With a flash of light and an intense crack of pain, Cobalt was ejected from Izzbelle's mind with concussive force, enough to launch him across the Oni's room and slam him against the far wall. The Incubus cried out as he toppled to the floor, only for the pain to intensify as Karazelle landed on top of him nary a moment later.

"Agh... Not quite the result I had hoped for..." she groaned, clutching her head as she staggered to her feet.

Across the room, Jelli squeaked with shock and tottered over to her fried, damp rag still in hand.

"Y- You're okay! What happened?!" the Glutton asked nervously, handing it to Karazelle.

Rolling onto his front, Cobalt dusted himself down and arduously pulled himself off the floor. Being ripped so suddenly from another's mind was a disorienting sensation, and it only boded ill for him. To perform such a feat, Izzbelle would have to be feeling very, very angry...

"W- We're not out of the woods yet, Jelli..." he murmured, wincing as his head throbbed.

Over on the sweat-soaked futon, the immense form of Izzbelle stirred. Her face twitched before her eyes opened slowly, both badly bloodshot. She seemed to take a moment to affirm her surroundings before her whole face twisted with rage. Teeth gritted, the Oni sat up and fixed her teacher with a furious glare.

"You..." she hissed, cracking her knuckles.

The strength drained from Cobalt's legs as soon as she clapped eyes on him. Waves of wrathful heat were rolling off her, enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He swallowed hard and raised both hands.

"Izzbelle, just take it slow. You've been out for a couple of days," he advised, trying his utmost to remain calm.

"Shut the fuck up...!"

She got to her feet. Every muscle in Izzbelle's body was tensed, and as she kicked the futon aside in order to advance upon her teacher, she spat onto the floor.

"How fuckin' dare you... What the fuck gives you the right to...?" she gasped, fists balled and shaking.

Sensing the danger, Karazelle stepped in front of her.

"Izzbelle, sweetie, take it easy. You're not thinking straight, and-"

The Succubus wasn't given a chance to finish her sentence. With frightening speed and trememdous strength, Izzbelle turned tight on her heel and rammed her foot into Karazelle's stomach. She was sent flying back into the kitchenette, where she smashed into a cabinet. Rattled by the strike, she could only groan as she crumpled to the floor in a hail of shattered plates.

"Karazelle!" Jelli screamed, rushing to her aid.

Cobalt wanted to help. He wanted to say something to calm his student's ire. But the words just wouldn't come to him. He stood there, frozen with fear as Izzbelle turned her gaze back on him.

"You son of a bitch..." Izzbelle rasped, lowering her stance.

"W- Wait, Izzbelle...! L- Let's talk about this...! I was only trying to help...!"

"I'm gonna... rip you... smash you... break you... into tiny fuckin' pieces... You hear what I'm sayin', you bastard...?"

She suddenly looked him right in the eyes, smoke billowing from her mouth.

"I'M GONNA FUCKIN' KILL YOU!"

Izzbelle suddenly kicked off the floor with enough force to splinter the boards. Cobalt, realising that there was no escaping the Oni's rage, could only cross his arms protectively in front of his face before she roughly grappled him like he was little more than a ragdoll. Not long after, the painful sensation of glass shattering against his back made itself known, before he and Izzbelle were sent sailing out into the cold night air.

They seemed to hang there for a moment as broken glass and shattered windowframe rained down all around them. But alas, gravity once again proved itself to be an eternal constant, and the pair plummeted to the ground. He was given half of a second to brace himself for impact before they slammed against the lawn of the dormitory buildings, scattering clods of earth everywhere.

Screaming in pain, Cobalt could do little to fight back as Izzbelle suddenly grabbed his shirt and threw him away from her, dashing him against the trunk of an ashbirch tree as his flight came to its painful conclusion.

"GYAAAAH! I'LL RIP YOU APART!" echoed the Oni's battle-cry, resounding accross the entire campus.

Though he was bruised, bloodied and aching all over, the Incubus bit his lip and hauled himself to his feet. His heart was thumping faster than it had ever thumped before, and he almost swallowed his own tongue in an effort to slow it down, but Cobalt realised that now was not the time to fall into the throes of panic. He and his most troublesome student had just crashed through a third-storey window, and had severely damaged both the dormitory lawn and the building itself. This wasn't going to look good on either of their records...

"No, k- keep it together..." Cobalt gasped breathlessly, leaning against the tree for support.

