Here's the second-last chapter! I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.

Chapter 22- Mom

I slowly open my eyes and look around. Huh. I'm back home in my bed. I glance at the clock on my bedside table and the time reads 12:45 pm. "What… happened…?" I whisper to myself, sitting up. "Just how long was I out for?" Right then, I remember the events that happened.

I had defeated Caligula… but I had collapsed from the stab wound in my leg. Right! I lift the covers to check on my leg and I see a bandage around the calf. On my bedside table is a glass of water and I absentmindedly take a sip of water, only realizing how dry my mouth was afterwards. I also remember another shocking fact that I had found out. Mom… she was alive this whole time! For fourteen years, we thought she was dead, but no… she was alive!

As happy as I should be, I'm also shocked. Why didn't Mom come back to us all this time? Why did she have to hide and put up with Caligula? I need answers.

Despite how late it is, I climb out of bed and slowly leave my room. I walk downstairs and see Mom and Dad sitting on the sofa. I also see Hecadoth sitting on a chair, a cup of tea in his hands. "Hey," I greet, my voice sounding hoarse.

They look up in surprise but Dad smiles at me. "Yumi!" he sighs in relief. He gets up and hugs me. "How are you feeling?"

I smile wryly. "Like my leg has been shot. What happened to the Kagirinai Kumori?" I ask.

"They've been arrested by the Pillar Division and sent back to the Demon World," Dad tells me. "Alaindelon had helped us get home so that Dr. Furcas could take care of your leg wound."

Hecadoth smiles. "That was pretty damn brave of you, Yumi," he praises. "You know, you and your mother are very much similar. You're both really badass and strong-willed."

I feel my face heat up at the compliment and I avert my eyes. "Th-Thanks..." I murmur. From the corner of my eye, I see Mom smiling in amusement.

"Now, I think I should go back home," he says.

"To Furuichi-kun's house, you mean?" Dad corrects.

A small smile crosses Hecadoth's face. "Yes, but I feel so much at home there that I've started calling it 'home'," he says. "Have a good night." He hugs me and plants a kiss on my forehead before leaving.

Once he leaves, I turn to face Mom. "Mom…" I whisper, walking up to her. "You… You were alive this whole time?"

Tears fill her eyes and she takes my hands. "Yumi…" She suddenly wraps her arms around me. "My baby… I missed you so much…"

I slowly wrap my arms around her in a hug, tears filling my eyes as well. "Mama…" I choke up. "Mama…"

"It was so hard to be away from you," she tells me. "I desperately wanted to go back and be with you, but I couldn't. I didn't want you or your father to die."

Right then, I recall my dream when I saw her getting stabbed. "Weren't you stabbed to death? I dreamt about it," I tell her. "How did-"

"I survive?" she finishes. A wry grin crosses her face. "They're really bad at checking to see if I was really dead." She brushes a strand of hair away from her face. "The stab wound wasn't so fatal and I had a transfer device secretly hidden with me. After being stabbed, I used the device to escape to the home of Dr. Furcas."

"Wouldn't they notice?" I ask. "That you escaped?"

"No," she says. "They dragged me back to my cell. I then used the device to transfer to Dr. Furcas. I told him what happened and he healed the wound. He also created a fake corpse of me, which was put in the cell. They had dumped that in the Human World."

"But why didn't you come back?" I ask.

"Oh sweetie, I really wanted to," Mom continues, looking down. "But Dr. Furcas told me that if they ever found out that I was alive, they would most likely kill you and your father. So he told me to disguise myself as a maidservant sent to serve them. It was the safest option. I styled my hair differently, wore a different uniform, and I even applied makeup so that I looked different."

"And you got away with it… for fourteen years?" I ask, stunned. "How?"

"They're really not that bright," she says, laughing slightly. "And they underestimate women too many times." The smile fades away. "I do hope you can forgive me, Yumi. For fourteen years, I've kept a photo of you when you were three. That was the one thing that kept me from going mad. Seeing you smile... it gave me a reason to live. That one day, I would hopefully see you again."

I smile at her. "I forgive you… Mom," I reassure her. "And thanks for freeing Hecadoth and I." I then wrap my arms around her in another hug. "That was so badass," I tell her.

She laughs. "At that point, I was just incredibly angered that they had the nerve to attempt to torture you," she admits. "And it felt nice to hum a lullaby to you after a long time, you know?" I smile slightly as I remember how she hummed an unknown lullaby to soothe me in that warehouse.

"You've really grown a lot," she tells me, a smile on her face as she moves a strand of my hair away from my face. "You look so lovely."

"She is," Dad agrees, approaching us. "She's really your daughter, Elsa. She's as fiery and fierce as you are."

Mom laughs. "She's very much your daughter as well," she teases. "Just as blunt and no-nonsense like you."

I laugh as Mom hugs me again, with Dad joining the hug as well. After fourteen years, our family is complete once again.