[215 years ago...
Peiskos: Demon Continent _ Zenith Province]
A young Akira sat on the blue sand of the beach, which was slightly bluer than the normal sand.
He gazed at the ocean before him and took in the salty smell of the waves, which playfully splashed around.
Then, a woman sat next to him. Her dress was white with silk lining running over it. She dug her feet beneath the sand and spread it across her toes before rocking them left to right.
Akira looked at the woman, his eyes squinted. He couldn't make out her face and could only see a disoriented void covering her eyes.
Her skin was plum, filled with freckles that covered her cheeks, but a smile that made them rosy.
Her hands were small and delicate, burn marks adorned on her left hand, probably from the countless fights she's had to endure.
Despite her scars and her disguised eyes, the woman was gorgeous. In fact, one would say that her scars made her more beautiful.
Akira knew this woman, but it had been so long, that his image of her was now nothing but a blur.
She noticed Akira looking at her and she gave him a bright smile.
She opened her mouth to speak, but no words sounded. Akira knew what she said and smiled gently.
Looking back at the waves, the wind blew the woman's long, black hair and Akira's shorter black hair.
As the waves continued splashing about, Akira closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Thank you..."
[Present Day...
South Kinoko: Beast Continent _ Hana Province]
In the comfort of his home, Akira groggily opened his eyes and looked at his ceiling.
It was now morning and no longer was he at the beach. He was back to reality, for that was nothing but a dream.
After raising his head and sitting up straight, Akira felt visibly irritable. His eyebrows were furrowed and a vein popped up on the side of his head as a migraine formed.
"Maybe I'll take it easy today," he said as he stood up from his bed and walked out of the room.
Making his way downstairs, he saw Frill waiting for him. She gazed at Akira and her eyes widened.
Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment and she quickly covered her eyes, spreading her fingers to peek slightly.
"Frill. Why are you looking away?" Akira queried.
"Y-You're not... wearing anything..." Frill replied.
Akira snapped back to reality and looked at his body. He was completely naked and his manhood was hanging over.
"It's fine, isn't it? You've already seen me naked," Akira responded as he smirked mischievously.
"That doesn't make it any better! Please put on some clothes!" Frill requested.
"I don't see why I should. You like what you see, don't you?"
Frill screamed and turned around, making Akira chuckle as he returned to his room to get dressed.
Akira returned moments later wearing the black suit he had arrived in the day he took over the village. Frill looked at him curiously and tilted her head.
"This is the first time you've worn it since we repaired it," she pointed out.
"I suppose it is. I do get bored of wearing the same suits, so it's nice to change things up every once in a while," he replied as he sat next to her. "So, what brings you here?"
Frill, feeling bashful at the fact that Akira was sitting relatively close to her, averted her gaze and cleared her throat.
"These are this week's statistics. I thought you might want to take a look at them," she said as she searched her bag and handed Akira a set of papers.
"Mh..." Akira read the stats and nodded. "This is good. It appears the kids are making improvements, even when I'm not around to teach them. Good job," he praised Frill with a gentle smile.
Frill smiled back at him and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Which brings me to my next question..."
"Yeah?" Akira said as he stood up and walked towards the kitchen.
"Sir, you haven't been to the school in 3 days."
"Is that so?" Akira responded as he placed the kettle over the fire.
After a few seconds, he registered Frill's words and looked back at her in curiosity and perplexity.
He squinted his baggy eyes and looked at her, almost as if she was speaking a foreign language.
"What?" he finally said.
"Oh, I thought that... Lord Akira, you weren't anywhere in the village for 3 days..."
Akira grew more and more perplexed the more he thought about Frill's statement. But, he sighed softly and smiled.
"I was busy. I'll return on Monday and teach the students Lilim once again, alright?" he said.
"Of course..." Frill said as she smiled gently. 'He must be feeling tired. He did just wake up.'
Frill stood up and said, "I'll be heading out now."
"Alright. Thanks for stopping by."
Frill bowed gently and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Once she was gone, Akira removed the kettle from the fire and walked to his study.
