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Fate (guest) : She definitely does ! Hopefully she will soon...
I know somehow
There's no point now
To try and stop the hate, the dying
"She's gone !"
Urushihara's panicked scream woke Ashiya with a start.
"What ?! What's happening ?!"
"Samael's missing ! Hurry up and phone Maou, we gotta find her !"
He ran to the door and would have gone outside if it wasn't for Ashiya. The blond quickly put himself together, grabbed Urushihara by the arm and pulled him away.
" Hey ! Let me go !"
"You are not allowed to go outside."
" Like I care ! Let me go !"
He grabbed his other arm and forced him to sit down. After he made sure he wouldn't run out outside, he handed him a glass of water and sat down with him.
"What's the water for ?"
" To help you calm down."
" I don't need to calm down I need to-"
He was interrupted by a knock on the door, and the soft voice of Suzuno came to their ears.
" Is everyone okay ?"
Ashiya mouthed a « stay » to Urushihara, who was vainly trying to find a way out of the apartment, and let Suzuno in. She quickly looked in the corner where Samael used to be.
"Where is-"
"She left, I don't know where she is and Alsiel doesn't want to help me find her."
"I never said that."
"Samael left ?"
She looked surprised for a few seconds, but her expression quickly turned cold.
"If she has lost her mind again, it is my duty to take her down."
" What ?!"
Urushihara jumped on his feet and rushed to the door, keeping Suzuno from leaving.
"What do you mean by « take her down » ?! You're gonna kill her ?!"
"Indeed."
"You can't do that ! What do you think she is ?!"
"She is mentally unstable. You can not see it because you are not accepting it. Who knows what will happen next time she-"
"Mentally unstable ?! She's not mentally unstable ! She was sad and angry because she thought she had lost me !"
"I do not understand how losing someone like you would cause sadness and anger in someone's heart."
If looks could kill, there wouldn't be anything left of Suzuno. Ashiya wasn't sure if he had to stop them or not, but after a few seconds of reflexion, he decreed, much to his displeasure, that Urushihara was right and let them argue with each other.
" Dude, do you even know what it's like to care about someone ?"
"As the Chief of the Inquisition-"
"Loving and caring weren't in the qualities required for the job ?"
Touché.
"How come a demon can understand what loving and caring is better than a human ?"
Suzuno lowered her gaze, hurt by Urushihara's words.
" I'm not going to take back what I just implied. But it's Emilia's fault if Samael left, not yours, so I'm not going to throw salt on the wound. But say just one more time that she has to die and you will regret it." he warned in a low voice and quickly turned toward Ashiya. "I'm going outside looking for Samael, call Maou and tell him what happened."
His voice left no room for protestation.
" I can't leave, I know." he quickly added. "But trust me, I couldn't care less about the cops."
He saw the hesitation in Ashiya's eyes, and within seconds, he became once again the General he used to be.
"Samael is my trusted Lieutenant and a key element of our army. After everything that happened during the war and everything she did for us, I think that's the least we could do."
Ashiya remained silent for a few seconds, and a small grin appeared on his lips.
"This doesn't suit you at all."
"I know, right ? Too many serious stuff again. Anyway, are you gonna help me or not ?"
"Fine."
Urushihara smiled and jumped in his shoes.
"But apologise to Suzuno first."
"Not before she apologises to Sam !"
And he ran outside. Ashiya sighed and turned to Suzuno.
" Listen, I-"
"It's okay. I guess I'll apologise when she comes back."
If she comes back.
"Hey, do you have a sec ?" he asked quickly to a random person on the streets
"What is it ?"
"Have you seen a girl, about this height, with red hair and eyes ?"
"I don't remember every-"
"Nevermind !"
Before the stranger could finish his sentence, Urushihara had already run somewhere else. For almost three hours now, he had been running all around Tokyo, asking if anyone had seen someone corresponding to Samael's description, but humans seemed to always be late for something and no one had been helpful so far.
When night came, he had to go back to the apartment. The next morning, he searched again, and it became a routine. But options are limited, and he ran out of ideas after four days of searching. Even with everyone's help, even Suzuno and Emi, it was like Samael had vanished.
But they were running out of time and out of options they had to find Samael. So after another day of searching, Urushihara sat in front of his computer, opened Skyphone, put his pride aside, and called for help. Literally.
It rang a few times, and from the corner of his eyes, he caught Ashiya trying to discreetly spy on him. Without leaving the blond General out of his sight, he put his earphones.
After some time, someone picked up. Ashiya tried to understand what the other person was saying, but couldn't make anything out.
" I need to speak with your manager. … … … Just tell him it's family business. … … … Fine, but be quick I don't have any time to waste."
" Urushihara ? What are you doing ?"
" Quiet, I'm trying to get another point of view."
He focused back on his call, leaving Ashiya confused.
"Hey Sariel, how's it going ?"
"What do you want Lucifer ?"
"Hypothetically speaking," he started casually, leaning on his computer desk, "if you were a barely conscious celestial being that felt really guilty and wanted to disappear, where would you go ?"
Silence.
" Why do I have the feeling I don't want to be involved in this ?"
"Oh I'm sure you want to. Had any déjà-vu lately ?"
"About a week ago but-"
"Samael's alive."
"Samael is… … Oh. Ooh…"
" Yeah."
He heard the archangel sigh, then sat down.
"You said 'barely conscious' ?"
" Too many feels. She did some bad stuff and couldn't deal with the guilt so she shut herself down."
" What did she do ?"
"Destroyed Shinjuku."
"Great. Just great. And she went back in time to fix it all, of course."
" I told her to, and there weren't any other choice." he glared at Sariel through his computer. "Listen, we've been looking for her for five days and she spent four days before that without drinking, eating of sleeping, I'm running out of time and I can't-"
His voice caught in his throat and he lowered his head, hiding his eyes behind his purple bangs and earning a half-confused half-worried look from Ashiya.
"She might be drawn towards places with a magical signature."
Urushihara looked to his screen in disbelief.
"Magical signature… ?"
"For example where a Gate has been opened or where a fight has occurred. If she's as lost you make me think she is, she is going to search for a form of familiarity."
"Where Maou kicked your ass on top of that building !" he exclaimed, a smile flashing on his lips. "Thanks Sari I owe you one !"
"Wait, how did you call me ?!"
He ended the call, jumped on his feet and ran outside without a word to Ashiya who just stood there in exasperation.
" I will call Maou-sama then, I guess…"
And that's all for this chapter ! And this time it's wayy longer ! Sariel makes his entrance, Samael is still nowhere to be found and Suzuno is showing a clear lack of empathy, but things will get better ! Maybe...
Anyway, thank you for reading and feel free to leave a review, it's always appreciated !
Until next time, take care guys and see you next week !