Boku to Maoh: Blue Demon
by Syrenia
Chapter Nine - To Have A Snow War?
Now near Triste, Navy's mind was on things far from buying a new weapon.
She had thought over his offer during the silence of their trip, deciding what she really wanted in return.
Stopping in the snow as she looked forward, she spoke up, grabbing his attention.
Turning around, Stan merely waited to hear what she had to say, crossing his arms.
"I've thought over that offer of yours," she said, Stan narrowing his eyes a bit. "But, as nice as it may be, I'd prefer something much simpler."
"Such as?" he asked, Navy looking off.
"This scholar, Kisling," she started as she thought, "you know him far better than I, so I want you to ask him... Ask him to try finding some way for me to return to my own world."
Stan arched a brow, "You really want to go back to your own world when you could live so well here?"
Returning her gaze to him, she nodded, "Regardless of how unpleasant that world is, I'm not like you... I have family there that I can't help but miss."
He practically snorted, "As much as we both loathe humans it seems we can't shake off some of their mannerisms."
Now it was her turn to quirk a brow, "You mean to say--?"
He huffed a laugh, "After being stuck in a bottle for over three hundred years, one, demon or otherwise, tends to get insanely bored... And with insane boredom eventually comes loneliness."
"I see," she said, sighing. "I'm not lonely myself, but..."
Stan looked to her, catching the confusion in her tone, "But?"
"...I wasn't always so hateful toward humans, you know."
A few moments of silence lingered before she took his waiting as a sign to explain, "I didn't hate humans back home. I was just one of those types that preferred to be left alone... But after awhile of living here, and studying Classification, I thought back to why I didn't want to be around people."
She laughed lightly, breath shown in the cold air, "I realized their stupidity drove me away... And it's only confirmed here, where humans serve little purpose but existing, not even truly living..."
"It's funny how I loathe humans, but feel less hatred for heroes simply because they chose something to work for, like Rosalyn..."
At this, Stan huffed a laugh, hardly a fan of that washbowl woman.
"Sure, I hate her damn speeches about "the good" and justice, but at least she's not working in a bar day in, day out without purpose and some sort of real action - some sort of adventure and a real challenge, you know?"
She sighed, "Maybe I want to go home just to go back to existence; to forget living and go right back to routine so I don't have to feel lost anymore..."
"Lost?" he echoed, not sure what to make of such a statement.
"Maybe you're not the best one to express such to," she said with a slight laugh, "but telling Rosalyn is like opening up a whole can of helpfulness that just turns out to be annoying."
At that, he laughed, "Go on."
Pausing a moment, she gathered her thoughts, "Back home, evil and good aren't so separate. I was just neutral like most people because nothing is clear-cut... But here I find strange realizations and I start leaning toward a side. And yet, back home, there were stories and such that always had the good guys win... So it's as if being "good" were programmed into me."
He merely listened, Navy rubbing her forehead, "I guess this is as good a time as any..."
"For what?" he asked, quirking a brow.
"There's something you need to know about me that you're probably not going to like... but here goes," she said, taking a deep breath.
Ready for whatever reaction he could muster, she finally confessed, "The one who's stealing your spotlight in the papers is me."
Stan stared blankly, silent.
"I'm the Black Cat," she said, waiting for what he'd say.
For a while, silence hung as Stan just stared, but he soon commented, "So all this time you've had a weapon while I'm wasting energy getting money from these low class demons?"
Navy sweat dropped, "Well, I couldn't exactly walk around with my claws on and not be found out, now could I?"
He huffed, "I should kick your ass for getting in the way of my plans, but that would hardly be beneficial to me, so consider yourself warned: No more of your cat burglar routine or I'll be forced to get rid of you."
"Well, that's what I was afraid of," she said with a sigh.
He simply glared, realizing she'd dare defy him as she went on.
"I'm not giving up my only means of payment," she began, suddenly looking annoyed, "especially when I haven't eaten for three fucking days."
She looked so annoyed that the Evil King couldn't help but laugh, Navy muttering, "Oh, ha ha ha. Laugh at my misery... But your pointy little ears look a lot like Chicken Chicken legs to me now."
