ShuAnn Week 2021

Day 7: Free Day

Ann groaned, falling on her bed with a thump. Kamoshida had been a bit more aggressive in his advances lately and she wasn't sure if she could take it anymore, even if it was for Shiho. The last thing she wanted was to destroy her dream because of something she had done. But still...the thought of Kamoshida getting too close for comfort...she shivered at the memory, glad that her part-time modelling job was still working as an excuse.

But she knew even that wasn't going to work for long.

She sighed and turned over, picking up her phone and checking the internet.

Ann wished there was some way to make Kamoshida stop without Shiho's spot in the volleyball team getting taken from her. She hated that there was nothing she could do to make the perverted teacher actually stop. And she couldn't just tell her parents. Besides, even if she did, a part of her doubted they could do anything, the part of her that missed them so much that it was resentful of them being away. But, just as she thought of that silly wish, an ad popped on her browser. Normally, she would click it away but...

"Elizabeth's Equivalent Exchange and Retribution Services" it said.

The name was unusual and she couldn't help but tap it. The ad brought her to a rather pretty looking site, its main color being deep blue, that talked about...granting demons to help the customer in exchange for various...weird compensations. There was one demon that was listed to just want food from its master in return for inspiring them while another wanted "treasure" in return for healing them and making sure they got enough rest and many, many more. It was all so ridiculous that Ann couldn't help but keep scrolling down just to see the funny services and their equally funny compensations. But then one caught her attention.

Demon 555: Joker R

Service: help those in need. Compensation: various, including free.

That had been the most unbelievable out of all the "demons" she had seen. Free? She couldn't believe it but... The phrase "help those in need" reminded her of her wish of wanting Kamoshida to stop. If this was true, she may have found a way. But if it wasn't well... The worst she would get was being embarrassed for falling for it. So she just pressed it and...

...nothing happened.

Of course nothing would, it was just a silly site. Ann sighed and put her phone down. She should take a bath, change out of her uniform and have dinner. Before long, what she had done slipped her mind as she bathed, had dinner and then went back to her room. So it was completely reasonable that as soon as she went in...

"Oh hello. Are you my master?"

...she screamed at the intruder.

"Ah! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—oof!" he said right before she threw a cushion at him.

"Who are you?! And how'd you get in?!" she said as she looked for other things to throw.

"What do you mean how I got here? Ow! Wait! Stop—agh!"

She threw whatever she could at him as she tried to get close to her bed where her phone was. All she needed to do was get it, run out and call the police. But just when she was in reach of it, the man said,

"Please stop it!"

And grabbed her arms mid throw.

"How about I explain so that you'll stop throwing things at me, all right?" he said, keeping her still yet his grip wasn't painful.

All Ann could do was stare and say, "Uh..."

Now that he was right in front of her, it was hard to ignore how he looked. He wore a stylish red tuxedo, a crimson red sash across his waist, and, to finish the set, a red top hat. But that was the least surprising thing...because he had tucked in bat wings on his back and golden curved horns pointing forward.

"Can I take that as a yes?" he then said.

Ann blinked and shook her head to rid of her stupor. She laughed in both awkwardness and embarrassment.

"Y-Yeah, sure," she said.

She had no idea what to do but if he was this polite and willing to talk, then she would listen.

The mystery man—if he even was a man—sighed and his wings relaxed.

"All right then. But first, let's take a seat."

They did, sitting on her bed for convenience, and he went on to explain. Simply put...

"You're...the demon I summoned..." she said when he finished.

"Yes. Demon number five five five, Joker R," "her" demon said. "Though if it makes you more comfortable, you can call me Ren. That's what the 'R' stands for anyway."

Ann couldn't help but laugh. That was such a normal sounding name. If it weren't for how his horns and wings looked, she would've thought he was cosplaying instead of being an actual demon. But at the thought, she froze her laughter. If he was a demon and she just laughed at him... She whipped her head back at him, expecting to see him offended or something, but he was smiling when she looked. Well at least until Ren saw her expression and laughed as well.

"What? Is my name that odd to you?" he said, his raised eyebrow and head tilt adding to the smugness of his smirk.

Ann blushed and scrambled to speak.

"N-No! I was just surprised, that's all, you're so..." nice for a demon, she almost said.

