Kazuma sat on the roof of the mansion, squinting to try to spot as many stars as he could, as they shined brightly from up above. The little pinpricks of light starkly contrasted with the dark blues and black of the endless night sky, swirling and spinning around the moon hovering in the sky. As he pondered why he had never come up here before, the hatch that granted access to the rooftops abruptly opened, revealing Megumin, clad in just her pajamas.
"Kazuma? What're you doing up here? Aqua's been waiting forever for a rematch in that one board game I can't quite remember the name of. She even invited Vanir and Wiz over..."
"I'm positive she wasn't the one to invite Vanir. Those two would argue all day and night, given the chance. Tell the lame goddess to wait 'til tomorrow."
"What're you looking at?"
"The night sky. I don't know how I never noticed how bright the stars were, or how entrancing they are."
"Are you ok? This is where you'd make some perverted joke, and I'd threaten you with explosion magic for it."
"Even a shut-in NEET like me needs a break once in a while."
"Kazuma?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Y-you don't mind if I come up there with you?"
Aqua and Darkness thought Kazuma as fairly dense, but even he could sense the hint of nervousness and uncertainty in her voice. Anyway, he couldn't see why not?
"Why would I mind this when I've agreed to let you sleep with me?"
"See? I knew you'd say something..."
"You coming, or not?"
Kazuma didn't bother turning around to speak, so he was taken by surprise when Megumin wrapped her arms around his neck loosely.
"H-how did you climb up so quietly?"
"Us Crimson Demons have our ways..."
Megumin giggled when Kazuma turned his head, bearing an expression of irritation. He rubbed her hair a little bit before returning his gaze to the stars again. Megumin reluctantly let go, content with sitting next to/leaning on her not quite friend and not quite lover. Vanir, impatient with the delay, climbed up and out of the hatch too.
"Moi is waiting for your return, you timid lovebirds."
The pair stiffened, provoking Kazuma a bit too much.
"Says the so called duke of hell. You can't even withstand Aqua's purifying circles for a second. And what's with the 'moi'?"
"Moi just happened to adopt this style of speech from a fellow demon a while back. And moi does not understand your urge to star-gaze."
Kazuma was just about to start verbally lashing this masked demon for interrupting one of his rare times alone with Megumin when she spoke up.
"Vanir, you are really old, right? If so, haven't you ever looked up at night?"
"Moi is only technically very old. Moi's body is still in pristine condition. Anywho, considering moi's clairvoyance and nightly routine now, there's no time for relaxation."
"Then why don't you join us up here for once in a demon's lifetime, instead of annoying Aqua and Darkness over and over again?"
Vanir promptly sat down, cross-legged, mask turned upwards.
"They never had anything like this in my realm."
"That's probably because hell doesn't have a sky. What do you think is up there, Kazuma?"
Kazuma was took deep breaths to calm the wild beating in his heart (courtesy of explosion loli) before answering.
"In my country of Japan, we'd watch other countries build large, huge rockets, to try to get all the way up there. And apparently, those stars are different versions of the big flaming ball in the sky that keeps us warm and lights up our day. Moving around them are lands like this, all deserted and devoid of any life. But we'll keep searching. There are so many other places that we're bound to find someone else out there eventually..."
"As long as you're with me, you're all the life I need..."
Megumin hugged him tighter, grinning as Kazuma's cheeks turned a reasonably dark shade of red.
Vanir really wanted some negative emotions to feed his insatiable appetite, but decided he could wait a bit longer. Immediately after, Aqua popped up, scrambling onto the roof, watched by a very worried Darkness and Wiz.
"You lolicon hikiNEET. What's taking you so long?"
"Unlike you, ya useless goddess, I'm appreciating the world I've been given."
Aqua really wanted to knock some sense into this shut-in otaku, but kneeled down and looked at the general direction the others were looking at. Darkness and Wiz took this as they cue to come up too, leaving the hatch to slowly swing shut.
"Staring up there gives me a sense of safety for some reason, that I never knew. I get the feeling that we won't beat the demon king in a week, or a month, or even in a year. But knowing I've got you hopeless lot to guide me there... It makes the journey just a little happier."
Aqua rubbed the back of her head, not expecting this response. Though she supposed he was right this one time.
