A/N: I'm back ya'll! I was a bit surprised that some people still read this fic hehe. Actually, this fic was originally just a one-shot I made before, and I kind of ended up continuing it. I ended up enjoying writing this ;0. I wrote this because I loved those small subtle moments MaouEmi had, and the last volume had been shocking to me. Reading MaouEmi fanfics has been my sanctuary then.

Anyways let's forget about that. I'm continuing this and hopefully not abandon this again hehe. Forgive me if there are still people waiting for me this whole time. Toodles! Omake stuff on next chap.

The rain never stopped pouring. She lost her appetite after taking in two spoons of curry earlier, and as she took another sip at her oolong tea, thoughts about earlier events invaded her mind.

She felt hurt. Useless.

She gazed over open the many houses and apartments lining up her neighborhood, but no matter how desperate she tried to convince herself that Rika would eventually come around sooner or later, her disbelieving and frightened face would come flying back inside her head, further dampening her already sour mood.

She couldn't even, at least, enjoy her tea. It wasn't wasn't as calming as it used to be.

The poor trees swayed, threatening to break away from their roots, and the soft click-clack of rain meeting roofs ticked her even more.

Suzuno tried to lift her dead spirits up. She kept her mouth zipped as she sat there on the table earlier, waiting for her to finish up her cup before refilling it again, her considerate silence giving her a small amount of comfort. It was nice of her, since she's not exactly in the mood for a pep talk, and whenever their eyes met, she would just give her a light smile, before returning her focus back to playing rock-paper-scissors with Alas=Ramus. The little yesod fragment gave her a nice, warm hug when she noticed the frown plastered on her mother's face, but even that wasn't enough to zap away the empty feeling in her chest.

Those three, demonic, musketeers seemed to know how to take a hint, so they wandered off to let her cool off a bit. If she could guess right, Ashiya took off with Maou to the lobby downstairs. Probably so he could make-out with his lord and beg for forgiveness (and, maybe, also scold him for almost going commando on their pursuit). Urushihara somehow vanished, but she had long suspected he had hid himself in the fire exit. Mostly, so he could doze off. She refused to let him sleep on her bed. Or her couch. Or her floor.

And, now, after telling the ex-assassin that she needed some fresh air, thanking her before excusing herself, she headed for the balcony with her tea, leaning against the railing, watching as people walked on streets, oblivious of the wonders and mysteries happening around them. Like them, for example.

This time, though, she could run back inside and fetch her coat so she could block away the cold, but her legs wouldn't move, and now she's suffering again from the consequences. Oh, well.

Rika was there. She was always there.

Her friend.

Her ride or die.

At first, when she met her at work, she thought of keeping things professional between them. Sit down, tell her good morning, and continue on swallowing down insults from angry customers with a practiced smile on her face. All so her selfish butt could make a quick escape when the time comes where she'll be on the move again, without anyone having to look for her.

Rika didn't want to have any of it. If she turned down another of her endless offers of eating outside for lunch, she wouldn't give up and try again the next day. Whenever she's having a bad day, she'd smack her hard on the head just to get her to snap out of it, and then comes their usual conversing (and, the occasional prying) of their respective lives.

And yet, she kept on brushing her off. Took most of her efforts for granted.

She clenched her fists, so hard, her knuckles turned pale white. The sight of Rika's shocked expression was still spinning around her head.

She needed more than just fresh air.

She needed to get out of here.

Gulping down the last bit of tea in one-fell swoop, she wiped the ends of her mouth with her hand before marching back inside. If she's going to wallow the whole day, might as well wallow in style. Walking underneath the rain sets the mood perfectly.

Suzuno and Alas=Ramus were neck-on-neck, if their tensed up body language was any indication, and they didn't notice the other presence looming close to them. She hopped inside the kitchen, spying her umbrella hanging on the handle of her closet door, and she quickly swiped it away.

When she went back to her living room, they were both having a heated discussion about who was the real winner, and it was a bit surprising to witness the usual cool and collected Suzuno lose some of her composure over a kid's game. But, then, she remembered she once thought that those people inside televisions were actually 'trapped inside a magical box', so, maybe, this wasn't something new to her.