But that reminded her too much of the people who were surprised of the same with her because of her looks.

Instead her brain decided on the next thing she thought of, with absolutely no filter.

"...handsome."

For a brief moment he looked shocked but she assumed she was seeing things since he, somehow more smug, said, "Oh?"

Oh just swallow her into the ground already...

"A-Anyways! You said you were gonna help me, right?!" she said, hoping to change the subject.

She thought he wouldn't take it with the way he chuckled but then he said,

"Yes. That is my service. What do you need help with?"

She sagged in relief and plopped on the bed backwards. But with the problem of who was in her room mostly settled, the fact that Ren was here to help was...surreal.

"Can you really help me...?" she couldn't help but say as she looked at him.

The gentleman demon noticeably softened, smiling gently as he said,

"We won't know unless you tell me."

So she told him, not just about Kamoshida, but absolutely everything. About Shiho, about how everyone treats her because of the rumors, and just how lonely she's feeling. It was only when she was done did she realize she poured her heart out to a more-or-less stranger. In her room. On her bed. To say the least, she blushed like mad and stammered to say something but all that came out was just gibberish.

What made her stop was Ren letting out as laugh as gentle as his smile.

"I-I'm sorry about that, I don't know what came over me..." she said.

This time he chuckled and shook his head.

"It's fine. You look like you needed it," he said. "Feeling at least a little better?"

Ann blinked. "Oh, yeah..."

Now that she thought about it, she did. She felt...so much lighter now, even with the overhead cloud that was the problem with Kamoshida.

"Then like I said, it's fine," Ren said. Then he adjusted his position, straightening himself up. "So? You still want my help?"

Another blink. "You think you can do something about Kamoshida?"

"Oh yes, I definitely can. Though that depends on what you want to happen to him."

Ann frowned and furrowed her brow. "What I want?"

"Yes. If you wanted to be heartless, I could kill him for—"

"No!" she said. And then realized she had just interrupted him. "Uh, I mean..."

But he just smiled brighter, almost proudly, and she had to remind herself they were having a serious discussion.

"I figured as much. So? What do you want me to do?"

Ann hummed in thought.

"Well...the best thing would be if he confessed to his crimes but..."

"Then done."

"Huh? You can do that?"

"Indeed I can. It will take a little bit though, especially since I need to know where he lives."

Why did she have a bad feeling about this?

"What are you going to do...?"

"Oh don't worry, it's nothing harmful to his body." He smiled like a cat that caught a canary. "I'm just going to give him constant nightmares to make him confess."

Ann stared at him, incredulous. "Is that...really going to work...?"

Unexpectedly, Ren smiled, but it only held sadness.

"You'd be surprised," he said. "Your own mind can be a very effective torture device."

Ann...didn't really know what to say to that, so she just settled on, "Okay. If you say so."

To her relief, his warm smile returned as he clapped his gloved hands.

"All right then," he said then stood up, looking around.

Ann raised an eyebrow. "Uh...Ren...?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to look for a comfy spot to sleep."

What.

"In my room?!"

The gentleman demon looked at her as if she was the one that was crazy.

But then he said, "Of course. I'm sure your parents wouldn't take too kindly to seeing a stranger sleeping on your couch, if you even have one."

And it made sense. Though her parents weren't here, there was still her maid and she knew that she woke up early. So it was best that Ren stayed in her room. But if that was the case...

She startled Ren as she stood and got her old clothes and cushions.

"Um...Master? What are you doing?"

Ann paused in the middle of arranging everything beside her door.

"Did you just call me Master?" she said.

"Yes I did and you didn't answer my question."

"Uh, well, I'm making a bed for you. And uh, sorry for not introducing myself. Just call me Ann."

Because otherwise she wasn't sure she'd survive her embarrassment.

"Well, Ann...you don't need to make a bed for me. I am just your humble, and temporary, servant."

"Don't be silly, I have a 'servant' with me, and she gets to sleep on a bed. You should too but well..."

She didn't think it needed to be said it would be suspicious to bring another bed into her room.

The demon didn't say anything, so she continued with the creation of his makeshift bed. It was only when she was almost done did he chuckle and say,

"All right, I give. Let me help you with that at least."