Indeed, the spectacle had not gone unnoticed. The students - having heard the commotion - had crowded into Izzbelle's room and were gawping at them through the obliterated window. Soon enough, more windows opened and more heads popped out as word spread.

"What's going on?! I can't see!"

"Are they fighting?!"

"Quick, get your phone out; she's gonna kill him!"

Over by the impact crater left in the dirt, Izzbelle stood with her fists clenched. Her breathing was heavy, like that of a mad bull. Raising her hand, she suddenly screamed once more to the night air.

"OCOV ET! AMRA ILOBAID!"

The air just about her palm abruptly exploded into a ball of flame, whereupon she plunged her arm right into it. With a triumphant grunt, the Oni pulled out a magnificent labrys of sizzling bronze out of the blazing nothingness, hefting it onto her shoulder even as it sparked and smoked. Cobalt's face went white.

An Oni's Bronze Axe was a force to be reckoned with.

"I- Izzbelle, please see reason here! Violence is never the answer!" he cried fearfully, staggering back.

"BULLSHIT!" roared his student in response, sweeping the axe in front of her.

The heat from the gleaming metal was enough to singe the grass black. Above them, the students of B.I.D. were fighting amongst each other, struggling to get the best view.

"Miss Suyas! Drop your weapon!" cried a voice from behind them, accompanied by the sound of many boots crunching against gravel.

Half a dozen teachers suddenly thundered up the pathway, placing themselves between Izzbelle and Cobalt as they each drew their own weapons. Among them, Mr. Hersh raised a fearsome mace and gestured for his injured colleague to get back.

"GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY WAY!" the furious Oni roared.

"Miss Suyas, I am warning you! Do not make this any worse for yourself!" Mr. Hersh responded, nodding for his fellows to ready themselves.

But Izzbelle was in no state to reason with them. Gripping her Bronze Axe tightly, she slammed her foot against the ground and released an animalistic howl, loud enough to rattle one's teeth. The teachers responded with battle-cries of their own, but Cobalt had grown deaf to them all. The Incubus just stood stock still, paralyzed in place.

A part of him was thankful for his colleagues assistance, but his relief was swiftly overtaken by another, more dreadful feeling. If Izzbelle were to attack the staff, there was only one thing that would come of the situation, especially when compiled with all of her previous misdemeanors.

Expulsion.

He could just fall back, and let things take their course. After all, she was in the wrong. He had tried to help her, only for Izzbelle to try and assault him. And if Izzbelle was expelled, surely he would have a much easier time teaching, especially without all of her interuptions, and her cruel jokes, and her ireful glares, and her... her...

No, he couldn't let that happen. Somehow, in Cobalt's terror-addled mind, he realised that the last thing he wanted was to cause any further harm to her, even at the cost of his own safety. Racking his brains for an alternative solution, he briefly remembered an exerpt from one of the books he studied back in college, when he was training to teach History. Laws of Hell, chapter eight-five, subsection thirty, line sixty-two...

"The Rite of Fair Combat...!"

It was madness. Pure madness. But at that moment in time, Cobalt was no longer thinking rationally.

Looking back on how to perform the custom, he braced himself and bit deep into the tip of his index finger. It tore open on his sharp canines, leaking blood all over his face. But he ignored the pain, and suddenly burst through the protective wall formed by the other teachers.

"WAIT~!" screamed Cobalt, waving his hands.

Gasping for breath, he daubed a messy pentagram onto the back of his other hand, just as the ancient Hellish custom dictated. He then raised his fist into the air and stood up straight.

"By my decree as a lawful citizen of Hell, I hereby initial the Rite of Fair Combat with Izzbelle Suyas!" the Incubus cried, his voice cracking at the end of his sentence.

Behind him, the teachers of B.I.D. looked to each other with looks of shock.

"Cobalt, what Hell are you doing, man?!" one of them called.

He gasped for breath, but stood his ground.

"Instated in 1623, it's an archaic law, but may still be invoked to this day! In accordance with the Rite, both participants agree to fight, and are therefore exempt from any and all repercussions! Even unto d- death!"

True enough, with the Rite invoked, nothing could happen to Izzbelle once the fight was concluded. Thing was, it also meant that nobody could intervene, and on his own, Cobalt didn't stand a chance...

"ENOUGH FUCKIN' TALKIN'! ARM YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!" the Oni bellowed, pointing her axe at him.

