that? I told them to change it to Hell Raiser Squad."

Maybe if I'm polite, he'll let me go. Sumaru tried it, "Excuse me, but I'm only here for basic training. So-" The weight of the metal hand seemed to increase on Sumaru's shoulder, "So, I'm really grateful for this opportunity to go above and beyond the call of duty, Sir!"

"Good. Now come." The Captain didn't let go of Sumaru, and instead dragged him out of the bed.

Sumaru cried, "It's breaking! It's gonna break!" But no matter how much he squirmed, the grip didn't loosen. He reached for the green blob in the lab coat, "Help me!" Doctor-san reached for Sumaru. Ah! He's really trying to help! Doctor-san, your soul is beautiful. Thank you. The green appendage slapped into Sumaru's open hand. Huh, it feels like jelly. Solid, but squishy. When he tried to pull himself out of The Captain's grip, Doctor-san's arm came off at the elbow.

Doctor-san waved goodbye with his other arm, and then The Captain pulled Sumaru away from the doorway, and that was the last he saw of the jelly doctor.

Sumaru blinked. Then, "WHEN I ASKED FOR YOUR HELP I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D LITERALLY LEND ME A HAND!" He hollered at the top of his lungs. Then the jelly in his hand started squirming up his arm and Sumaru world went dark.

Sumaru woke up gasping for air. He was completely soaked with frigid water, clothes and all. He coughed and hacked until he could properly breath again, "Where am I?" Then he looked around and came face to face with a wall of rippling muscles.

The voice that answered was the kind that delinquents and gangsters used when someone intruded on their territory, "Welcome to Hell, Newbie!"

"Hah?" Sumaru tried to look at the man's face, but there were two massive, tan pecs that sat on the brick wall of abs.

"Hurry up and put on your uniform. I'm taking my precious time to wake you up for lunch, now show your appreciation and get ready quick!" A hand pushed an orange jumpsuit at Sumaru.

Sumaru caught it, "Uh, sure." He was in a bed, and this wall of muscle was standing on one side, so he got off on the other side and pulled off his soaked clothes. Since I don't have a choice anyway, I guess I should at least try to adjust. Then he slipped his legs into the jumpsuit and half turned turned to the muscle man, "What's your name, by the way?"

"Not By the way, I'm Bruno." Now that he had a little space, Sumaru saw that not only was Bruno incredibly built, but he had two extra arms sticking out of his rib cage. He wore his jumpsuit as pants and let the rest hang.

Sumaru blinked, "Well Bruno, I owe you one." Then he buttoned up the front and tugged on the boots he found under the bed.

It was strange to watch Bruno shrug his lower shoulders. He shook his head and started walking, "No you don't. Now let's go."

Sumaru scratched at his chest and followed, "Yeah."

The mess hall was divided in sections by squad rankings within the division, and the table for the special squad was in the corner of the room farthest from the kitchens. When Sumaru and Bruno came in through the empty archway, there were only a few soldiers still waiting for their food.

"Damn, hardly anything's left." Bruno grumbled as he tugged Sumaru along to the food line, "Didn't I tell you to hurry up?"

"Don't pull on me." Sumaru twisted his hand out of Bruno's grasp, "If this uniform wasn't so damn itchy, then we wouldn't have been late. Has this thing even been washed?"

Bruno blinked, "Oh, yeah."

"Don't just say, 'Oh, yeah'! What kind of answer even is that?"

The sharp sound of boots on stone cut through the noise, "Arguing before you do anything else, I see. Leave it to the 'special' squad to do something unnecessary like that." Bruno and Sumaru turned to look at the sudden third participant in their conversation. A pressed and creased uniform. Pants and a jacket, it was a real uniform. It was a man with his blond hair slicked back.

Sumaru's eyes narrowed when he saw the look on that man's face, Does he think he's Gilg*mesh or something?

Bruno clicked his tongue and tried to grab Sumaru's arm again, "It's none of your business, Siva."

Siva spread his arms with a smirk, "Well someone's got to keep a firm hold on your troublemaker's leashes. It might as well be me, since that Captain of yours obviously isn't up to the-"

During Siva's brief speech, Bruno's face had been slowly changing color until something snapped and he charged with his fists cocked back, "Damn you!"

It was over in an instant. Bruno was a strong looking man, with big muscles and four arms. Sumaru didn't think anyone like that could get taken down so easily, but he saw it with his own eyes. He saw exactly how Siva shifted his body and met the larger man's charge with an open palm and locked legs. It was as if Bruno had charged into an iron skewer at full speed.

Bruno fell, and blood seeped from his mouth.

"Bruno!"

Someone shouted from the side, and people ran over to check on Bruno. They were wearing the same jumpsuits that he was.

While they carried Bruno off, Siva approached Sumaru, "So you're the latest troublemaker? Let me give you a piece of advice," Siva leaned in, "Don't get cocky. You don't want to end up like that." He gestured with his eyes at the archway where Bruno had been hauled off. Then he stepped out of Sumaru's space and looked him up and down, "I'd heard you were some kind of Crimson Demon hybrid, but I guess it's actually true. In that case, you should understand exactly what I mean." Siva walked away with a half wave over his shoulder, "See ya."