And so that was how the day she met Ren ended, with them making his bed of seat cushions, old clothes she planned to give away and the few extra blankets she had.

Ann stared.

Ren tilted his head.

"What?"

"Am I seeing things?" she said.

Because after breakfast was done, Ren had told her he would fly out and meet her just at the door to her apartment. She had tried to tell him he shouldn't but he had already flown out. She had expected to see him in his red attire, black wings and golden horns.

Instead she got curly hair, glasses and a male Shujin uniform.

"Well if they're working, then yes, you are," he said, absolutely cheeky.

"Huh? So, wait...it's an illusion?"

"Pretty much," Ren said and then he took off the glasses.

As implied, he was back to his original appearance, stylish red attire, black bat wings and gold curved horns.

Ann pouted and grumbled. "Wait... Are you telling me you could've looked like this since the beginning?"

He laughed. "True. I could've just put on my glasses," he said. "But then again, most of my summoners know to expect me to appear, unlike you."

She grumbled. "Never mind... Are you sure about going to school? What if someone isn't fooled?"

"Oh don't worry. I'll just use a little hypnotic sight on the students and teachers so that they don't question me being there."

Ann stared at him flatly.

"You better have not used that on me..."

The demon laughed as he put on his glasses again.

"Oh don't worry. Even if I did, your will's too strong for me to put you under my spell." Then he said, "Not that I would want you to be under my spell in that way."

Ann didn't want to guess what that implied, so she just said,

"A-Anyways... Why do you want to come to school with me?"

"I mentioned needing to know where this Kamoshida lives, didn't I?"

"Oh." But wait... "Why don't I just look it up?"

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Does Kamoshida really have his home address on the internet?"

Oh.

"Uh...never mind..."

He smirked. "I thought so."

"Oh shut up."

"So...did you find out where Kamoshida lives?"

"Yup. I'll get to work right away, if you don't mind. I'll knock on the window in your room when I'm back."

"Uh sure."

That was what she said a couple of hours ago. Now she was on her bed, looking at the window while she waited for him. She wondered if this was normally how long it took for his nightmare thing to work or if something went wrong. She wondered if maybe someone spotted him while he had his glasses off or he lost his glasses and that's why he was taking a while to get back. All these and more kept running through her mind...

...until she jumped at a knock.

"Hello there Ann," Ren said, his smile now familiar. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"Uh, no, I was still awake," she said as she opened the window.

The demon easily flew in and landed in the middle of her room, adjusting his red tuxedo.

"Oh? You were waiting up for me?" he said, teasing.

"W-Well, yeah, of course I was... I was worried for you..." she said, unable to deny it.

To her satisfaction, Ren looked surprised before he gave her a warm smile.

"Thank you for waiting then," he said.

Oh boy her mind was going to melt at this rate.

To try and take her mind off of that, she said,

"Anyways! How'd it go? We can, uh, talk over snacks or something? I...got you some stuff for you if you want to eat."

For the second time, she managed to surprise him as he stared at the snacks and packaged foods she got from the fridge.

"I...would like that, yeah. Thank you again, Ann."

And that was their routine for the next few days. They would go to school together, Ren disguised as a Shujin student, before going their separate ways. They would meet again at the gate to say good-bye before Ren would leave for "work" and then she would wait for him back in her room, foods of all kinds that she could sneak in on her table. Then, once he came back, they would talk while he ate and then go to sleep. It was nice getting to know him, how gentle and polite he was in his treatment of her and things, how silly he was with his stupid jokes and teasing, and how much of dork he was with how much he knew about human culture despite being a demon. Of course she talked about herself too, about her life, about her job and about Shiho. It felt nice to have yet another person to talk to.

And in the entire time, Kamoshida hadn't made one advance on her, nor did she see any suspicious injuries on Shiho, or any of the volleyball team members really, at all. If anything, Kamoshida looked absolutely exhausted, baggy eyes on his otherwise "perfect" face.

It almost felt like a dream.

And then it happened.

It was the school assembly and Ren was right by her side, in his glasses casted disguise. In the middle of it, Kamoshida came on stage and confessed everything: the physical abuse, the untoward advances on various female students, especially her, and how he had ruined several students' reputations, like Sakamoto-san. That was when it definitely felt like a dream. She left the school smiling like an idiot.

