A/N: Summer time! Woooo! I hate the heat.
Got nothing else to say, really.
I don't know which volume it is, but this is set around the time Emi finds out her dad is alive (but still haven't seen him) and after Maou and the crew rescued her from the church when she went back to Ente Isla with Alas. Maybe volume 11 or 12. Who knows. Anywho, sorry for the long wait. Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Devil is a Part-Timer. Might contain spoilers.
Indecisiveness
Prompt: Ashiya confronts his Highness about his love life.
"Sire, don't you think its time for you to provide Sasaki-san a response regarding of her feelings?" Ashiya (also known as Alciel to the people of Ente Isla) asked his highness the Demon King—known as Sadao Maou in Japan—as he busied himself cooking their dinner. He was wearing a classic white apron over his usual clothes, looking like the classic househusband that he is.
The other resident of the apartment, Urushihara (who's true identity was actually the fallen angel Lucifer), was at his usual table, fiddling with his laptop and half listening to their conversation.
Due to a strenuous, complicated, string of events that would take a while to be told, these three demons had ended up residing in Japan temporarily. This arrangement all started when the Demon King, his Demon Generals, and his demonic army had tried to invade Ente Isla, ultimately failing when the Hero and her companions had chased them out of the world, and into a new one called Earth. The hunt didn't end there. As it turns out the Hero pursued them to the foreign world, and now both parties have developed a strange antagonistic comradeship after they revealed their identities to each other, to the extent of teaming up against Lucifer who was initially there to kill all the inhabitants that came from Ente Isla.
After resolving that problem, new ones aroused which forced both factions to work more than once together, which then, resulted into a quite tight-knit, yet chaotic group.
Maou sighed, and set down the magazine he was reading. He placed his elbow on their small table and propped his chin on top of his hand.
"I know, Ashiya," he replied, discreetly planning on a change of subject. "When's dinner going to be served? I'm hungry."
Ashiya opened the boiling pot on the stove he was attending. "It'll be done in a few minutes, Maou-sama."
"Good. I'm starving."
"I'm sorry for the hold up."
Urushihara who hadn't spoken for a while, said in a sing-song tone, "He's trying to steer you away from the topic."
Ashiya, as if he was just realizing Maou's true intentions, suddenly changed his facial expression into a more prudent one.
"Right, right. Thank you," he said dismissively. Urushihara frowned.
Ashiya turned off the stove and poured the contents of the pot onto the three separate bowls he prepared before hand and placed it on a tray. He brought the food with him as he sat down on the other side of the table, directly facing Maou. "Sire, when will you provide an answer for Sasaki-san?"
Maou groaned as he took his own portion from the tray and began eating. "Do we have to talk about this?"
"Of course. It's a serious issue."
"Yeah, Maou," added Urushihara as he turned around to face the other two males. "If you decide to marry Sasaki Chiho, it could affect us, as well the whole demon race. We might as well know what you're planning to do before some of your stupid actions actually inevitably kills us all off."
Ashiya took a bowl of food for himself. Neither he nor Maou bothered to pass Lucifer his own. "I wouldn't go that far, but it is exactly as he said, Maou-sama."
Maou sighed heavily. "You know, I think this is the first time you guys have ever agreed on something together while dissing me in the process."
Feeling his two general's glares, Maou slumped his shoulder, defeated. A bead of sweat dripped down from his forehead.
"I don't know, okay?"
"Well, you at least have to tell her something, m'lord," Ashiya reasoned. "Sasaki-san's a very compassionate person and the most suitable partner for you. She's confident, brave, knowledgeable. She can also cook, clean, and has excellent traits. Her potential as the future Demon Queen is substantial."
"Except for the fact that she gets jealous so easily," muttered Urushihara, finally standing up to begrudgingly take his own share of food from the table, then swiftly returned back to his computer. The other two didn't seem to hear him.
"I know," said Maou. A slight forlorn look was planted on his face. "But I don't know what to say to her. I just… I don't think of her that way, Ashiya. I mean—Chi-chan's amazing, and a really great friend, but she's just not…" he trailed off, hesitantly.
"—Aaaaand he just friend zoned her," muttered Urushihara again, this time with a spoonful of food in his mouth.
Ashiya sighed. "I don't understand how you cannot think of her that way, sire."
"I know right," concurred the purple haired NEET. "Even I'm sensible enough to think she'd actually be a great consort for Lord Satan over here." Urushihara slightly bent his head backwards to glance at Maou lazily. He had a smug smirk on his face. "But she's just not what you're looking for, right? Or maybe you've already found someone? Who, I wonder? What do you think, Maou?"
