Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based fiction. The Devil is a Part-Timer is property of Satoshi Wagahara, Naoto Hosoda, White Fox, and Funimation.
The grass crackled and sputtered beneath the rising crimson colored flames, and the whole scene carried the nauseating scent of burning flesh. A small hand reached out from under a pile of wood and folded tent sacks, miraculously untouched by the growing grass fire. A similarly small child accompanied the tiny hand, and they dug themselves out of the discarded pile. Once their first task was over, the child looked over the scene before them. Gritting their teeth and grabbing their hair out of anger an ear-shattering screech escaped delicate lips. 'Blood!' the child thought 'those greedy savages murdered them all for our blood.' The child looked over at a pile of corpses, the whole village, and they set their eyes on the top of the pile, recognizing an older female and her young son. 'Mother? Big Brother?' the child thought silently, the father was nowhere in sight, but there was no need to think too hard about his fate. Anger flared in the child's deep blue irises and the fires surrounding the camp died down, drained by powerful magic. "Humans." A young feminine voice uttered these words with a poisoned tone, "You will pay for what you have destroyed here, and you will pay for what you were too blinded by greed to find." The young, female demon sank down to her knees and held back tears, not noticing the growing shadow behind her.
Sunlight escaped from the cloud cover, finding its way through the curtains of small, fifth-story apartment and unto the sleeping face of its only occupant. Not ten seconds later the alarm sounded its obnoxious chorus of beeps, until repeatedly smashed by an annoyed fist. Mari Hitodama slowly ascended from the comfort of her thick covers and stretched her arms toward the ceiling to begin her typical morning ritual. She grabbed her glasses off the bedside table, walked to the kitchen, set the kettle on straight, and turned on her small stovetop burner to heat up morning tea. Mari undressed from her nightclothes and stepped into a warm shower, she allowed herself only five minutes so that she could change and stop the tea from boiling over, she was going to need a shower at the end of the day anyway. Her clothing choice consisted of a dark loose cowl-neck shirt and baggy pants. Not the most original style, sure, but Mari preferred the familiar comfort. She gulped down her tea then proceeded to grab her backpack and energy bar, taking one last look at the easel positioned by the window with a half-painted Tokyo skyline, and heading out the door.
'Almost there' Mari thought to herself, simultaneously sneaking past her neighbor's apartment. Thinking she was in the clear, Mari grinned to herself and rounded the corner towards the stairs, only to bump into a tall, intimidating human being known as Chikaze Tsukino. Chikaze whipped around and used her fear-inducing emerald orbs to locate the U.A.O (Unidentified Annoying Object for those who cannot understand a good joke when it smacks them in the face with a turkey leg). The eyes spent a good long minute searching at their level before gracing those with shorter statures with their gaze. 'Now that's just cruel!' Mari sweat drops, and then realizes that an awkward silence has quieted the space between the two women. "Uh… good morning Tsukino-san?" the shorter of the two tries a little wave.
"Humph." Chikaze grunts in reply, but much to Mari's relief her neighbor does nothing more than push past her.
'Must have been a tough night.' Mari peaks her head around the corner to watch Chikaze silently open the door to her darkened apartment and walk inside. Checking her cheap brand name watch, Mari curses something about flame-haired brick walls and sprints down the stairs and out the glass doors of the apartment complex.
It took no time to reach the metro station, but by the time Mari made it on board, she was gulping in air like a fish on land (because similes). A group of teenagers on their way to school glared at Mari as she took her seat, mistaking her youthful appearance for teen like them, but with the freedom to skip school and highlight the tips her dark brown hair royal blue. The "possible boyfriend thief" simply smiled kindly at the silly students and winked at one of them. Pink faded into place on the girls' features as they all look away, locked in an endless struggle between being flattered and wondering where their sexual preferences lie. Mari laughed to herself internally 'that should keep me safe for a while.' She looked through her backpack, until she located her MP3 (yes they DO exist) and a pair of headphones, and closing her deep blue eyes as she listened to her favorite songs.
Four stops later, Mari finally exited the station and made her way to work.
Ueno Zoo, Mari's current place of employment, would open in an hour and then the real fun would start. The afternoon maintenance staff cleaned up the park the night before, but the morning crew had to complete the rounds and make sure everything was in working order. It was a large zoo, and required a good number of employees to manage it. Mari continuously reminded herself how lucky it was for her to have gotten this job, though not glamorous, it paid surprisingly well. Mari worked well with the animals and they seemed to calm down whenever she is around, as discovered when she came to the park to be interviewed.
Mari walked up the employee entrance, swiped her card and went down the hallway. Left, left, right, two doors down and a few skips later, the animal whisperer reached the girls locker room. Asuka was already done changing when Mari arrived.
"Hey there you!" Asuka called over her shoulder, "Remind me to ask you a favor after your shift today."
"Why not ask me now?" Mari pushed past her to get to Locker 43.
"Alright fine," Asuka turned toward her friend and clasped her hands together, twisting her face into a pout. "So the local Elementary school is going to be here next week for an overnight field trip, with tents and stuff. Hayate is going out of town for a family thing and I really need an assistant. Would you mind staying up all night watching kids? If you sign up you can take the day shift off."
The other girl was re-buttoning up her polo shirt when Asuka stopped. She turned to look at her co-worker and started for a while, thinking it over.
"Kids…" she finally stated. "Sure I don't mind at all, glad that you choose me for this!" A bright smile flashed upon her features.
"Well," Asuka waved her hand and turned to face opposite of Mari. "You weren't exactly my first choice. That cute Nobu boy, the new guy, he was my first choice, but he had something to do." She turned back to her friend and winked. "Your not a cute boy, but you'll do just nicely."
Mari was still for a moment, looking to the ground. Asuka assumed she was hiding a blush, until Mari suddenly jerked her head upward and a menacing smile and cold eyes spoke danger. The closest beating utensil happened to be the shoehorn, the angered teen keeps in her locker. Asuka visibly paled and started to make her way to the door, but Mari charged her in a flash. The escaping girl just yanked the door closed when she hear a loud snap from the horn hitting the surface of said door.
When Asuka's receding footsteps quieted down, Mari slowly brought down the horn from above her head. She laughed hysterically as soon as the object hit the floor with a dull thud. Two minutes went by as the teen got the event out of her system. Glad that she could have fun like this everyday, with people who like her and don't know of her past sins. Mari wished she could have this life forever, but something in her gut told her that something big was going to happen soon, something that may take this wonderful life away from her happy embrace.
Author's Note:
So this is my first FanFic. yay! If you haven't figured it out, this story will be about Fem!Malacoda. I don't have any betas either so feedback is a MUST! Also it seems many of you Part-Timer fans have read through the light novels and I have not. If ya'll have any links to places I can read it that would be greatly appreciated. If not then I'll ask those of you that have read through the gaps to fill me in if I get a speculation wrong. Oh and the main characters will be in the next chapter!
Until then,
DemonHeir430