But there was no time to regret his decision now. With the eyes of B.I.D. bearing down upon them, Cobalt steadied himself and invoked his weapon.

"O- Ovov et, amra ilobaid... Oh Trayer, you idiot..."

Swathed by shadows, he pulled his Leather Whip into existence and prepared himself for battle. The students cheered. The teachers made disapproving remarks. Izzbelle howled like a beast.

And Cobalt just whimpered.

-----

"GROOOAAAAGH!"

Izzbelle's overhead swing was a sight to behold. Smoke and sparks followed the blade of her axe in a blazing arc, and the strike was powerful enough to loose earth and stones from the ground below. Had Cobalt not thrown himself to safety a moment before her attack connected, he would have been cut in two like a hot knife through butter. Shaking and uncertain, the Incubus barely managed to pull himself to his feet before Izzbelle swung the labrys laterally, scorching the grass with its fiery aura.

"Th- This was a mistake!" he cheeped, nervously holding his Leather Whip out before him.

"SHUT UP! I'VE HAD IT WITH ALL YOUR FUCKIN' WHININ'!" the Oni retorted as she prepared for another attack.

Another swing, another miss, but it was only when Cobalt stepped into range of Izzbelle's left arm did he realise her feint. Leaving her weapon lodged in the earth, his baneful student grabbed him by the throat and roughly slammed her fist right into his stomach. The pain was immense and the shock was enough to leave him reeling, but she didn't stop there. Again and again, Izzbelle railed her fist into her teacher, not caring where she hit as long as she hit something. With Cobalt's blood liberally coating her knuckles, she released another feral scream and hurled him against the wall of the girls' dormitories, where he crumpled to the ground in a beaten heap.

Retching and gasping for air, he tried stand up, only for his legs to give out.

"I- Izzbelle, I'm begging you... Fighting won't solve anything... L- Let's just talk, ok-?"

She responded by lobbing her Bronze Axe at him. It spun violently through the air before biting deep into the stonework, just a few inches from his head.

"GET OFF YOUR ASS! FIGHT LIKE YOU FUCKIN' MEAN IT, YOU COWARD!" the Oni bellowed, much to the delight of the students up above.

Though they whooped and cheered, Cobalt could barely hear them over the ringing in his ears. His nose was bleeding badly, and he could already tell that the bruises forming all over his body were going to ache for days afterwards. Izzbelle just wasn't in any state of mind for diplomacy, no matter how hard he tried. Feigning defeat wasn't an option either, as to do so was to nullify the act of invoking the Rite, leaving her susceptible to school rules once more.

"Son of a bit- agh, biscuit..." he muttered, clutching his chest painfully as he righted himself.

Grip tightening on his whip, Cobalt swallowed hard and returned Izzbelle's gaze. Her eyes were ablaze, in quite a literal fashion. Flames licked from the corners of her mouth as well, and parts of her uniform were beginning to smoulder alarmingly. Muttering an incantation, she summoned her Bronze Axe back to her hand, whereupon she began to rap her knuckles threateningly against the flat of the blade.

The Incubus braced himself.

"Menidutitrof ihim ad! Arbmu! Tneratpac!" he swiftly cried, splaying his hand.

Heeding his incantation, the shadows all around Izzbelle launched themselves forward in the form of a mass of inky black tendrils, wrapping around her arms and legs. As she tried to free herself, Cobalt turned on his heel and lashed his whip forth. He had never had to fight someone before, but he still remembered all the lessons from his Applied Demonics classes; grip firm, wrist loose, stance fluid.

Just as he had hoped, the leather cord wound tightly around Izzbelle's neck. Not enough to choke her, but it granted Cobalt enough leverage to pull himself over to the Oni and plant both of his hands on the side of her face. Her skin was impossibly hot.

"Listen to me, Izzbelle, please! I don't want to hurt you!" he pleaded in an almost whimpering tone.

"AS IF YOU COULD LEAVE A FUCKIN' SCRATCH ON ME!"

Taking advantage of his brief distraction, Izzbelle ripped her right arm free of the binding cord, and before Cobalt could react, she lunged for his throat with killing intent. His life flashed before his eyes, and in a moment of pure madness he grabbed the closest thing to his hands.

He grasped the rocky horn in the centre of her forehead.