Ashiya promptly stood up and slammed his hands on the table, startling the Demon King.
"Sire?!" he exclaimed, eyes wild as he looked at Maou. "Is this true?!"
Maou scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he averted his gaze to the side.
"Uh…" he drawled out suspiciously.
Ashiya took a step back, dramatically gasping, "There is someone…! Demon King-sama, you must tell me immediately who this person is! I must know!"
Maou waved his hands in front of him in a crazed manner.
"I never said there was anyone! Why are you guys so suddenly interested in my love life anyway?!" he retorted almost defensively.
Ashiya snapped his head towards Urushihara, who was nibbling on a piece of meat while clicking away at his mouse. "Lucifer, it seems like you have some sort of idea of who this woman is. I demand you to tell me."
"Why should I?" Urushihara shot back, annoyed. He didn't even have the decency to face Ashiya when he replied.
"I'll take away your devices," threatened the blonde Demon General. "I'll also limit the money you spend."
Urushihara immediately turned around after hearing that. "You wouldn't dare."
The look from Ashiya's face said it all. The fallen angel grumbled, "All right, all right, gee. You sound like my mom."
"I'm sorry, did you say something?"
"No, no. Nothing at all. Dad."
"Are you going to tell me or do I have to make this harder than its supposed to be?"
Urushihara turned to Maou who was shaking his head frantically, silently telling him to not say anything, but of course, Urushihara, being Urushihara, spilled the beans.
"Fine, I'll tell you." Maou was sweating profusely. Urushihara smirked and went back to his device, but not after declaring, "It's the Hero."
Maou's soul left his body as he said those words.
Ashiya nodded his head almost professionally, while propping a hand on his chin. He raised an eyebrow and muttered, "The hero, huh? I see. I see—" he paused, realization dawning into him. "—what…?!"
He whipped his head to look at Maou with panicked wide eyes. Maou promptly turned away.
"Maou-sama?! Is this true?!"
Maou scratched his cheek, unsure of how to respond. "Er…"
"Urushihara?!"
Urushihara shrugged his shoulders indifferently in reply. "Don't ask me. I don't know what's going on between with them."
Maou smiled in a troubled manner. "It's not what you think."
Ashiya gave him a sharp stare. He recoiled instinctively.
"Then what am I supposed to think, Maou-sama?!"
"He means it like this, Ashiya," Urushihara butted in, the smirk never leaving his face. "The demon lord is troubled with his feelings for the Hero, so now he's not sure how to approach her."
"You're not helping Urushihara!" Maou quickly exclaimed as he turned to his second in command. "Really, Ashiya! It's not what you think!"
"Then I require an explanation, sire!"
"How am I supposed to explain something I don't even know myself?!"
Urushihara covered his ears from all the yelling. Thank god the rest of the Villa Sasazuka residents were gone to do their own thing, especially Suzuno, Urushihara thought to himself as he watched an alert message pop up on his computer screen. He clicked the notification. It brought him to a certain window for one of the devices he had installed in the apartment. He couldn't help but smile mischievously as he looked back at the two demons who were still bickering.
Ashiya looked irritated as he stared down at Maou. Maou stared back defiantly. This rarely ever happened in the household. It was usually Urushihara and Ashiya who would be in that position.
"Try to make sense of it for me, Maou-sama!"
"I don't know!" Maou exclaimed, scrunching up his hair as he shook his head. He paused for a moment to contemplate. "I–I like her company I guess?"
"Like the hero's company?! You're not serious are you, Maou-sama?!" exclaimed Ashiya incredulously, though his tone suspiciously didn't sound as accusing as it was supposed to be.
Urushihara tried to prevented himself from laughing out loud while staring at the figure in his computer. Maou noticed, but he was too focused on dealing with Ashiya to ask.
"Yes, I am serious, Ashiya!" Maou retorted. "I like her, okay?! I like Emi! And I like her company! For gods' sake we have a kid and practically spend almost all our time together! How can I not?!"
He breathed heavily from all the screaming. Urushihara was close to tears, not from the speech, but from silently laughing. Ashiya exhaled a worn-out breath.
"See? You can express it clearly, sire," he said, smiling in relief.
"I—what?" Maou asked, taken aback. "You're not mad?"
Ashiya shook his head. "Of course not. You clearly must know by now that I accept and will support you with anything you've decided to do. I trust you, Maou-sama."
Maou's couldn't help but gape at him. Ashiya continued, "And besides, the Hero isn't as violent or aggressive towards us anymore. If anything, she seems more…"
"Nice? Kind? Soft?" Urushihara provided, wiping the tears at the corners of his eyes. He glanced towards Maou with a teasing grin. "Maybe even… I don't know. Loveable? What do you think, Maou?"