'I was gone for 3 days? That shouldn't be possible...' he said to himself as he perused through his collection of books.
"Let's see..." Saying that, he picked up a book titled, "The Philosophy of Dreaming."
After skimming through the first pages, Akira found a chapter on demons and he quickly read through it. The chapter read:
[Although it's common for most creatures to dream when they fall asleep, one particular creature does not do this. That creature being a demon.
[If a demon does find itself dreaming, it could be signs of stress and sexual tension. It isn't as bad as it sounds, but demons do require a weekly requirement of at least one session of sexual intercourse]
'If I don't get something done, I'll keep dreaming. I hate that...' he said as he shut the book and put it back on the bookshelf.
"I suppose I could find Ruri and have her do something for me. She hasn't exactly been hiding the fact that she's interested in my body," he added as he walked out of his study.
***
"Ms Frill?" Hiro raised his hand. "What is 'sexual intercourse' and why do demons need it to stop dreaming?"
Frill turned red and began stuttering. "It's uh... W-Well... It's..."
"It's when a male and a female procreate in an attempt to make an offspring," replied Akira, who was seated at the back of the classroom.
"Lord Akira! That isn't something you reply so casually to!" Frill reprimanded.
"It isn't? I think they should at least know about it, right? Not like they'll practice it though," he said as he sat up straight.
"If they do, I'll send them straight to Hell myself," Akira added with a serious and menacing expression, which sent chills down everyone's spine.
Frill cleared her throat and said, "In any case, if a demon doesn't... you know... for a long time, they may start dreaming and from those dreams, an important message will appear."
"Mh?" Akira raised an eyebrow. "Ms Frill, what do you mean by that?"
Frill was surprised. "You didn't know? Because of how unusual it is for demons to dream, when they do, an important message is delivered to them in the form of a dream."
Frill raised her finger and continued, "But because of how rare it is, the messages usually come off as simple menial tasks, such as doing the laundry or even trimming the grass."
"What if it shows you someone who's no longer... alive?" Akira queried.
"I'm not too sure about that one. The researchers didn't have enough resources to interview an actual dreaming demon before," replied Frill.
Akira rubbed his chin in curiosity. "I see..."
The next evening, Akira walked to a perculiar house, where he found Ruri standing outside.
She noticed him approaching and smiled brightly.
"Lord Akira, you're here again!" she said in a cheerful tone as she wrapped her arms around Akira's.
"I said I'd be here. You were literally expecting me," Akira retorted.
"I know that, but it's more fun to pretend as if it's a surprise," Ruri said as she wore a seductive smirk. "Come on in."
As they entered, Akira saw someone he wasn't expecting to find at Ruri's place. In fact, the person at Ruri's wasn't expecting to see Akira as well.
"Asahi, could you go to bed early? Auntie Ruri has a... meeting with Lord Akira," she said as she stood close to Asahi.
"Asahi, huh. So, this is where you live," said Akira.
"Huh?" Ruri turned her head to look at Akira in perplexity.
"What are you doing here? What kind of teacher are you, sleeping with my caretaker?" Asahi inquired as he stared at Akira with an angry expression.
"This can't be helped. I need to stop dreaming," replied Akira.
"Wait, you guys know each other?!" Ruri asked.
"This is the smartest student at my school, Asahi," said Akira.
"And this is the worst teacher at my school. Well, second worst. Ms Obarihime is smart but not very good with kids," said Asahi.
"Well, this has been eventful. I'm going home," Akira said as he turned towards the door and walked out.
"Wait, Lord Akira!" Ruri shouted. Then, she sighed and crossed her arms. "Don't take this the wrong way. It's just—"
"You just can't keep it in your pants, can you?" Asahi said almost quietly as he stood up and walked away. "I wish I had another person I can call a parent, because you sure as hell ain't that."
Ruri tried calling out to Asahi, but her words wouldn't reach him, like an arrow to a wall.
She sat down and rubbed her eyes. 'If I don't distract myself, all I end up remembering are your parents, Asa...'