The Lunchroom Incident

The first week at Northvale High had been a crash course in chaos for Ailee. She had fought demons twice her size, hunted rogue spirits across timelines—but nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to surviving high school lunch hour.

“Grab a tray and act normal,” she muttered to herself, clutching a plastic tray like it was a holy weapon. The cafeteria buzzed with energy—students shouting, laughter echoing, the smell of fries mixing with the sharp scent of teenage perfume. She scanned the room for an empty table but immediately spotted Robin sitting with his friends.

Of course. The one person she was supposed to observe discreetly.

Ailee took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and approached the corner table. “Mind if I sit here?” she asked, her voice neutral.

Robin looked up mid-bite, blinking in surprise. “Oh—yeah, sure.” His friend whispered something that made him grin. Ailee caught it: “Is that the weird transfer girl?”

She shot him a death glare that could’ve frozen a hellhound. The friend instantly shut up.

“So,” Robin began, trying to fill the silence, “you getting used to things around here?”

“Yes,” she lied, stabbing her fries too aggressively. “Totally blending in.”

Robin smirked. “You sure about that? You wore your jacket inside out yesterday.”

Ailee choked on her drink. “That was… an infiltration tactic.”

“Into what? The fashion disaster club?”

She glared at him again, cheeks puffing. “You talk too much.”

Robin laughed—a real, easy laugh that made her stomach do something strange. For a second, she forgot she was supposed to be monitoring a potential demon king and not falling into stupid human emotions.

Just then, a loud crash interrupted them. A tray clattered to the ground near the vending machine. The lights flickered—only for a second—but Ailee felt it immediately. A faint pulse of demonic energy.

She froze. That’s not human.

Her eyes darted toward the source: a girl, standing awkwardly, apologizing as students helped her pick up spilled food. But Ailee’s trained senses didn’t miss it—the faint glow in her pupils, the quick twitch of her fingers. A low-level demon in disguise.

Ailee’s instinct kicked in. She half rose from her seat before realizing—too many people, too public. She couldn’t act without blowing her cover.

Robin noticed her tense posture. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said quickly, forcing herself to sit. “Just… indigestion.”

Robin looked unconvinced but let it go. Ailee watched the demon girl leave the cafeteria, her aura flickering like a candle about to go out. She’s weak, Ailee thought. But why here?

The Bureau’s orders echoed in her mind: Observe Robin. Do not engage unless necessary.

But she couldn’t ignore it. If a demon was nearby, it wasn’t by accident.

“Hey,” Robin said, snapping her out of it. “You keep spacing out.”

She smiled awkwardly. “Just… thinking about history class.”

“Right,” he said, clearly not buying it.

Ailee sighed as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. She stood, tray in hand, but her eyes lingered on the door the demon girl had exited through.

This mission was getting complicated—and for the first time since arriving in 2011, Ailee felt the faint chill of danger creeping back into her human disguise.

As Robin walked beside her toward class, chatting about a math test, she realized something even more unsettling.

She was starting to like him.

And that, more than any demon, terrified her.

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