"I can't believe it..." she said on their way back to her home.

Of course Ren had that smug smile of his.

"My work is quite incredible, isn't it?"

"Oh stop it you."

She shoved him lightly in playfulness. As she hoped, Ren joined in her laughter as they stumbled a little before they righted themselves.

And then the dream ended.

"Well it looks like my part of the deal is done," Ren said, nonchalant. "It looks like I have to ask for my compensation."

Ann froze. "W-What?"

The smirk that had been endearing turned annoying as he said, "Did you forget? All demons have a designated pay for their service."

"B-But yours said it was free!"

"No... It said, various, including free, because of 'help those in need'. And the ones who call me have varying levels of actually needing it, so I get to choose compensation that is appropriate."

Oh. Right. That made sense. That was what she got for forgetting the exact wording. Okay now she was worried. She knew Ren wouldn't do anything creepy. He would've done that a long time ago if he wanted to since he was, well, a demon. But that still didn't clue in what he would ask for. Unfortunately, there was only way to know.

So she said, somewhat apprehensively, "So...what do you want...?"

Ren turned to look her straight in the eyes and said,

"I'd like a date with you, Ann, if you would let me."

crash

Wait what?

"Huh?"

For a moment, she knew she saw it, a flash of unbridled fear, and yet still he was honest when he smiled and said, "Only if you want to, Ann."

And Ann remembered all the days she had been lonely before she had met Shiho and before Ren had saved her, and by consequence the school, from Kamoshida.

So she said, "Of course I want to. I... I'd love to."

And it was worth it just to see that smile.

That just made it all the harder to bear his smile turning pained when finally, after seeing the sights and eating the foods of Tokyo, he had to leave.

Ann stared out the window and sighed, her eyes looking at the afternoon sky but not seeing it. It's only been a week since she and Ren said good-bye and she still missed him. It was ridiculous, her pining over a demon of all people, and she hadn't even known him for that long. And yet...every time she thought of his smile, his jokes, his mere presence, she just had this huge urge to see him again no matter what.

Of course she had thought of doing just that by summoning him again, but she couldn't remember the URL of the site she summoned him from and somehow it was gone from her history. Though considering that site led to her summoning Ren in the first place, it was probably the site's doing she couldn't find and access it again. She groaned and laid on her desk.

Just her luck that that was the case.

Though perhaps that was a sign telling her to forget about him.

"Ann?"

"Ack!"

She jumped but found it was just Shiho, who was now smiling in amusement.

"You must be really lost in thought to not notice me," she said. "What's on your mind?"

Ann looked away. "I..." she said but trailed off, unsure what to say.

Shiho's teasing mood left her as she took the seat in front of Ann.

"Something wrong?" she said, sitting backwards to face her. "I thought you've been like this all week because you just couldn't believe what happened with Kamoshida."

She sighed and put her head on her arms. "Kind of..."

But what could she say? That she has a crush on a demon that was funny, kind and gentle? That a demon had saved her life before it could get worse? As well as her best friend's by extension?

"Hmm... If it's not Kamoshida then..."

Shiho had an inquisitive look on her face as she said the last thing she thought she would,

"Is it because of that 'transfer student' that appeared and disappeared?"

Ann froze. What?!

"How do you know he disappeared?" she said, doing her best to keep a steady voice.

But then Shiho shot her a smug look and said, "I didn't. You just told me."

"Grk!"

For the love of... How come she kept running into situations that she ended up regretting?

Her friend just laughed in the face of her predicament and Ann couldn't help but say,

"Not funny..."

"Sorry, sorry, but it's kind of hard not to when you look like that," Shiho said smiling, but that left her as she continued. "So is it that guy?"

"Yeah..."

"Do I have to go and beat him up?"

"Shiho!"

Her best friend just shrugged. "Just saying. If he hurt you, I gotta get back at him."

"He'd never do that! And even if he did, he'd apologize because he's always so nice to me and he would feel bad about hurting me and..."

She only then noticed Shiho's smug look return.

"Ah, so it is pining. I didn't think my gut was right, but I guess it was," she said. "Though I didn't think it'd be this bad."

Ann groaned and buried herself in her arms. Just burn her now, she couldn't stand this embarrassment.

