Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to the rightful owner. Only the plot is mine…

A/N: I can't believe it that it's been years since my last update! I need to come to an end with this… and intend to shorten the chapters (or at least post a few scenes) to provide you quick updates. Let's see how miserable my English became after a long break. Anyway, I hope that you still can enjoy this, dear loyal readers… for You.

Pick me up when I'm feeling low,
Pick me up and show me home.
All my senses just need to know
Why your heart feels like gold.

"Rooftop" – by Nico Santos

Chapter 15: The Demon Hunter

"What… is this…?!" Hilda couldn't trust her eyes.

The San Marx Academy, which successors of distinguished families attended and which she was supposed to attend, had such dark deeds going on at the same time. On the centered encaged ring, two people were fighting against each other by brute force. Thousands of people – woman and man, old and young, partially even children – were gathered around them, rooting for them, booing and yelling like crazy. Noble men and women in suits and fancy dresses behaved totally out of character like some hooligans caught up in the excitement of the match. And they weren't only satisfied with gambling a fair amount of money just for their own private amusement.

They wanted to see a bloody fight.

"'You scared, Blondie?"

Himekawa's voice made her take a hasty breath and reminded her of his presence. She negated his remark with a glare. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Come ooon, it's definitely more entertaining than sitting around with Behemoth." He replied with a singsong voice and led her to an empty seat.

Going to hell was better than that man's presence. Without another word and totally ignoring her company, she took a seat and withdrew mentally.

What a meaningless life some people led. The struggle to make a living is completely strange to them. The amount of money they gambled was enough to save lives – animals and unfortunately humans who had neither a place to call 'home' nor enough to eat.

"THE VICTOR ISSS… THE WILD TIGERRRR!"

A wave of cheers banged through the whole arena. Seemingly, that hulk 'wild tiger' was the obvious favorite. Himekawa let out a low chuckle and grinned. "That fool shows no mercy as always."

"AND AFTER A SHORT BREAAAAK, WE'LL CONTINUE WITH THE CLAAAASH OF THE TITAAAAANS!"

An even louder roar exploded from the audience that Hilda had to shut her ears with her hands. She already regretted following the Pompadour-jerk there. Now, leaving on her own was no option either since her stepfather had definitely sent his dogs after her.

"Hime-chaaan…!"

A blonde guy approached the duo and hugged Himekawa tightly from behind. "I knew you would come, honey."

"Kugayama." Himekawa hissed dryly and nodded towards Hilda. "Behave yourself."

Only then, the person called Kugayama noticed the girl next to him and glared at her. "Who is that bitch!"

Hilda raised an eyebrow and looked at the two men skeptically. "Yuck…" she didn't hide her disgust as she watched them with disbelief.

"Kuga…" Himekawa addressed the other male. "Hildegarde is our special guest today."

"Hildegarde… Behemoth's heiress?" Kugayama thought aloud in awe. "Well… it doesn't count then." He smirked and placed a kiss on Himekawa's cheek without averting his eyes off Hilda. "Next time, don't you dare show up with a girl in front of me, Hime-chan… never!"

"Fool…" Himekawa grabbed a handful of his blond hair and rashly caught his lips. "Now get out."

Kugayama obeyed him silently and retreated with a smug, almost blissful face.

Hilda pretended that she didn't witness all that. Himekawa might have explained something but she obviously ignored him. She had enough. Even if she wanted to avoid Behemoth, she didn't have to spend time with two homosexual high school students!

"Yo!"

Before she could stand up, another known guy showed up and took the seat next to her.

"Toujo." Himekawa frowned at him. "How did you get to my personal realm?"

"Tch, VIP my ass!" the orange-head grinned mightily. "Hire some worthy fellas or you gonna kick the bucket soon! Anyway…" he looked at Hilda, "… why's Blondie here?!"

"Well, I was just about to leave." Hilda didn't want to get involved anymore and stood up. Himekawa wanted to say something when the commentator was faster.

"IN JUST A FEW MINUTES, OUR LONG-AWAITED FIGHT WIIIILL STAAAART! WILL OUR UNDEFEATED DEMON HUNTER DEFEND HIS CROWN?! PUT YOUR CHIPS WISELY!"

Suddenly, Hilda jerked to a halt. As she turned her head to Himekawa, he already had a triumphant expression on his face.

"I knew it!" Toujo stood up and had a closer look at Hilda. "You're the chick who was with Crazy Dragon that time."

That last comment confirmed her guess whom the commentator was referring to. Indeed, 'Crazy Dragon' was Jabberwock's nickname. She didn't know why others would call him that way. However, crazy would be a fitting word to describe that ruthless man who was supposed to be her boyfriend once.

Jabberwock meant Akumano Academy or briefly, the Demons. So if the announcement was really referred to the Akumano guys, who would be the one hunting them?

"Blondie's that wuss' girl…? No wonder…" Himekawa murmured to himself.

Hilda grabbed the collar of her company and hissed darkly. "I'm nobody's girl, bugger!"

Toujo found this side of her very amusing since it reminded him of Shizuka. Nevertheless, he still was aware of the grave situation. "You're not with him then?"

She let go of the silver-head and clenched her fists. "Hell NO!"

This time, it was Toujo's turn to hale her. "Come with me!"

Just what the hell was wrong with that brain of the Ishiyama guys! Hilda didn't know how she permitted them to drag her here and there. Was it because she considered them as allies or something like that? No. They were mere old 'schoolmates', acquaintances at the most. Nothing more and nothing less.