Hearing this, he only laughed more, annoyance sizzling from her entire being.
Hungry and annoyed, Navy turned in the other direction, marching off through the snow toward anywhere but where he was.
Once he noticed her taking off, he slowly stopped laughing, changing to a shadow and moving deftly across the ground until he was in front of her.
Popping up, he held up a strangely shaped hand, still a shadow.
Shrieking, Navy fell over on her ass, Stan chuckling as he remembered she knew nothing of his abilities.
"Relax," he said with a smirk. "I'm a shadow demon. It's me."
"...Stan?" she asked with curiosity.
He merely nodded.
"Hm... Nifty," she muttered, Stan returning to his true form and reaching out a hand to help her up.
Taking it, she rose to her feet, brushing snow off her backside with a shiver.
"Try not to scare me like that, will ya?"
He chuckled, "Teaches you for walking away from me."
She stuck out her tongue, Stan sneering and quickly grabbing a clump of snow, lightly hitting her in the face with it.
"Oof!"
Shaking off the crumbling snow from her face, she patted a snowball together and nailed him between the eyes.
"Ohoho! This means war!" he proclaimed, Navy's eyes widening as he started to make a rather large snowball.
Making one as well, she managed to dodge his, "Ha! You have exceptionally bad aim!"
Throwing her snowball at him, she was left blinking as he caught it with ease, laughing.
"Heh heh heh."
Tossing it back at her, she tried to dodge, but was hit on the shoulder.
"Just you wait," she said, making another as he followed suit.
Soon the two were having an all out snow war, Stan hiding behind a tree.
"Coward!" she called, igniting his determination to prove otherwise.
Stan came out from behind the tree with two snowballs and throwing them, both whizzing toward her. Ducking one, the other struck and she fell over, laughing.
With a victorious smile, he began making yet another, Navy soon throwing one and hitting his shoulder as he tossed his at her. Dodging it, she stuck out her tongue, Stan suddenly running over.
"I'll get you for that, woman!" he called, slightly laughing.
Running away, she looked for a place to hide, but was soon met with a black shadow popping up in front of her.
Falling over, she groaned, "Ow."
Both laughing as she stood, he changed back to his true form and made another snowball, Navy dodging it and making one to retaliate with.
"Take this!" she called, her snowball hitting his hands and making him drop the one he'd been working on.
With a triumphant grin, she laughed, Stan dusting off snow from his jacket, "You're quite the handful, woman."
Navy simply smirked, "Don't I know it."
Brushing snow off her own clothing, she heard a loud roar from her empty stomach.
"I should learn how to cook," she muttered. "...Not that I'd have the utensils to cook with."
Sweat dropping at this realization, she heard Stan laughing, huffing at him and turning toward Triste.
"I'm going to go find food... You can stand around here laughing at me if you want, but I've got some food to buy."
"Hey!" he shouted. "That money was for a weapon!"
She shrugged, "What good's a weapon if I die of hunger first?"
Stan couldn't argue with that, following as she walked toward Triste.
Hearing him follow, she huffed, "Oh, so you're going to watch me pig out now, eh?"
"I'm only coming to manage your budget. Or should I say my budget, considering I did all the work?"
Navy waved her hand at him, "Mere details."
"Hmph," Stan huffed in reply, catching up to her in one swift motion, and then grabbing her waving hand before it fell.
She looked around, Stan's grin revealing a fang, "Details matter quite a lot more than one would think, blue-bangs."
He then let go of her hand, Navy shaking all over with a growl, pointing a shaking arm at him, "Pointy-ears!"
"Ha ha ha," he laughed, "What a temper you have, pale one."
Navy blinked, "Well compared to you, anyone's pale... Hmph."
Once again making her way forward, she heard him catch up, turning around, "I'm never gonna get there if you don't stop trying to annoy me."
"Heh heh. It's working pretty well, I see."
She huffed, "You, you... Ooh, I'm too hungry to even think of something to call you!"
Laughing in reply, he started walking, "Well c'mon then, blue-bangs; get a move on."
At this, she sizzled with annoyance, Stan enjoying arguing with her even more than with that damn hero woman.