Tsukasa infiltrates the academy in the past as a transfer student, and starts gathering information on his target. Of course, past Rui is a loner who gets bullied by his peers and wouldn't harm a fly.

When he asks the other students about him they just laugh derisively and call him a pathetic weirdo. They would say his ideas about magic were outlandish and crazy, even heretical. Tsukasa nods in understanding, it makes sense that the future demon king would be creating dangerous magic.

Many of Tsukasa's friends and family have perished from fighting the demon king's armies, and he has vengeance burning in his veins. It's the main reason why he was chosen for the job. He could be trusted to fulfill his role.

However, he can't seem to make the connection between the insane sadistic overlord demon king and the pitiful boy he sees in front of him. Where he expected madness he only saw sadness.

He shakes off his hesitation and decides to do the deed, convincing himself it was for the good of the world. If he kills him here then all the people who would eventually die at his hands would be saved. Including his family.

When he approaches with his sword drawn though, Rui merely looks up at him with a flat expression. He's soaking wet, likely a result of another one of his classmate's pranks. He's holding some sort of book, sopping wet and ruined. He doesn't try to run, doesn't even flinch. He merely looks at Tsukasa as if accepting his fate.

He reminds Tsukasa of a sad wet kitten, abandoned by the world. Tsukasa tries to will himself to swing his sword. His hand starts shaking. But he just can't do it. Even if he will eventually become a murderer of countless, right now he is just a kid who not only can't defend himself, but won't even try.

Rui looks at him and asks him why he stopped. Tsukasa doesn't know how to answer that, and instead turns the question back to the boy, asking why he didn't try to run or fight.

"There's no point. If I run you'll just chase me. If I fight back you'll just hurt me more. If I let you do whatever you want maybe you'll get bored and leave." He eyes the sword. "If you kill me maybe I can finally be free from this rotten place."

Tsukasa is stunned. He can tell Rui is speaking from experience. His eyes drift to the ruined book in his hands. Rui has a white knuckled grip on it, and it's the only thing that betrays what he's really feeling behind his calm expression.

"Do you mind if I see that" Tsukasa nods at the book and sheathes his sword in good will. Rui seems reluctant, but hands it to him anyway. It's not like he'd be able to stop him if he wanted to take it.

Tsukasa mumbles an incantation under his breath. He was never that great at using magic, but he knew quite a few handy little spells. This one in particular was one he used to help dry laundry with, back when it was just him and his sister. Those days were long gone, but he still remembers them fondly.

A warm wind sweeps through the pages, and the wet spots disappear before their eyes. The words are a bit smudged and the pages a bit wrinkled, but otherwise it was almost as good as new.

Tsukasa hands the book back to Rui, who's expression was one of utter shock. "Why" He can't help but ask. No one has shown him any sort of kindness since he came to the academy.

This book was full of the ideas he had to use magic to bring people smiles. It was something he'd seen one day when he was young, a show where a magician used magic to make lights dance and flowers sing. It brought so much joy to his little village and he couldn't help but be inspired.

Even through all the heckling from his classmates, he never gave up on his dream. He filled the pages of his book with half written spells to summon dancing golems, flying capes, and fireworks that could fill the night sky.

When his classmates discovered it, he could only feel dread. They ripped it away from him and tossed it into a pond, and he dove in to retrieve it. By the time he surfaced and dragged himself out of the water, they were already gone.

Tsukasa chuckled at Rui's dumbstruck expression. It was almost... cute. "Well, it seemed important to you so I thought I could fix it. Um. Sorry about earlier, that was just a prank, I didn't mean to scare you or any..."

Tsukasa drifted off, his words stolen by the sight before his eyes. Rui was smiling. The smallest, tiniest smile, but he could tell how much he meant it by the way his eyes crinkled at the edges.

Tsukasa quickly turned away blushing. This is the demon king we're talking about, why does he look so...so... angelic Oh no. "ANYWAY, we should get you dried off before you catch a cold." He started walking toward the main building, tugging the other boy's wrist behind him.

Rui's smile grew a bit wider. It seemed this new transfer student wasn't quite as heartless as the rest of them. For now at least. The thoughts he had after his dreams had been cruelly thrown away were unsavory to say the least.

He'd almost given up hope. What was the point of bringing people smiles if he had to suffer so much for it The world would be better off burning if this was the way it treated his earnest efforts. The boy before him had saved him though, the small act of kindness had been enough to pull him out of his despair.

He stares at the flush on Tsukasa's ears, the other very obviously avoiding looking back as he rambles on about this or that. He has no idea what Rui was thinking, or that his small gesture meant so much. All he could think about was how he was tell his superiors he thought the demon king was too cute to kill.