Chapter 2: Just Peachy

"Hell is split into 'The Eight Great Hells' and 'The Eight Cold Hells', and these are further divided into 272 smaller duty stations… Are you listening?" Hōzuki asked pointedly, pausing his explanation for a moment when he noticed Naomi was busy writing something in a small notepad.

"Yes, sir. 'Eight Great Hells', 'Eight Cold Hells', and '272 smaller duty stations', right?" She recited, holding up the notepad to show that she was actually taking notes in shorthand. Naomi had decided to suck it up and do her best to prove her worth as a secretary so she could pass the trial period Hōzuki had eventually agreed to and hopefully attain a more permanent position, because she really didn't want to be tortured for several thousand excruciatingly long Hell-years. With this being her first day on the job, her main task was to follow her new boss around so she could watch and learn from him while he worked. Since he was out conducting an inspection today, it was the perfect opportunity to show her the different parts of Hell without interfering with the rest of his schedule.

"Correct. Once you've finished memorizing the entire system, we can move on to testing your skills in torture." He stated coolly, causing her to flinch ever so slightly. "Problem?"

"No, it's just… I don't really feel comfortable with the idea of hurting people against their will…" Naomi admitted a bit hesitantly, feeling a little guilty. After all, if not for Enma's decision to spare her, she'd be right in there with the rest of the sinners.

"I see. In that case, if you'd prefer, perhaps I should just drop you off in the Burning Hell and leave you to rot there?" He suggested, staring down at her without a hint of mercy in his eyes. If she couldn't make herself useful, then there was no point in keeping her around. He was far too busy to babysit.

"No, given the choice between being hurt and the one doing the hurting... I'd definitely prefer to be the later!" She answered hastily, suddenly feeling as if her afterlife were in mortal peril again. "I mean, please let me continue to work with you, Hōzuki-sama!" She said, determined not to become another victim.

"Hmph. Good answer. And anyway, torture in Jigoku isn't the same as in the Western Hell. Here it serves the purpose of teaching the deceased to repent for their sins. The harsher the punishment, the sooner and more sincere their repentance will be. And the sooner they repent, the sooner they can be forgiven and be released and reincarnated. So there's no need to hold back, since you'll be doing them a service. Well, at any rate, all appears to be in order at Needle Mountain." Hōzuki said calmly, apparently satisfied with her answer and ready to move on to next area on his list. At least she was listening. With her afterlife on the line, she was now acting a lot more docile and cooperative than she had been the other day during her trial, but she still had enough backbone left to make things interesting. "How are things in Fukisho?" He asked, turning to the minion accompanying them. "There's a shortage of employees, isn't there?"

"Fukisho?" Naomi asked curiously.

"Animal Torturer Hell." Hōzuki explained briefly.

"Ah." She said, nodding in understanding as she made another note. She knew several people who would be very gratified to know that existed… though, based on what she had learned so far, a handful of them were probably headed for some of the other parts of Hell they had already covered, since they had little to no sympathy for their fellow human beings.

"Hōzuki-sama!" A smaller minion called out, getting their attention as he ran up to them, waving a blue folder. "Heaven's Shangri-La is requesting more manpower…"

"Hey, I'm in mid-consultation here!" The larger minion said, annoyed that someone was trying to butt in. The smaller oni laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We cannot be expected to look after Heaven's affairs." Hōzuki said with a frown as he looked over the file. "Let me guess, that moron decided it was too much hassle, so he decided to pass that particular burden on to me to deal with instead, didn't he?" He stated more than asked, clearly referring to King Enma. First he hires him an unwanted assistant from the pool of souls they were supposed to be punishing, and now this…

"Did you just casually call Enma-sama a moron?" The minion from Fukisho asked while Naomi sweat-dropped. No one was safe from this guy...

"Shangri-La, huh?" Hōzuki mused as if he hadn't heard. "They have a lot of nerve asking for their lack of sinners. Leisure. Enjoyment. Relaxation. It would be fun to get away… three days stay in a hotel… Mikazuki… Every little thing ends up on my desk."

'Sounds like he's desperate for a break…' Naomi thought sympathetically. It had been a while since she'd had a decent vacation, too… "Well, if it's any consolation… from what I've heard from Asuka-sempai, you aren't missing much." She ventured aloud. "She said that if you go for the hot spring and spa, you'll have a fantastic time. But the food is mediocre, and if you don't have dinner included in your room price, it costs ¥6,300 a head, which is absolutely ridiculous. Also, the rooms don't have an internet connection of any kind, and the check-out time is at 10:00 AM. You can only eat breakfast through 9:00 AM. It's a family hotel, and basically all the visitors are families with children."