An unnoticeable dust of pink covered the Demon King's face. It wasn't enough to escape Urushihara's keen eyes.
Maou turned to NEET, and attempted to hide his embarrassment. "Moving on, what have you been chuckling over there for, Urushihara?"
The fallen angel waved a hand dismissively.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just go back to your conversation," he said. "Anyway, Maou. Tell us–what captivated you about Yusa."
Maou groaned silently, knowing where his question was heading. Ashiya nodded his head affirmatively. "Yes, I would like to know that too myself, sire."
Maou exhaled heavily. He was silent for a few minutes, his face tense. The two Demon Generals waited patiently for his answer.
"I don't know, in all honesty," he spoke at last. "All I've really felt when I saw her before was annoyance and agitation, and a really strong dislike of her presence. But then, after a couple years later, the next thing I knew was that I already got used to her with me all the time. I'd feel relieved. Happy. And when she left, just like that time she went back to Ente Isla with Alas=Ramus, it somehow just felt… so hollow and lonely that I didn't understand why."
The other two occupants in the room watched in surprise as their king's face softened greatly.
"I know her remarks and bickering initiations could be annoying, but you have no idea how glad it makes me to just be able to argue with her." He unconsciously smiled. "And I know that sometimes, it might seem like I don't care when she's worried about me, but deep inside, it actually really, really makes me almost overjoyed to find that she thinks of me enough to be concerned, even though she usually denies that she is.
She can be all happy and nice one minute, then be all fierce and angry the next. And the fact that she'd do anything and everything for the people she loves and cares for just—I don't know. I guess it just strikes me as beautiful. Sometimes it even feels like she's carrying the burden of the whole world on her shoulders and that just makes me want to help her. To relieve some of that. I want her to be happy and not worry or be pressured about being the most powerful human being in the whole planet. She's a human with angelic powers, and powerful at that, but in the end, she's just a normal girl. I want her to stay the way she is, and not be swayed by the amount of weight she carries.
I can't really put Emi into words. There's just so many things about her. Things I know, and have yet to know. She doesn't hide anything, but at the same time, she reveals nothing. She's an enigma. Full of mysteries. I guess, that was what pulled me, and still pulls me, towards her."
Ashiya's jaw dropped at the confession. Urushihara whistled.
"Wow, she's really got you on a tight leash, doesn't she?" asked the purple haired general.
Maou snapped out of his stupor, and shook his head. "What? Me, subsiding to the Hero? No. That's not it Urushihara."
"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."
Maou shrugged, picked up a glass of water from the table and took a sip. Ashiya spoke.
"I'm afraid I have to agree with Urushihara on this one, sire," he said. "You sound as if you've fallen for her."
Maou spat his drink and sputtered, "F-f-fallen…?! What are you saying Ashiya?! She's the Hero! She's my enemy!"
Urushihara smirked as he watched his computer screen attentively. He almost burst into a fit of hysterics.
Ashiya stared at Maou sternly, an aura of graveness coming off of him. Maou gulped impulsively.
"Is that what you really think, sire?"
Maou froze. Then, "…no."
"Then what's the matter? Why are you still in denial?"
"And remember, denial isn't just a river in Egypt, Maou," Urushihara butted in, snorting.
Maou ignored his comment and dropped his chin on the table dejectedly. "I just don't think I deserve someone like her, Ashiya. I doubt she would return my feelings."
Urushihara snorted again. Ashiya raise a brow. "Why not Maou-sama?"
"Well," Maou trailed off. "Emi's… Emi. She's smart, brave, courageous, pretty, beautiful, cute, nice–sometimes–and well… Everything. And besides, I took away too many things and gave her this horrible destiny of being humanity's saviour and crap. I doubt she'd ever give me the light of the day after all that."
He slumped his shoulders glumly.
"I don't know what to do," he whined.
Urushihara guffawed, startling Maou and Ashiya.
"Aw, man!" he cackled, slapping his knee. "This is gold!"
Maou and Ashiya stared at him, both raising an eyebrow. Urushihara felt their gaze and turned to stare back at them.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm trying to fix my problem here, and you're just laughing your head off over there," said Maou. "What are you watching anyway? Tell me and I might brighten up too."
Urushihara shook his head, smirked, and clicked the exit button out of the window he was on.
"I'm looking at a… A red-faced red head?" answered Urushihara mysteriously, snickering.
Maou tilted his head doubtfully.
"And to answer your problems, Maou, why don't you start by telling your subject of affections how you feel?" Urushihara suggested. "I'm kind of getting sick and tired of all your guy's obliviousness and unconscious flirting all the time."
