Yuri couldn't seem to think straight all day, and it was obvious to her fellow employees.
However, their reasoning was just off. Entirely. They figured she went to party and got a little carried away, which is why she was working like a zombie today. The grocery store she worked at was always bustling with people looking for deals and savings to be built, and now was a bad time for her to be spacing out. She was assistant manager, after all.
"Uh...Yuri?" It seemed the bluenette was spacing out once more while she was supposed to be checking inventory. "Yuri..."
A hand moved to touch her, but it never made it to her shoulder as she gripped the person's arm and twisted it to reach their upper back.
"Ow ow, hey! It's just me!"
Yuri snapped out of it then, immediately letting him go and stepping back. Her eyes had widened as she heard her friend whining like a baby for a short moment as he tried to ease the pain of his arm. "K-Ko, I'm sorry..."
"Look, just because you're in charge, doesn't mean you have to bully me into submission." Kohuro, noticing her distraught reaction, smiled a bit and shook his head. "Calm down, calm down. I'm kidding. Anyway, I just checked to see how you were. You seemed like the walking dead, ready to consume someone."
"I-I don't know why. I know I'm lazy, but my tiredness has never been this strong," Yuri replied as she placed her pen within the top of the clipboard she held.
"Is it because of your injury?"
This question caused her to look down at her chest and think it over. She didn't die, but the recollection of yesterday seemed like a mere dream.
Whatever it was, the day just seemed unreal.
"Maybe..." She decided to just agree. It probably would have been too much to debate with him over something she obviously knew nothing about herself. "But the two who came to my house with you said they have answers, so I'll talk to him after work today."
"You sure you don't want to go see a doctor first?" Kohuro said that as more of a suggestion than a question.
"They will not take me seriously if I told them that I was stabbed in the heart and LIVED!" Yuri laughed a bit, noticing how serious she sounded. It was a little funny. "Besides, it looks more like a mild burn now."
"Let me see."
Yuri reached for the collar of her blouse before pausing to look up at the snow-haired male. He was grinning hard, allowing drool to slip through the cracks of his expression as his nose dripped with blood. A light blush crossed her face before she kicked him in the back of his leg.
"You'd let me do it?!" Yuri didn't know how powerful her kick had become until now, considering Kohuro was forced to the floor faster and harder than expected.
Her eyes widened in shook and total disbelief. He honestly wasn't even supposed to fall!
"A-Are you okay...?"
The slight mumbles that followed signaled that he would live.
"E-Excuse me, Miss Anakomiya?" Yuri turned to a young lady about her age. As shy as she was to approach her, she was actually assistant manager over the cashiers. Since the boss wasn't in that day, she had to take over. "One of our cashiers called in sick, and the lines are backed up on the others...s-so...so can you...?"
"Don't worry, leave it to me. And come on, Miss Assistant Manager, you have to talk better than that." Yuri laughed a bit as she helped Kohuro to his feet.
"P-Please! You can call me by first name - Marino!"
The bluenette didn't know what got her so worked up about respectively addressing someone, but went with it nonetheless. "Okay...Marino."
"Y-Yes. And thank you so much for your help!" She then hurried back to her office to continue her own work.
Yuri smiled a bit, "Well, I better get going-"
"Wahh!"
She and Kohuro looked behind them to see a tall male on the ground. He had dropped his handheld basket of items as he did so.
It left a dent in the floor?!
"What...has happened...to the floor?" he asked as he struggled to stand.
"Let me help you," said Kohuro as Yuri moved to pick up the items he had collected throughout the store.
"Thank you, kind sir." He managed to stand straight and dust himself off. "What kind of right-hand am I if I cannot even watch where I'm going?"
"Here you go, sir! Terribly sorry for all of the trouble! I really owe you, this is my fault." Yuri handed him the basket and he kindly smile and took it.
"No, no. It's quite alright. Just the floor could use some work. So does my attention span too, apparently," he said.
At least he doesn't suspect physicality caused this, Yuri thought. After checking over his items, his attention went back to the others.
"Sorry for my carelessness. I will be off now."
"Have a great day!" Yuri said with a small, nervous smile.
Crap...
A bit later...
"Whoa!" Sadao came home that day to a fridge full of food, much to his surprise.
"I know, right!"
His attention then shifted to Urushihara, sometimes known by his Ente Islan name Lucifer, and sighed as he noticed how his area was cluttered from random - and emptied - food products.
"Jeez, you clean well. And I don't mean your space, either." Urushihara glared and turned around as Sadao paused shortly to think. "Wait, did Ashiya go over budget or did he get another job? Where is he, anyway?"
As if on cue, the taller male entered the house and looked up at Sadao.
"Sire, look at what I have acquired for you!" he smiled proudly as he pointed down the steps. Sadao and Urushihara both looked outside to see a girl and a guy standing at the trunk of a car. The guy was grabbing one of two boxes.
"Hmm..." Sadao focused on the girl, realizing then who it was. He didn't even notice the boxes. "It's Yuri."
"You know this girl, sire?" Ashiya asked as he moved downstairs to grab the other box. The ex-Lord of Demons followed after.
"Yeah, she was struck with Emi's sword and survived. She may have even taken her power."
"What?!" asked both he and Urushihara.
"Hey, how'd you get the money for all of this so suddenly?"
"Don't change the subject!" Urushihara shouted, despite Ashiya's willingness to go along with it.
. . .
"Uhh..." Yuri sat at the table before the three members of the Maou household and Kohuro, who looked as confused as she did.
"We're sorry, Miss Anakomiya," said Ashiya, "but we felt as though we should discuss the matter sooner than expected."
"That's fine, but which one?" Yuri figured by how amazed they were by the boxes of melons they received, it would be about that rather than her being randomly impaled.
"The whole 'you being stabbed but not dead'," said Sadao, trying his best to think it over. "Well...you see..."
Suddenly there was knocking at the door, and he looked towards the window. He didn't know who to expect it to be.
"Mr. Maou?"
He felt he could breathe a bit easier now. "Oh, hey Chi. Come in."
Chiho Sasake, his coworker, opened the door with a small smile. "Hi-"
She then paused as her eyes scanned the room. She had noticed there were a lot more people than before, but one happened to be female.
"H-Huh?" She stared at Yuri, making her a bit nervous. "W-W-W-W-W-W-..."
The stuttering continued, drawing everyone else's attention. Everyone except Urushihara.
"More girls, more problems. Right, Sadao?"
But of course, he knew that said male wasn't listening.
"Chi, hey. This is Yuri and Kohuro. Something happened yesterday that put the girl in danger, so we figured it was only fair for an explanation."
"O-Oh." Although not entirely convinced, Chi dropped the panic and sat at the table as well.
The Head of the Household's eyes wandered the house for a moment, "Hm... I don't think there's really a reason to wait on Emi."
"There is no reason to lie to this young goddess, sire," said Ashiya. Yuri then figured she was only given the nickname due to the fruit given in bulk. "Miss Yusa has nothing to worry about."
"Alrighty then." Sadao sat up straight and cleared his throat. The casual demeanor had shifted to more of a serious persona. All eyes were on him as he focused on his newer guests.
"For the exception of Chi here, everyone here is from another land named Ente Isla. They are demons, and I, more specifically, am the Devil."
{Hm... Took me longer I thought. No idea why. Updated, nonetheless :3 }