"What's an S&M club worker doing in a family hotel?" The short minion asked curiously, sweat-dropping.

"That's really rude, you know." Naomi told him, chagrined on her sempai's behalf. "S&M fans are people too. Asuka-sempai happens to be a single mom. She took her son there for a family vacation. He had fun in the pool, but it wasn't as relaxing for her as an adult as she thought it would be between the cost and all the other noisy kids running around."

"I thought that woman was supposed to be a masochist." Hōzuki remarked.

"There's a fine line between pain and pleasure, Hōzuki-sama." Naomi replied wryly, sweat-dropping. If being harassed by a bunch of five-year-olds turned her on, then she'd have to be really concerned about Asuka-sempai's mental health. "Anyway, if you're looking for people to send to Heaven, then I'd be more than happy to—"

"Request denied." Hōzuki cut her off bluntly, turning his attention back to the file in his hands. Nice try, but he wasn't about to let her escape that easily. "They want to borrow power for the peach farm?" He read aloud as he flipped through the pages. "They don't need any more peach trees. Furthermore, I am against Heaven's policy of mass-producing sentou (Chinese peaches of immortality) to secure wonder drugs. A surplus of cure-alls inevitably leads to corruption." He concluded calmly, giving the file a light slap with the back of his hand for emphasis.

"But Shangri-La is the biggest tourist trap in Heaven, so the scenery needs to be kept up." The short minion reminded him.

'Eh? Heaven has tourist traps!?' Naomi thought, surprised.

"Yes, that would require maintenance." Hōzuki mused.

"Even help gathering firewood would be appreciated."

"Hōzuki-samaaaa!" A voice cried anxiously as yet another minion came running up. This one was also on the short side, but he had three horns, curly white hair, and round eyebrows.

"You sure are popular…" Naomi remarked while the little oni paused for a moment to catch his breath.

"What is it?" Hōzuki asked the new arrival.

"I'm sorry! There's trouble…" The white-haired oni said nervously. "Someone called 'Peach Boy' has come…!"

"A boy is here with peaches?" Hōzuki said, furrowing his brow in annoyance. "Send him away."

"Um, no that's not… He isn't here with gifts for the Bon festival…" The white-haired oni said, sweat-dropping. "Just come with me, please!" He said urgently, grabbing Hōzuki's hand, who in turn grabbed Naomi by the back of her kimono's collar.

"!" She gasped, clawing at the collar when she found herself being choked by it as he dragged her along.

"Ah, hey! That's not fair, Nasubi!" The other short minion yelled.

"Oi! I was here first…!" The taller minion exclaimed.

"Momotaro, you mean that Momotaro?" Hōzuki asked calmly once Nasubi had explained how a strange man had suddenly showed up with three animals in tow and started shouting about wanting to fight in a little more detail as they headed towards the scene of the disturbance.

"Yes, sir." Nasubi answered seriously as they passed a soul being ripped to shreds by a pack of dogs and came upon a randomly placed iron maiden that was echoing with moans of agony and oozing blood.

'Why is there a medieval European torture device in Japanese Hell…?' Naomi wondered as she rubbed her sore throat, sweat-dropping. Plus, wasn't Momotaro supposed to be a character in a fairytale? Well, technically oni and most of the other mysterious supernatural beings living here weren't supposed to exist in reality, and yet...

"When was the Iron Maiden installed?" Hōzuki asked as he stopped abruptly, apparently wondering the same thing about the expensive torture tool. "Where did you get the money for it?" That hadn't been in the budget he approved.

"What? But Enma-sama said it was okay…" Nasubi said, wondering what the problem was.

"Tch!" Hōzuki's eyes narrowed dangerously as his brow creased deeply, and his aura suddenly plummeted pitch-black, emanating extreme murderous intent.

'S-Scary…' Naomi thought with a shiver. Great King of Hell or not, Enma-sama better start running!

"Ah! Hōzuki-sama!" Nasubi's superior shouted as he ran over to greet them, giving his white-haired subordinate a quick smack on the head for saying something unnecessary. "I'm terribly sorry to disturb you while you're otherwise occupied…" He said respectfully to Hōzuki, bowing deeply.

"Oh! I see special treatment. I bet he's your superior!" They heard another voice say.

"Huh?" Hōzuki and the other oni said, furrowing their brows, as they and Naomi all looked over in its owner's direction.

"All right, let's do this fair and square! Fight me!!" A chubby-cheeked man dressed in fancy ancient clothing said boldly, striking a dramatic pose as he drew his sword, and his three faithful animal companions—a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant—gathered around him.

