Chapter Text
Suzuki Iruma always had strange instincts.
Now, these weren't bad instincts, but they were certainly strange. Whenever he was faced with a problem, something inside him reared its head and refused to back down.
It was sort of... prideful in a way. Refusing to back down even if things weren't in Iruma's favor and then finding a way to turn the odds in his favor.
It also helped him avoid dangers that he wouldn't be able to face. Sort of like a danger detection. Except it also sounded like a small voice that said, "Not that way, take another path."
Iruma stopped questioning it by the time he was seven years old. After all, it had saved his life on more than one occasion. So, he brushed it aside and never thought about it.
When he was eight, something had changed...?
..........
No, nothing had changed. What was Iruma thinking?
Life continued as normal for Iruma, at least, what he considered normal. Those instincts were more subdued, but they still remained.
It was only when his parents sold him to Sullivan and the demon adopted him as a grandson that those subdued instincts reared their head again.
Sullivan was powerful and Opera was efficient. Both of them were satisfactory in the eyes of his instincts. Before Iruma realized it, instinct had him cataloguing both of them. Their actions, words, posture, everything. It left him confused.
Being admitted to Babyls caused an uprise in his instincts being even more confusing.
His duel with Asmodeus Alice caused his instincts to boil with anger. The nerve and pride to attack him over a speech! But they settled when Asmodeus swore his fealty to him.
Being blamed by Kalego for using the influence of his new grandfather to chant a forbidden spell also caused a rise in anger. How was he supposed to know that spell he chanted at the entrance ceremony was forbidden?!
His angry instincts settled when he summoned Kalego as a familiar. They scoffed in his head as if to say, "Serves you right". It had terrified him a little bit though to know that a teacher was his familiar.
Meeting Valac Clara was the first time his own instincts were perplexed. She was so intent on giving him and Azz things and playing with them. When he saw others using Clara, his instincts reacted with rage.
Clara was a demon. She shouldn't answer and give things to anyone who treated her like that was all she was good for. If she could replicate anything she saw, then she could easily make a weapon if she saw one! She was dangerous! Sure, she was bright and hyper, but her bloodline ability could easily become dangerous!
Thankfully, she dealt with them before instinct made Iruma deal with them. And Iruma didn't want to think about how dangerous these instincts were when angry.
He was glad that he could call her and Asmodeus his friends. It was the first time his instincts warmed and grew protective. He didn't have to catalog every word and action. He just had to stay close to them and protect them.
Joining the Misfit Class was also something new for his instincts. His introduction was weapons flying at him. Thankfully, he could dodge all of them due to his crisis evasion ability that he had since youth.
And when he saw Sabnock Sabro, his instincts were perplexed once again and also dumbfounded. Sabnock was a huge demon in terms of height and muscle and it made his instincts wonder what he was fed.
And when Kalego kicked him off the cliff during the flight test, his instincts reacted with fear. He couldn't unfurl his wings. He couldn't fly. He was...grounded?
Thankfully he survived thanks to the Guardian of the Valley and their chick. He also gained Sabnock as a rival which made his instincts fluff up in pride. He didn't know what the competition even was!
...
The Battler audit period left him with new emotions to consider. His instincts also changed a bit.
When he met Ami Kirio, his instincts were cautious and Iruma was sure they were growling. He couldn't understand why though. Kirio seemed calm. And was treated like he was trash all because of his rank.
When he decided to join the Magic Apparatus Battler, his instincts fought him. Kirio was dangerous. He couldn't be trusted. He was going to stab Iruma in the back. He was going to use and betray Iruma.
They calmed when Clara and Azz went with him, but they still spat and growled at how close he and Kirio were getting. Iruma still couldn't understand why.
The night before they set up, Iruma felt a sudden urge to cough. He looked around and saw everyone asleep, so he left the room and walked a little ways away before coughing. He stifled his coughs with his left hand.
Once he was done coughing his lungs up, he looked down at his hand only to freeze in horror. His left hand had blood splatters on it.
He had coughed up blood.
Frightened, Iruma ran to the nearest restroom and ducked inside. He ran water over the blood on his hand while his mind raced a mile a minute trying to find out why this was happening. His instincts were also panicking. Never a good thing.
So, he did what he did best, he never brought it up to anyone. He decided to keep it a secret. He didn't want others to worry about him.
When he faced Kirio, claiming that he would destroy Kirio's ambition, his instincts laughed in his head. He could now pinpoint the mocking words they were saying to him.
Shatter
Break
Watch as your ambition is destroyed
He used all the magic in the Gluttonous Feeder Ring to destroy the barrier around the school. He then passed out, needing the nap after practically saving the school.
When he awoke, his grandfather was back from wherever he was and told him that Kirio was arrested much to the joy of his instincts. Now he wouldn't be able to put Iruma in danger.
The Battler Party passed as normal and Iruma went from rank Bet to Gimel. And was pushed into the spotlight again. That wasn't fun.
After that, he met Azazel Henri, Ameri's father. His instincts liked Ameri enough and decided that she was trustworthy enough. Obviously he didn't tell her anything about his medical condition, not wanting to worry her.
When Henri told him that he could be taken back to the human world and his memories would be erased, his instincts had the hugest fit ever. They weren't happy with what he was offering.
Of course, Iruma's permission was needed for that so his instincts kept clawing at his mind, not wanting him to leave the Netherworld and claiming it as home. Iruma had never been more confused in his own life.
Thankfully, Ameri intervened before his instincts screamed his head off. There was a huge misunderstanding about their relationship though. Iruma hoped that he would never go through that again.
When his friends arrived, his instincts calmed again and immediately pulled him toward them. Those were his friends. This was his home. And this is where he would stay.
And Iruma only agreed with his instincts. He didn't know where they came from, but he did know one thing.
They hadn't steered him wrong yet.