At once, Izzbelle froze up, her eyes opened wide and her mouth hanging ajar. A few people gasped with shock from up in the dorms, and he could understand why. To touch an Oni's horn was a grave transgression, but he didn't have a choice.

"Izzbelle, I- I understand what's going on here, I do. But you weren't given a choice back then! Had you fought, you both could have been killed! It wasn't your fault!" he cried, wincing as his palm began to burn.

She didn't respond. Slowly, the Oni began to shake.

"Y- You can stop fighting. Conflict isn't going to fix what happened that night. I- I'm sorry, but please; you have to let it go," continued Cobalt, loosening his grasp a little.

Her lips began to move, but he couldn't make out any words. As he leaned forward, however, she suddenly rasped a phrase that he definitely recognised.

"Sutanoroc."

At once, Izzbelle's entire body burst into flames, incinerating the shadowy bonds holding her captive and forcing Cobalt back onto the ground. Rising to her full height, the heat intensified and the light brightened, nearly blinding all who bore witness to the ongoing battle. Gritting his teeth in an effort to ignore the burns he had received, the Incubus slowly retreated, but was soon trapped in place by the wall of the dormitories.

There was no denying it; Izzbelle had completely lost herself to rage. Her eyes were but a pair of white flames that pierced straight through him, and as she advanced upon Cobalt, she left burning footprints in the grass behind her.

"You don't understand a fuckin' thing," she hissed, her voice terrifyingly quiet.

"I witnessed what happened alongside you! Really, Izzbelle, I understand your pain!"

"And who gave you the right to go pokin' your nose where it don't belong?!"

"A- As your teacher, I have a responsibility to-!"

Cobalt screamed as she suddenly slammed her hands against the wall, knocking him onto his rear. The flaming Oni bore down upon him with frightening intensity, and was only through sheer will that he didn't pass out from fear right then and there.

"I know your game. You act all nice, but you're just as fuckin' twisted as anybody else. You gotta different way of doin' it, but I seen what you been doin' to people. I seen the glimmers you put in their eyes," Izzbelle spat, her voice warped by the flames.

Taking a step back, she picked up her Bronze Axe and readied herself for one final, decisive swing.

"So I'm gonna do everyone a favour and fuckin' kill you. Look or don't; I'll make it quick...!"

Cobalt squeezed his eyes shut. He was shaking all over, and deep down, he could feel the frozen claws of dread tugging at his very heart. She wasn't kidding. She wasn't playing around. Izzbelle was set on executing him right where he was, and she was so blinded by rage that she didn't care who saw. With the Rite protecting her, she would be determined the victor and would be allowed to walk away scot-free, and Cobalt knew this well. It was the due process of old Hellish law.

And yet, a part of him wanted to survive.

The same part of him that prompted the Incubus to take a deep breath and yell as loud as he could.

"IS THIS WHAT JAMES WOULD HAVE WANTED?!

He kept his eyes firmly shut and awaited a response to his last gasp, be it a retort or an axeblade to the neck. But the only reply Cobalt gained was the night wind blowing the heat of Izzbelle's flames accross his face. He swallowed dryly and opened his eyes, but kept his gaze firmly on the ground.

"H- He was a good, gentle person. Even from what little I saw of him, I could tell. You fought for him tooth and nail, and didn't even realise why. He met with a terrible fate, and I am so sorry, but I don't think this would be what he would have wanted from you, Izzbelle. James cared about you. And I'm sure he wouldn't want you to agonise over what happened like this," Cobalt spoke, his voice quivering and cracking.

The flames crackled and the wind blew, and yet still, he was met with silence.

"I know the pain is raw. I know that losing someone you're close to feels like losing a part of yourself. But you can't keep lashing out and hope it dulls. You didn't tell anybody you were sick because you didn't even know it yourself, did you? You were too busy focusing on the pain of what happened..."

Taking a deep breath, Cobalt slowly stood up, taking great care not to make any sudden movements.

"You may feel alone, Izzbelle, but you're not. Even if you don't want me, I'm here for you; as your teacher, and I hope as a friend. But even if I can't convince you, I know he could. And I think I speak on James' behalf when I do this...!"

All thoughts of self-preservation were gone, but he didn't care. All Cobalt cared about was soothing his student's pain.

He recklessly threw his arms around Izzbelle's shoulders, embracing the flames as he hugged her tight. Holding on for dear life, the Incubus ignored the pain and whispered into her ear.

"It's okay. You can stop fighting now."