"What?!" Maou exclaimed in protest. "We don't do that!"
He turned to Ashiya. "Since, when do we?!"
Ashiya's gave him a blank look. Maou's jaw dropped. "A–anyway! How do I even do that when I don't know where to start?!"
"Well, you could start by opening the door and letting our special guest in," Urushihara suggested. "Or, should I say guests?"
Maou's stomach suddenly twisted in knots from apprehension. He quickly rushed towards the door of their apartment and opened it. The sight before him made him speechless.
"Papa!" a toddler cried out on her red headed mother's arms.
"Yusa! Alas=Ramus!" Ashiya exclaimed from behind Maou in return, surprised. "How long have you two been standing there?"
There, outside the three demon's fortress, was the Hero, Emilia Justina, also known as Emi Yusa.
Her face was beet red as she hugged Alas=Ramus tightly to her chest.
Urushihara stifled a laugh. "She's been there the whole time since you guys started shouting."
Maou stared at her, agape. "Why didn't you knock or say something?!"
Emi didn't answer him. Maou swallowed thickly. "Did you, uh, hear… everything?"
She nodded her head slowly, her face boiling hot.
Maou wanted then and there to hide in a hole and die. He grinned awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "Well—that's embarrassing."
Emi stayed silent. Ashiya coughed, successfully getting everyone's attention.
"Er… Since both of you are here," Ashiya spoke cautiously while shoving Maou out the door towards Emi as he grabbed the confused Alas=Ramus from her. Emi stepped to the side, successfully evading the stumbling Demon King. Ashiya grabbed the door and hid himself and Alas between it and the apartment, preventing Maou from going back in. Continuing on from his previous sentence, he added, "I suggest you two to take a little walk to talk things out. I'm afraid I won't be willingly participating as a witness in your probable awkward conversation. Do have fun. Goodbye."
Maou cringed at what he said. "Wai—Ashiya…!"
The door slammed closed as Maou desperately held out his hand in an attempt to stop the demon general. He heard a faint shout of "Mama!" then a soft click behind the door signaling it was locked.
Maou took a deep breath as he slowly turned to the red head who was avoiding eye contact. He knew trying to escape was futile, and smiled hesitantly. "...Shall we?"
Emi obliged and headed down the stairs without a word. Maou followed behind her tentatively.
They walked aimlessly through the streets in tense silence. Emi clearly wasn't going to be the first to start a conversation, and Maou didn't even know what to say to remove the tension between them. He blamed Urushihara for not saying anything about seeing the Hero in one of the surveillance cameras that he installed. How much he wanted to kick his ass at the moment.
Instead of being wary about the quiet that surrounded them, Maou took the time to get a clear look at Emi.
She was walking ahead by a few steps so all Maou could really see was her back.
He wanted to know what kind of expression she had on her face right now, and what she was thinking.
Worst case scenario, he was in for the most shameful thing in his life, which was getting utterly rejected by Emi.
Wanting to get it all over with, he walked a little faster and caught up to her just as they finished crossing the street. He walked in the same pace as her.
"So," Maou said. "Are we ever going to talk about this, or do you just wanna keep walking and ignore it ever happened for as long as you can?"
"Both," Emi said.
Maou halted, which made Emi stop a few feet ahead as well. He stared at her incredulously. She didn't return his gaze.
"You know were gonna have to talk about it eventually."
"Eventually," she stressed. "That doesn't mean it has to be now."
"What if I want it to be now?" inquired Maou impatiently.
Emi sighed and turned. "You know what? This is ridiculous. Let's just go back."
"I meant everything I said, Emi."
She froze in her tracks as she passed by Maou, but still, she didn't spare him a glance.
Maou took that as a sign and continued, "I especially meant it when I said I like you."
He saw Emi chew on her bottom lip nervously. He gave a slight smile.
"I know you probably don't believe me, but it's the truth. I like you, Emi. I really like you. Maybe even more than like, like you."
Emi was quiet, but she could feel her heart beat erratically.
"You always invaded my head, my thoughts. I always see your face and it's scary how well I can remember all the details. At first, I thought it was because you annoyed me so much and that you just haunted my dreams, but—apparently, I just can't get enough of you."
At this point, Emi swiveled to look at him, eyes wide at his confession.
"H-hey, what are you saying…?"
"I just can't get enough of you to the point that I can't even be myself anymore when I'm not around you. You always gave me a reason to be someone other than the vicious Devil King that everyone knew."
"Maou, hey, e-enough."
Maou knew he was completely babbling, but he couldn't bring himself to stop even when she told him to.