She didn't owe them an explanation. It was none of their business whether she had a bad relationship with her stepfather or what Jabberwock did to her. They should just leave her alone.

Yes, being lonely was still less painful than losing someone you love.

So why did she allow those two idiots to intrude in her life so much? Even that little conversation which lasted at the utmost a few minutes was too much for her.

The reason why she was still following those two was that her next stop would be Behemoth's mansion again. So why not using this opportunity and stay out longer?

Besides, hanging out with Toujo and Himekawa made her inexplicably feel a little bit at ease.

They passed different corridors and staircases, apparently going down even further. They halted in front of an iron door, which was guarded by two guards.

"Himekawa-sama." They bowed respectfully.

It seemed as if they wouldn't let them proceed. "Move." Himekawa commanded firmly.

"I'm afraid that I can't do that." The guard was intimidated by his frown but stayed persistent. "Mr. Kugayama has strictly forbidden outsiders to enter the striking distance of the arena. Only you and Wild Tiger are allowed to pass."

"Wild Tiger…?" Hilda wondered and glanced at Toujo. She remembered the commentator mentioning that name earlier.

"Tch. I'll take care of that." Himekawa fished his mobile out and dialed a number.

Toujo shot the Blonde a questioning look. "What'cha lookin'?"

"How do you know Jabberwock?"

His face became serious all of a sudden. "You have dealings with that asshole and don't know about these fights?! He's the one behind it."

"Isn't there an age restriction for the combatants?" she rather talked to herself.

"Sure, there's a lower limit except for one fighter…" Toujo explained when the announcement of the commentator interrupted him.

"LADIIIIIIES AAAAAND GENTLEMENNN, ARE YOU RRRREADY FOR OUR YOUNG STAR, OUR UNDEFEATED OGRE, OUR SELF-PROCLAIMED… DEEEEEEMONNN HUNTERRRRR?!"

A loud yell crashed through the whole building and loud enough to hear for the trio underground.

"Tch, too late dammit!" Toujo cursed under his breath and Himekawa yelled furiously at Kugayama over the phone.

Hilda, on the other hand, became thunderstruck. As if all puzzle pieces assembled, the blurry picture in her head became finally clear.

Undefeated Ogre.

A single father.

Demon Hunter.

Clash of titans.

The invasion of Akumano.

His reaction to Jabberwock…

…

No.

NO!

While the guards were discussing around with Toujo and Himekawa, Hilda found an opening and rushed in the blink of an eye through the door. The guards reacted too late and intended on stopping her. It was them who were halted by a strong grip at their collars from behind. Turning around, they were intimidated by Toujo's terrifying aura.

"You just stay here and stay on guard, dudes!" he threatened them with a smug face.

Himekawa shut his phone and glared at the orange hulk. "Just why the fuck am I working my ass off then!"

They passed the door and followed Hilda.

The latter was running aimlessly. Many doors to different rooms. Fighters, injured here and there. She would even recognize some of them if she really paid attention. Instead, she went on. She ran and ran. And although the corridors seemed to be a maze, she continued as if something or someone oddly led her.

Finally, she arrived at a grille. More guards came around and caught her.

"You! Why the hell are you here, Miss?"

The dozens of people jerking her arms was no skin off her nose. She grasped the grille in front of her as if her life depended on it. There, a good hundred meters away, a young brown-haired stood on the ring.

Did she see right?

Was it really him?

As if she was as sure as death that it could be none other than him, she hoped or rather prayed that it shouldn't be him at the same time.

"No…" she whispered almost whiningly. Hilda quivered. Her whole body became cold and weak suddenly. The only thing she was aware of was her firm grip on the grille.

She wasn't cold because of nervousness. Nervous because after so many time – too much time for her taste – she was able to see him again. No, she wasn't nervous. Also, she didn't feel happy. Or relieved. The only thing she felt was a feeling that she almost forgot. A feeling that was a sign of weakness in her eyes and that she wanted to erase ever since her biological – her beloved father's death.

She was scared.

In front of the young brown-haired man, a huge – almost 5 times bigger older man stood with a big battle axe.

Toujo and Himekawa reached her in no time and intended to handle the guard. But as soon as they had a look at the ring, their jaws almost dropped and they couldn't hide their bewilderment.

"Basilisk?!" Toujo knew the fighter, who always carried that huge axe around, too well. "You fuckin' kiddin' us, Jabberwock?!"

"Oi, Oga! We're not playing along that crap! Get out of there!" Himekawa yelled angrily.

The young man on the ring either didn't hear them or he ignored them, none of them could tell.

Himekawa and Toujo continued shouting but to no avail. Not even Hilda would hear them. All she heard was her heart hammering in her chest. She halted her breath. She was scared.

What was going on?

Why was he standing there on the ring?

"RRREADYYYYYY?!" The commentator was just about to start the fight as the cheering became louder and louder.

The ring which symbolized the start of the fight was barely audible due to the audience. Led by her adrenaline, all Hilda could do was scream his name.

"OGAAAAAAAAA!"

A/N: I simply want to apologize for not updating for so long although I hate that myself as an eager reader. A shorter chapter this time, but I would be glad to read your reviews and hope that you haven't forgotten this old, dusty, humble story.

I promise you that the next update won't take three years. Thank you, dear precious Readers.

Next time, reunion...

Yours,

Illusion.