The Bronze Axe slipped from Izzbelle's hands and clattered against the grass, burning the shape of a labrys into the ground. The flames died down and she fell to her knees, shaking all over. One by one, tears began to splash against Cobalt's back.

"I- I should have fought... I could have..." she breathed, her once-strong voice now barely more than a whisper.

He held on, even as he felt his grip weakening.

"You did what you could to save his life. Honour him by living yours freely."

"I... I miss him, sir..."

Nodding weakly, Cobalt smiled.

"I know... But time heals all wounds, and you've been hurting long enough." he sighed, wincing as his head began to throb.

Gingerly - almost fearfully - Izzbelle returned Cobalt's embrace. She held him tightly, tighter than he would have liked, but he didn't mind. The tears were coming thick and fast now, and as the seconds ticked by, the Oni began to sob.

As she cried, Cobalt just nodded and kept hugging her.

"I- It's okay, Izzbelle... It's oh... kay..."

He couldn't hold on any longer. Held close in Izzbelle's warm embrace, the pain and the fear of their battle finally caught up to Cobalt. His eyes rolled back into his head and his limbs went limp as the cold numbness of unconsciousness claimed him.

But before he fell to fatigue, one final thought echoed in his mind.

He was just happy to have finally gotten through to her.

------

Cobalt was a mess after the fight. His clothes were dirtied, his face was covered in his own blood and he had sustained multiple burns all across his body. Thankfully, Mr. Hersh had the foresight to call for an ambulance, so the Incubus was safely carted away to the hospital before Nurse Elya caught wind of his condition.

As for Izzbelle, she hadn't spoken a word since the battle ended. For a time, students clamoured all around her, congratulating her for emerging the victor and taking pictures on their phone. But Karazelle could see it in the Oni's eyes; she wasn't feeling particularly victorious. What Cobalt had said during that final, crucial moment had struck a cord with her, and she had kept to her self since.

One by one, the students of B.I.D. lost interest and gradually filed back to their dorm rooms, leaving Izzbelle alone in the back of the common room. She sat pensively on a couch, staring hard at the floor with red eyes. Karazelle had known her for over a year, and she had never once seen her so quiet and calm.

Leaning in the common room doorway, the Succubus cleared her throat, but Izzbelle didn't respond.

"You alright, sweetie?" she asked, cocking her head.

Izzbelle glanced up and shuffled about.

"Yeah..." she replied unconvincingly.

With a sigh, Karazelle crossed the room and sat down next to the Oni. She smelled of smoke and burnt spices.

"I, uh... I just wanted to say I'm sorry. Poking around your memories was my idea, and I dragged him into it. Just to be clear."

Izzbelle nodded slowly.

"I guess I oughta say sorry too. F- For kickin' you, I mean," the Oni mumbled, clearly unused to giving apologies.

"Heh, don't worry about it. I've taken worse kicks in AD class."

She snorted humourlessly, but remained silent. Reading the mood, Karazelle simply sat with her in comfortable silence. After a while, Izzbelle saw fit to break it.

"I don't get it. Why is he...?" she murmured, more to herself than to anybody else.

The Succubus next to her just shrugged.

"The way he is? I couldn't tell you, sweetie. I was surprised too," Karazelle sighed, leaning back.

Indeed, Cobalt was proving to be more and more of an enigma to her. She had him pegged as a gentleman - if a rather nervous one - but she never expected him to put another person's emotional needs before his own survival. It was reckless and foolish.

A small smile spread across her lips. And yet, what he did that night was somehow admirable.

"But enough about him for now. I want to know how you're holding up."

"You don't gotta pretend like you give a shit."

"Good thing I'm not pretending, then."

Slipping her hand into Izzbelle's, Karazelle looked deep into her eyes. Despite the front she was putting up, she was still dangerously close to crying.

"I care. Enough to want to be your friend, at least."

Sniffling, the Oni shook her head.

"And why would you wanna be my friend?" she asked sullenly, looking away.

"Well, our names rhyme, so that's a plus."

She smiled, but quickly tried to hide it.

"D- Don't fuck with me."

"Oh no, that comes later."

Despite the dour mood, the two girls began to laugh. Quietly at first, but it soon devolved into a full blown fit of the giggles, whereupon Karazelle smiled and rested her head on Izzbelle's shoulder.

"It'll be alright, sweetie. Just you wait and see."