She tapped the other woman's shoulder, and she spun around her chair, ready to attack on the intruder, but upon noticing that it was just the Hero, her posture relaxed. She may be used to living in a run-down apartment building all by herself, but she could never get rid of the inner assassin hiding inside her whole system.

Emi understood what it's like to live a life where you're constantly on guard of your surroundings, however peaceful, or un-peaceful.

"Emi-dono, is there something of the matter?", she sounded somewhat relieved for the sudden interruption. Alas=Ramus started running off towards her bedroom, her stuffed giraffe in her arms.

She waved the umbrella across her face. "Just wanted to pick up some ingredients at the grocery store"

A white lie, of course. In reality, she still got mountains of vegetables in the fridge. They do need to restock on some meat, though.

Suzuno frowned. She pushed herself up. "It is raining heavily outside. Should it not be better if I accompanied you?"

She shook her head. She's had enough hanging around with funny dressed people for one day. Besides, she wasn't really planning to do some grocery-ing.

"No, thank you. You taking care of my daughter is enough. And, thanks again, for, you know, everything else", truth be told, she had no idea what would have happened if Ashiya hadn't come along to save the day. One minute, Maou was holding the enemy up like a rag-doll, flashing her a grin like he was starring in an action-packed movie, and then the next thing she saw a demon falling down a thousand feet above ground.

She was about to make her move, save someone she never thought would be even worth saving. She thought everything she had worked hard on was about to crumble right before her eyes. The only thing that went through her mind at that moment was, 'this was the end'.

Then, a figure with a giant scorpion tail broke his fall, catching him in mid-air, but he must have underestimated how heavy the demon lord was, and so they crash-landed into the janitor's office, mops and brooms flying.

When she finally came to, she found Ashiya carrying Maou bridal-style, and she had never felt this so relieved in her entire life.

After erasing some surviving bad guys' memories of a 'giant goat' rampaging around the amusement park, Suzuno managed to treat his wounds as soon as they escaped and met up.

She already said her thanks to Alciel (reluctantly, but she's not always a huge nag all the time), so Suzuno comes next.

It looked like she was about to protest, but then her words died down in her throat upon seeing the conflicted look on her friend's face. She wanted to help her, show just the right amount of support, but she didn't know what else to say, since she has 'zero' experience when it comes to complicated situations like these. It worried her seeing her like this.

She sighed in defeat. Now that the demon Lord was once again back on his feet, she doesn't really have that much to do, anyways.

"Please do be careful"

Emi gave her a hug, and she gladly returned it. When they pulled away, she skipped towards the door, but just as when she was about to open it, Suzuno spoke again.

"You've changed a lot, Emi-dono"

She turned around, surprised, taking in the words she just said. Changed? Like, how? Did she somehow gain weight and it was starting to get obvious? She told her stomach so many times to lay off the chocolate bars.

"What do you mean?"

Suzuno blinked for a moment, and then she realized that she probably didn't make any sense, so she elaborated.

"When I first made in contact with you, I've had my suspicions about you possibly in cahoots with the enemy"

"Trust me, inside I'm actually dying to slice him down in half"

She chuckled. "Of course"

Emi egged her on. "And, then?"

She stared down on the ground for a moment, before her eyes flicked back to her, shooting her a solemn look.

"You took Alas=Ramus under your wing, and the more I watch you, the more you have shown me how much of a great person you are"

She brought her head down, bowing, and the same feeling of panic rushed through her blood when the smartass Maou did it to her back in the convenience store. Only this time, it's more shocking and less humiliating.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm sure Rika-dono will eventually make up with you. She just needs, um", there was a pause for a bit, as if she's still figuring out what she was going to say. "She just needs some time to think things through. It must be tough on her

Emi's face went dark, but then she covered it all up with a genuine smile. "Yeah. And while she's thinking, I better do some thinking on my own, too"

So far, she's been walking around in circles along the maze-like streets, no clue as to what her destination was going to be. The rain didn't look like it had any thoughts about stopping anytime soon. More like, it was going stronger and stronger the more she kept on walking.