"I want to hear your voice, your laugh—all the time. I want to see you smile. As cliché as it sounds, every time you do it feels like the room completely lights up and everything's just so much easier. Lighter. And I know I have no right to say this, but I want to be the reason as to why you're happy. The reason to all the adorable expressions you make. I don't want to be someone who made your life hell anymore, Emi. I don't want to be that person who took everything away from you, even though I did—and I can't express how sorry I am enough for that. I'm… I'm really sorry.
I know you probably still resent me for what I did to your dad, even though he's alive somewhere, and to the people I've harmed, and I'm prepared for the oncoming rejection. I just wanted to get all of this out before I started exploding, and you could even say no, and we can pretend that all of this never happened and go back to the way things were before.
But god, can't you just see that I'm completely and hopelessly, utterly in love with you?"
By the time Maou had finished his speech, he was out of breath. He couldn't read the expression Emi had on her face, but he had already prepared himself to be rejected.
He was surprised though that instead of that being the case, what he got was Emi who stalked up to him, softly grabbed his cheeks in the process, and planted her mouth against his.
When she pulled away, her face was flushed down to her neck.
Maou was too shocked to respond at the turn of events. He stared at her, dazed.
She gazed at him, almost shyly, which was uncharacteristic of her. "Why can't you ever shut up? Do you still think that's a no?"
That seemed to snap Maou out of his stupor.
"Huh?" he mumbled. "I—uh… no, I guess."
Emi bit her lip to keep herself from laughing at the silly expression he had on his face. Maou couldn't help but grin, still somewhat out of it.
"You're really cute when you do that."
Emi momentarily frowned at him, her face pink before she pinched his cheeks.
"Shut up," she said. "You're not supposed to say that."
Maou had to pry away her hands from his face. "Why not?"
"It's… Unsettling when you suddenly say stuff like that. And also a bit bizarre."
She didn't like the wicked grin that crept onto his face.
"You know what else is bizarre?" he asked, his eyes glinting evilly. "You, kissing me."
In order to stop him from embarrassing her further (she knew it was his favourite past time entertainment), she slapped him on the shoulder. Hard.
Maou yelped. "Ow! I was kidding!"
The look in his face told her he wasn't sorry at all. Emi was about to land another slap when Maou exclaimed, "Stop, stop! I'm sorry!"
A mere slap from the Hero was enough to render the Demon King begging for mercy, but it appeared that she wasn't planning on halting her attacks soon. Maou had no choice but to grab her wrist.
"Okay, I get it! I'm sorry!" he said. "Gee woman! Those really, actually hurt you know!"
Emi stuck her tongue out at him like a child. He smiled in amusement before noticing how close their faces were. She seemed to have become aware of it too, and became even more conscious when she noticed him slowly start to lean in.
"What—" whispered Emi, swallowing a lump on her throat from his close proximity. "What are you doing…?"
Maou could feel her ragged breathing on his face.
"You did it before, I'm sure you know already," he muttered before he closed the distance between them.
Unlike the kiss they had earlier, which was slightly rough and ended too soon for Maou's liking, this one was more tender and gentler, with Maou finally reciprocating the action. He felt so light, like a feather hovering in air.
His body moved on its own, placing a hand on Emi's waist, the other tangling themselves on her silky red hair, while hers came to wrap themselves around his neck and fiddle with the ends of his dark locks.
Time seemed to stop as they continued on, kissing in the middle of the street where anyone could easily spot them. Right now, neither could care less, and it was a moment before they finally separated, resting their foreheads against each other.
"You know," said Maou. "I could get used to this."
Emi chuckled, face flushed.
"I could just continue on kissing you forever and I would never want to stop," he admitted.
She bit back a half smile. "Where do these lines of yours keep coming from?"
"I don't know. They just naturally fall out of my mouth for some reason when I'm around you." He paused. "This is getting too cheesy for my liking, now that I think about it."
She laughed and gave him a shove. "Idiot."
Maou laughed along with her. He took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers. "Come on. We should go back. Alas is probably searching for us. And I still ought to give Ashiya and Urushihara a piece of mind for locking me out of my own apartment."
Emi nodded looking at their joined hands, then up to his face. He gave her a tender smile. She looked away abashedly.
The walk back was silent with both of them bathing in the peacefulness. Maou had a lot on his mind and wondered how people would react about the news between him and the Hero. Sure, they haven't made anything official yet, but he still worried. Would they take it as great news, or bad news? Most likely the latter. He shoved those negative thoughts aside.
For now, he was just happy being with Emi.
A/N: This was quite cheesy and quite out of character for my liking too, Maou.