"…" Naomi said as she and Hōzuki stared at the walking anachronism blankly for a moment. "Hōzuki-sama… is that lipstick?" She asked, lowering her voice as she whispered behind her hand. His lips were unnaturally pink and shiny. She hadn't been expecting that. She thought men wearing makeup had been a much more recent development.

"It would appear so…" Hōzuki whispered back, also slightly surprised by the troublemaker's appearance, though you would never know it with his pokerface. "Um, where did this problem child come from?" He asked Nasubi's superior, keeping his voice low.

"He's that Momotaro fellow." The oni whispered.

"Eh? Isn't he kind of obnoxious for a hero?" Naomi whispered. "What's he even doing here in the first place?"

"D-Don't just whisper to each other!" Momotaro yelled as his face flushed slightly in embarrassment.

"He suddenly showed up out of nowhere and started going gangbusters on us." Nasubi's superior explained. "This is the first time I've ever seen someone try to fight his way to the boss…"

"Why don't you just beat him up, capture him, and return to sender?" Naomi asked curiously. They seemed to have no problem doing that to any other soul, so why were they hesitating now?

"We can't. He's a resident of Heaven, so…" The Oni replied glumly. That wasn't part of their jurisdiction. Laying a hand on a citizen of Heaven without proper authorization wasn't worth the mountain of paperwork that would be dropped on them later.

"This is odd…" Hōzuki said. "He looks much more… old-fashioned and refined than I expected…"

"Yeah, wasn't he supposed to be the son of a woodcutter?" Naomi agreed. Her knowledge of Japanese history and folktales might be a little dicey, but she was pretty sure normal peasants didn't dress like that.

"Wh-What are you trying to say!?" Momotaro demanded indignantly as his blush deepened and a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Having rid your land of evil oni in your former life, I can appreciate the pride you must feel," Hōzuki told Momotaro, "but haven't you lost sight of your cause?"

"No, I am still working on my cause. I am who I am because I fight oni!" Momotaro responded confidently. "Right, partners?" He asked the animals.

"I'm in it for the millet dumplings." The cute and fluffy white dog answered honestly.

"But nowadays there are far more delicious things than millet dumplings." The monkey added.

"My employment status hasn't changed since the Muromachi era, so I'm seriously considering a change of profession." The pheasant stated frankly.

"Oh, you too?" The dog asked, lowering his voice as the animals began to whisper amongst each other.

"You'd think that mythical beasts with spiritual powers would be harder to come by." The monkey pointed out dubiously.

"He's always ridiculously fired-up whether we are or not." The pheasant muttered as they all glanced back at their boss.

"You're assistants to a hero! What else do you need!?" Momotaro huffed defensively.

"In this day and age? Proper health insurance, for one." Naomi quipped bluntly.

"In other words, you are that one guy in the company who burns with team spirit and gets strangely riled up, irritating everyone else. The annoying coworker." Hōzuki surmised succinctly.

"Don't coldly analyze my current state of affairs, you oni!!" Momotaro shouted, clearly intending it as an insult.

"I am an oni." Hōzuki reminded him calmly, completely unfazed.

"Hōzuki-sama, can't you do something about him?" Nasubi's superior asked, sweat-dropping. "He's delicately set in his ways. Delicately."

"Stop calling me delicate!!" Momotaro snapped, whipping his hand straight out in front of him to point at Hōzuki. "I want you to fight me. Or are you afraid?"

"You…! How rude!" Nasubi's superior exclaimed indignantly, insulted on his behalf.

"Hōzuki-sama is a very important person!" Nasubi added. Naomi noticed that they were both very protective of their boss, even though Hōzuki looked like he really couldn't care less about the hero's attempt to ruffle his feathers.

"Oh, yeah? How important?" Momotaro asked, doing his best to look and sound unimpressed with their assertion.

"He's the first advisor to Great King Enma. Even among the demons he's top dog!" Nasubi's superior said proudly.

'Wow… It sounds like he's even more important than I realized.' Naomi thought, somewhat impressed. Didn't that mean he was basically second only to Enma?

"I'm really no one." Hōzuki said humbly. "More like a Chief Cabinet Secretary. A plain nobody." He concluded dismissively with wave of his hand.

'No, that's not normally someone you would call a 'nobody'…' Naomi thought, sweat-dropping. He had to be doing that on purpose.

"Aargh! You make me so angry!!!" Momotaro fumed. How could he write off such a high position so carelessly!? This oni really knew how to piss him off!