Everything that Suzuno said was true, except it didn't really sit all that well with her. The one with the explaining to do was her, and waiting for Rika to calm down felt agonizing. If she already felt this down just like now, how could she expect herself to survive a day without talking to her? And, how long does she have to wait exactly? A month? A year?

She let out a laugh. As if it'll actually take long.

It won't, right?

She halted right in front of a stoplight, waiting for the red man to switch to its green, walking counterpart, and she heard rushing footsteps heading her way.

She glanced at her side, taking note of a young, brown-haired girl no older than her standing next to her. She was already drenched, and she didn't bother to shield herself from the rain.

She noticed she was shivering, and without even hesitating, she reached out her umbrella.

"You can use mine"

She seemed startled when she just started talking to her, and when her words finally registered in her head, she offered a small, but shy smile.

"Thank you, but I really shouldn't. You'll get wet"

The memory of talking with Maou the first time flashed through her mind. She pushed out the umbrella closer to her.

"I live close by, so I can just run back. You can keep this too as a souvenir"

She sounded pretty lame. Maou could do a better job than her

She reluctantly took the object from her hand, and Emi could feel the cold rain hit her skin, and her smile brightened a hundred times.

"Thank you, and so sorry for having to do this. It must be troublesome for you"

"Don't sweat it", she started jogging away back to her place, but not before waving goodbye. "Take care!"

She kept on jogging. What was supposed to be jogging turned into running. She ran and ran as fast as she could, hoping the aching feeling in her heart would just go out and take a hike, but the feeling only grew the faster she kept on going.

She doesn't know how many streets she had already passed, and she has no idea where she was, but it didn't matter.

Because no matter how hard she tried, everything wouldn't go her way. It's just how her life works.

She failed on keeping everyone she held dear safe. She failed on defeating the demon king.

It's no wonder she couldn't even keep a good friend.

She stopped in her tracks, letting her clothes soak in the rain. The air around her turned ice cold.

Did she really change? She didn't feel any different from she was before back in Ente Island. Sure, so many things have happened, and it was a surprise that her mind could even keep up with all of this mayhem at all.

But, what has changed?

A massive, circular shadow settled around her, and she could no longer feel the raindrops hit her, and when she looked up, he was there. Holding an umbrella, just like before.

He rubbed the side of his chin, bashful. "We really should stop meeting like this. It's getting old"

"Please, you actually followed me, didn't you?"

He shrugged. "No use hiding it, huh?"

"Nope, I just thought it's something you might do"

They went silent for a while. She noticed things like these have been happening between them a lot. Where they would just meet eyes, turn away, and then they'd fall into deep silence. Another confusing thing to add to her list. Wonder what comes next.

"I know what you're thinking"

They looked at each other again, and Emi could spot the sincerity in his gaze. It bugged her, the way he looked at her like that, and she tried her best to not start sprinting down the direction just to be as far away from him as possible.

She pretended to be all nonchalant. What, after getting hit by a few bullets, and now he has psychic powers?

"I have no idea what are you talking about"

"I do", he stepped forward, and she told herself not to move away. "You're thinking that this was somehow your fault"

She didn't say anything. Instead, she focused on the linings of his bandages peeking through his clothes. That must've stung.

"I've been thinking"

"That's a surprise"

He glared at her, then he carried on.

"I've failed in a lot of things, too, you know"

He wrapped her hand around his, and her breath ran faster. She couldn't take away her gaze on him, and a tingling sensation went around the back of her neck.

"Maybe, we're both failures. Maybe, we didn't do enough. Either way, we're not just going to sit around and not do anything, right?

Change.

She did change.

He changed.

Maou chuckled as he walked them down back to her apartment. "Might need to take a shower. You and Rika are good friends, so don't worry. Stress is equals to added wrinkles"

"Shut up"

She felt happy for some reason. A lot of things have changed. But, it's up to them to change for the better, right?

As they zipped past the streets, they didn't notice their hands still locked on each other.

Oh, well.