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.

I meant to get this done on Thursday but I ended up being really busy, I've only just managed to get the time and motivation... But on the plus side, I've thought of an idea for a Christmas special, so that'll be coming in a few weeks, and I already have a headcanon suggestion that I could use for it! Also, I finally came up with a new headcanon myself but I'm not entirely sure how I can get a plot from it so we'll have to see how that goes.

Anyway, let's get back to today's ficlet. This is kind of, in a way, a follow-up to Sweet Dreams. And it's quite a long one~ The headcanon this time came from FallenSarcasm

Headcanon: Urushihara has abandonment issues

Don't Go

They're not coming…

The pain was unbearable, far worse than any injury he had ever sustained before.

They're not coming…!

That wretched Hero had already taken off. Back to the battlefront, no doubt.

Why aren't they coming…?

After being impaled by the Hero's Holy Sword, Lucifer crashed to the ground, barely registering the feeling of his wing breaking on impact. His breath was ragged and heavy. Blood pooled at the gaping wound in his chest and trickled from the corner of his mouth. Time seemed to slow down, almost to a halt. He was gripping fiercely onto whatever was still left of his life.

And he was alone.

He was alone.

They had left him. All of them. Not one of his men came to his aid.

Th-this… This cannot be happening…

He was struggling to hold on, losing the fight.

He was dying.

Alone.

His eyelids fluttered and he could have sworn he heard footsteps approaching. A shadow fell across his face and he strained to make out the shape of the hooded figure in front of him before his eyes flickered closed for what he assumed would be the last time.

But they reopened suddenly as Urushihara jerked awake to find himself safe in the darkened apartment. He saw Maou and Ashiya sleeping soundly in their futons. He leaned out of his box a little further until he could see the glowing display of Maou's alarm clock.

4:28am.

He groaned inwardly and rolled onto his side, curling into a ball. It wasn't worth waking them up. Sure, they had listened last time he'd had a nightmare, but bringing up that time could make them feel worse about it. Thinking about it now, he didn't want to drive them any further away than he already had. He didn't want them to hate him anymore than they surely already did. They might leave him again if he got any worse. It was hard for him, yes, but he had to try.

It took some time, but he managed to will himself back to sleep. And it wasn't long before the memories returned.

He had left his home. Sure, he had wanted to leave, but he hadn't realised how alone he would feel afterwards. How isolated. How distant. When King Satan accepted him into his army, he felt happy for the first time in a while, even if he didn't always make that clear. There were, however, demons who wouldn't accept him, who refused to offer any respect or companionship to a former angel. He convinced himself that he didn't care. But somewhere in the back of his mind, a small sliver of insecurity always remained. He hid it behind a nonchalant attitude and a sharp tongue, but even if no-one else knew it was there, he knew. He was still scared they would shun him. He was scared he'd have no place left to go.

When Urushihara awoke again, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, then looked around. Both his roommates were gone already.

Well, this is a perfect thing to wake up to after a night like that…

He yawned and crawled out of the box. On the table in the middle of the room was a note left by Ashiya, telling him he was out shopping and not to do anything stupid.

"… It's something, I guess…" he mumbled to himself and he turned on the laptop.

Before he could get too carried away with web browsing, Urushihara's mind began to wander. He paused, his hands hovering above the keyboard and his eyes glazed over ever-so-slightly. He couldn't help but think – what if they just gave up on him?

Sometimes he just wasn't able to bite back the quick remarks that came into his head. Some days he really didn't have the motivation or the energy to do anything, other days he just refused or ignored the demands made of him out of spite. It was his natural defence tactic. He acted on impulse, then ended up giving them yet another reason to get rid of him.

He sighed and let his hands drop to the desk. He stayed still for a moment, staring at the computer screen. That was the problem; he was too defensive. He chose to keep everything covered up with this little "I-don't-care" charade.

He was acting like a child. And it couldn't possibly make people want to be around him. But he just couldn't help himself.

The door opened and Urushihara turned and looked up, expressionless, at Ashiya. The other man barely paid him any attention. He looked back at the screen and was about to start typing when he sensed a presence behind him and something was dropped onto the desk. He glanced to the side and saw two boxes of Bocky. He blinked in surprised then curiously looked back at Ashiya, who had now turned his back and was starting to put away his other purchases. He answered Urushihara's silent question without even turning his head.

"There was a sale. And we had a little extra money this week. Don't think too much into it."

It was quiet for a few seconds, then he picked up one of the boxes and opened it with a small smile.

"Thanks, Mom."

Another brief moment of silence.

"… You're welcome, son."

Any tension in the air melted away as Urushihara bit a stick in half. Ashiya had actually thought about him. That was a good sign. The silence between them somehow felt more comfortable now.

When Maou returned home later that day, he could sense the calm atmosphere immediately.

"Ah! Welcome home, your Majesty."

Urushihara simply raised a hand in greeting, but still, that was more than he usually did.

Maou took off his shoes and sat down at the table. He took a minute to think before he spoke.

"Hey, Urushihara?"

"Huh?" hearing his name, Urushihara tilted his head back slightly, "Yeah, what?"

"Did you, uh… Did you sleep alright last night?"

"… Why do you ask?"

"It's just, I thought I heard you shuffling around in that box of yours. Plus, you did sleep in real late this morning so I figured you might have woken up in the middle of the night again or something."

"Uh… Well, not really, now that you mention it…"

To his surprise, Maou and Ashiya both looked concerned by that. And for some reason, that made him feel at least a little better.

"But, hey, no worries, dude. I'm good now."

"You sure?"

"Yup."