"We're not like the riffraff on Onigashima. Unlike them, we work our fingers to the bone. There's no reason for you to try to attack us." Hōzuki stated coolly. "In contrast, you are currently unemployed and spend your days floating around as a drifter…"

"D-Damn it!! Who do you think you are, my mo—I mean—grandmother!?" Momotaro shouted incredulously, stomping his feet and shaking his fists exaggeratedly in a hissy fit. "Know my wrath at your peril!!"

'Somehow, the way he's moving reminds me of that time Bobby Seager accidently sat on an ant hill and literally got ants in his pants…' Naomi thought as she watched.

"No one gets angry like that anymore." The dog said, starting to feel embarrassed.

"Well, he is from the Muromachi era…" The Pheasant said, sweat-dropping.

"Want me to rain my fists down upon you!!?" Momotaro demanded hotly as he approached Hōzuki with multiple veins throbbing on his face, rolling up his sleeve as he made a fist.

BAM.

Momotaro froze instantly when Hōzuki twirled around his huge iron club, catching it effortlessly as he slammed it into the palm of his hand with a frightening amount of force without even flinching.

"Oh, if a rain of fists will satisfy you, I'd be happy to get this over with." Hōzuki stated ominously with his face cast in shadow and a dark look in his eyes.

"Ah… no, wait… violence is never the answer…" Momotaro said timidly, shaking like a newborn lamb as he suddenly lost all will to fight.

WHAAAM!!

Naomi's eyes widened and Momotaro flinched in shock when Hōzuki suddenly swung his club out to the side, smashing the large rock next to him clean in half.

"This is Hell, we settle things with violence." The oni said, dead serious. Naomi felt her ribs crack, caught somewhere between a startled shriek and laugh. Momotaro paled as he immediately shot back to stand beside the animals, hastily retreating to a safe distance. This guy was seriously going to kill him!

"F-For starters, you guys go test him…" Momotaro whispered nervously to his animal friends.

"What!? No way." The dog said, disappointed.

"Why not?" Momotaro asked.

"You go first." The Pheasant told him. He's the one who picked this fight in the first place.

"No fair." The monkey said.

"They seem to be arguing about something." Hōzuki observed. They couldn't hear exactly what was being said from where they were standing, but it appeared to be a very heated discussion.

"Oh, the dog's coming over." Naomi said as he started to approach them. He was so cute and fluffy. She wanted to pet him.

"Ugh, I'm not so sure about this…" The dog said dejectedly, sighing as he walked over to the group of oni and the girl who was with them.

"Shiro, just try to provoke him!" Momotaro called while he and the others ducked behind another large boulder, using it as a shield.

"What? Um, well…" Shiro said, titling his head slightly as he fumbled around in his furry little head for a good insult. "S… Slanted turtle eyes!" He barked suddenly, sweating nervously.

"The father from Softbank!!" Hōzuki retorted swiftly.

DING~

With that poor Shiro hit the ground, suddenly looking as though he had taken an immense amount of psychological damage.

"That one phrase hurts me the most…" The white dog groaned miserably. He had taken a mortal blow. "But if it's Ueto Aya, then I wouldn't mind having her as my daughter…"

"Adopt her? Hasn't she already been married off?" Naomi asked, unwittingly delivering the finishing blow.

DING~

"Gwah!" Shiro choked, twitching, as tears streamed down his face.

"Ah…" Naomi said a bit sheepishly, feeling guilty. The poor thing looked so pitiful…

"Aaaah! Shiro's been sunk!!" Momotaro and the rest of his companions cried, flinching in shock.

"Hmm, not bad." Hōzuki said appraisingly.

"No, that wasn't on purpose…" She said quickly, sweat-dropping.

"D-Damn it! That was too cruel!" The monkey cried.

"We'll avenge you, Shiro the underdog!" The pheasant declared.

"Don't call me that…" Shiro whined, visibly wilting.

"The brains of the team, Kakisuke!" The monkey shouted, introducing himself as he jumped forward to take his turn against the cruel demons.

"Kakisuke?" Naomi said, blinking. "For some reason, that sounds really familiar… I think my mom told be a story about a monkey with a name like that before."

"Ah, yes, the persimmon monkey." Hōzuki said calmly, pulling out a pocket book on folklore that he just happened to have on him. "Weren't you sued by the crab family six hundred years ago on charges of grievous bodily harm?"

"Eh? Is that what happened!?" Naomi asked, startled. She didn't remember any serious violence happening in the version she had heard from her mom. The monkey flinched guiltily, avoiding her gaze.

"Did you ever apologize?" Hōzuki pressed the monkey further, pushing him over the edge.

DING~

"P-Please… Please forgive me for the sins of my past…" Kakisuke sobbed as he fell, hiding his face in his hands shamefully as he curled up into a fetal position.

'Woah… Seriously, just what went down between him and that crab…?' