Disclaimer - I don't own The Devil is a Part Timer!/Hataraku Maou-sama! or any characters involved. Copyright to Satoshi Wagahara, White Fox and Funimation.

It's technically Friday here now (it's 1am) but I'm gonna guess it's Thursday still somewhere, probably in the US? I'm totally not late :| Anyway, thank you to wolfgirl12390 for this headcanon. I really liked this one and it turned out longer than I expected.

Headcanon: Urushihara is prone to nightmares

Sweet Dreams

"…!"

Urushihara jerked awake. He took a moment to calm himself and catch his breath, then hesitantly turned to look over at Maou and Ashiya. He sighed in relief when he saw that both of them were still fast asleep. Still panting, he brushed his hair aside and pressed his hand to his forehead, closing his eyes.

He'd been having these nightmares since he came to Earth, since sleeping had needed to become a regular thing. When he finally drifted off each night, more fearsome and unsettling versions of his memories would haunt him. From Heaven, from Ente Isla, even from the short time he had spent on Earth so far. He would often wake up hyperventilating, sweating, shaking. Every time, he would glance over at his roommates, unsure of whether he wanted them to sleep through it or wake up themselves.

On one hand, maybe they could be a source of comfort to him. But then, Urushihara didn't exactly expect that kind of reaction from Maou or Ashiya, and even if it did happen, his social awkwardness would most likely keep him from telling them anything. Or maybe they'd say he was fretting over nothing and demand that he go back to sleep and stop disturbing them.

That sounded like something they would do, at least.

By now, he was calm again. He lay back down in his box tunnel and curled up, trying to clear his mind so he could go back to sleep, hopefully without the nightmares this time.

Thankfully, he did manage to sleep through the rest of the night, just barely waking up before Maou left for his morning shift. He went about his usual routine of net surfing, research, eating junk food, annoying Ashiya and looking for possible sources of negative energy. He never let on about his nightly terrors.

But inevitably, night fell again. He avoided sleeping for as long as possible, distracting himself first with his laptop, then, when his eyes grew tired and strained, his PASTA. Eventually, he did fall asleep.

And only an hour later, he awoke with a scream, waking both Maou and Ashiya in the process. His hand instantly went to his chest as images of Emilia lunging at him with her sword flashed in his mind. Realising what he had just done, he quickly clapped his other hand over his mouth, but Maou had already figured out what was happening.

"Urushihara?" he asked, sitting up. Ashiya turned over to face them, rubbing his eye, while Urushihara ducked his head, unable to stop himself shaking, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"What? N-nothing..." Urushihara's voice was noticeably trembling, "Nothing h-happened..."

"Doesn't look like nothing..." Ashiya tiredly noted.

Maou took in the sight before him; Urushihara was sat in his box, his head down, his knees to his chest, his shoulders hunched and his arms wrapped around himself protectively, one hand still on his chest. His hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat and his breath was ragged.

"... Bad dream?"

Urushihara flinched, immediately telling Maou that he was right, then lifted his head in surprise when he heard fabric rustling and footsteps coming towards him. Maou was suddenly crouched in front of him.

"You alright, man?" he asked softly. Urushihara looked down again, "Something bothering you?"

"No, it's just..."

"Just what?"

"Just... nightmares... It's no big deal, I get them all the time." he tried to brush it off.

"Wait, really? How long has this been going on?"

Urushihara still couldn't meet Maou's eyes, but it did make him feel a little better that he seemed to be showing some concern for him. "I-It... It's been happening most nights since I first came through the Gate." His breathing was much more relaxed now, but he could still feel himself shaking.

He heard a shuffling sound and looked up to see that Ashiya had joined them.

"What are they about? These nightmares?"

Now this was strange. Ashiya was worried about him too? He blinked in surprise.

"Well, a lot of stuff... There's some things that keep coming back..."

"What was it this time?"

"When... When Emilia..." he trailed off, his hand subconsciously moving to his heart.

"... Killed you?" Maou finished. Urushihara nodded and now Maou was the struggling to hold eye contact, "I'm sorry we didn't do anything for you then. We just... I just left you. Heh," he gave a cold chuckle, "Guess I kinda deserved you turning on me like that."

This helped. Talking about it. It was only one of the dreams, but at least it was something. After a few more minutes, Ashiya returned to his futon, but Maou went for the closet. Curious, Urushihara sat and watched until Maou found what he was looking for. He pulled out an old blanket and brought it over to him. Before he went back to bed, he placed a comforting hand on Urushihara's shoulder.

"Night, dude."

With that, he turned away, leaving Urushihara to unfold the blanket and wrap it around himself. He fell asleep with a peaceful smile on his face.