Her best friend just chuckled at her situation, again, but then she said,

"So...?"

She glared at her from her arm fortress.

"So...what?"

Her volleyball friend just rolled her eyes.

"Are you really going to give up on this guy?" she said.

Now she was dubious.

"And you're...telling me to go after him."

She nodded.

Now she was even more dubious.

"Usually it's the other way around."

Shiho laughed. "Yeah, it is," she said. Then she smiled softly. "But if my gut feeling's right again, he's moping about you too. So stop being silly and go after him. I'm sure you can find some way to work it out."

"But..."

Should she? And even if she did, how was she going to do that?

"How are you gonna know if you don't try?"

If she didn't try? She wouldn't have met Ren at all.

So if she didn't try to see him again...

Now Ann smiled and jumped to hug her friend, who laughed at the sudden affection but reciprocated nonetheless.

"Thanks Shiho."

"Always Ann."

Please work, please work, please work... Ann thought as she typed in the last of the URL, hoping Mishima's info gathering worked out.

One last click and...

"Yes!"

There it was, the site she thought she wouldn't see for a long time. Quickly, she searched to see if there were any other options besides the "one time contracts" and, to her delight, there were. It was a familiar contract, turning a demon into one for a designated number of years, with various choices of "payment" for all of them, instead of anything specific to a demon like with the shorter contracts. As she decided how long and what to pick, a part of her was apprehensive.

Should she really be doing this?

She was doing all this just to have a demon she only knew for a week back in her life, preferably longer. It was pretty reckless. She didn't really think about what would happen if he did stay for long and how she would deal with it.

But then she remembered how he looked when he left, like he was trying so hard to keep smiling just for her, and her determination renewed.

Even if it was reckless, she would do it, because whatever the consequences of her choice, she would regret not seeing him ever again more than trying to working through any of their problems together.

With that, she finished filling out her form and this time waited in her room for him to appear. Before she could even begin to worry she did something wrong, a blue magic circle appeared on the ground, glowing and pulsing. Then she had to close her eyes when a light flashed and air rushed as if an explosion happened. When she opened them, she smiled.

There, in the middle of the room, stood a shocked gentleman demon.

"Ann...?"

"Hey Ren," she said, walking to him.

"Did you just...?"

"Uh huh."

"But...why?"

Ann knew she flushed but she did her best to face him as she said, "I-I... I missed you. And I wanted to get to know you more."

Ren just stared.

And stared.

And then he laughed.

Ann glared. "Hey! Don't laugh, you jerk! Do you know how much I missed you?!" she said, ready to slap his shoulder.

But then she got wrapped in warmth all over, his strong arms trembling in mirth as he held her and his wings fluttered on her back in affection caresses.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just..." Ren said, voice soft and vulnerable. "...I can't believe I was the one who got my wish granted instead of the other way around."

Oh.

Ann smiled and hugged him in return.

"Well good, because you're gonna be stuck with me for a while."

She felt more than saw his smile. "I look forward to getting to know you, Ann."

"Me too."

For she knew in her heart, even with the special place their first time meeting each other was, it was only just the beginning.

Author's Notes: This is what happens when I try (key word: try) to combine all the prompts of the previous days together...and then instead think of Fate/stay night and Tsukihime and then "combine" that with Persona/SMT. I actually feel pretty happy about coming up with this because I was kinda stumped on what to make for the free day, really wanted to make something and ended up coming up with an idea that let me have a lot of fun with it.

This was also meant to be short but nope! I can never seem to write anything short...aka 1000-2000 words. Not that I'm complaining really. I just find it funny that I planned it to be short but it ended up doubling in wordcount.

Anyways, this marks the end of ShuAnn Week 2021 for me and I'm glad I participated this year. I had a blast with all the prompts and this was probably the most I've written in such a short time. It feels good. It also really showed my tendency to lean toward fantasy/medieval AU to me because, well, I didn't exactly mean to make it that way for the others days that wasn't Day 3. I hope for those of you who read this and my other stuff for ShuAnn Week enjoyed it as well.

Oh, and just cause I wanna mention it, if a demon marries a human in this world, he can stay for as long as he is married because, y'know, marriage is basically a contract to share lives together.