Sumaru stared at the arrogant man's back. He'd unconsciously activated his Sharingan.

A hand rested itself on his shoulder, and a voice said, "Leave it." Sumaru glared at the whoever had gotten behind him. It seemed like a man, but between the plain white mask and androgynous voice, it was hard to tell. Sumaru decided to assume it was a guy. He was wearing a jumpsuit like him. The strange voice came out again, "Woah. Try to relax, okay? Don't worry, Bruno will be fine after a visit to Doctor-san. In the mean time, you can have the food we saved for him."

Sumaru blinked, "I'm confused."

The masked guy tilted his head, "It's his fault for letting Siva bait him like that, anyway. Bruno can't stand anyone badmouthing the Captain." He turned to lead Sumaru to the table.

Sumaru scratched at his leg, "Uh, it looks like you're in the special squad too, but what's your name?"

The white mask turned back to Sumaru, and it's pinprick eye holes were somehow intimidating, "You should break that habit as soon as possible. We're the Hell Raiser Squad."

Sumaru was going to say, 'Does it really matter?' but the mask's aura intensified as he was about to speak. Instead, he said, "I'll work on hit."

The aura disappeared instantly and the mask tilted in a facsimile of cuteness, "Excellent. I'm Fenbelt, by the way. Come on, I'll introduce you to the others."

The tables provided to the squads for meal time were long enough to seat 20 guys on each side. Having so much space made the special squad look extra pitiable. Including Sumaru, there were only four members at a table meant for 40. But even if they lacked members, the Hell Raisers made up for it in eccentricity.

Fenbelt sat next to Sumaru and pointed to the two sitting across from them, "That one is Skinbo, he's too much of a jerk to do anything useful."

"I'm plenty useful right where I am. After all, none of you would know what to do without someone to supervise you." A pencil-thin man with red skin and two small horns poking out of his forehead flourished as he brought a fork to his mouth, "After all, you all can't do anything without me."

Fenbelt rubbed the chin of his mask, "The most useful I've ever seen you be is that one time you were transformed into a paperweight."

Skinbo choked on his food and fell backward off of the bench. He was able to latch onto the table with his cherry hands, before his super gelled hair touched the ground. Sumaru got a good look at Skinbo's fangs when he shouted across the table, "You promised not to bring that up!"

"The other one is Jr."

Jr. was the same size as Bruno, and they might've been related if it wasn't for Jr.'s dark blue pigment. A single horn stood proudly atop the bald man's forehead, about as long as a person's forearm. Sumaru stared at the man, it was impossible to take him seriously when he was hiding his face with both hands like an embarrassed school girl. He tried to speak, "N-n-n-n-nice t-t-to-" Jr.'s dark blue face blushed a radiant purple hue, and steam escaped from his ears, "TOMATO!"

Their completely opposite. Sumaru stared in amazement as he watched Skinbo pat Jr. on the back and whisper words of encouragement. He might've found the scene touching if Skinbo wasn't also scraping Jr.'s food onto his own plate while the meek blue muscle man was too busy nodding with tears in his eyes to notice.

At the same time, Sumaru(who'd just taken his first bite) was overcome with an enormous itching sensation all over his body. As he went to town scratching everywhere his hands could reach, Fenbelt tilted his mask in his direction, "Ah. Bruno got you with the itching powder uniform, didn't he?"

"Itching powder?!"

Skinbo giggled, "He does it to all the newcomers. It's a special blend that's been enchanted so that it only activates once you eat something. It happens exactly the same every time, but I swear, I'll never get tired of their faces after the first bite! Ahahahaha!"

Sumaru's sharingan flared to life, and his true thoughts spilled out, "Bastard! When he get's out of the infirmary, I'm gonna kill him!"

The group had a laugh, and Skinbo stretched a pointed tail toward Sumaru, "I can get rid of that itching, if you like."

Sumaru would never admit whether the tears in his eyes were from the sudden burst of hope or the pain from his bleeding skin,"Really?"

Sumaru saw Skinbo's fangs again, "As long as you give me your food."

Sumaru clawed at his legs and screamed, "I don't care, just do it!"

"Certainly. Now then," The red arrow of a tail brushed over Sumaru's hand, and he felt Skinbo's power wash over him for a moment. Then, the itching was gone and he was left with only the pain from his intense scratching. As Sumaru writhed on the floor, Skinbo went to work dragging the platters of food from Sumaru's spot over to his own. He clapped his hands, "It's also enchanted to disappear with a simple application of mana. Thank you, please come again."

They took Sumaru to see Doctor-san after Skinbo finished eating.

And that's a wrap!

No Marrow this time, she has other things to do. Sumaru is now stuck with a misfit group within the demon army, and, as expected, shenanigans are unavoidable. I'm really trying to treat this next section of the story as a real arc. Before, there wasn't any real direction and things were just sort of happening to Sumaru at random, But now things should happen to him in a more concentrated and direct flow. Soon, there will be an opportunity to show how Sumaru is handling his Sharingan eyes and I'll try to clearly illustrate which direction Sumaru's powers will develop in the future.

Hardship, struggle, growth, tears...

As the saying goes, 'Shoot for the moon, and even if you miss you'll land among the stars.'

See ya!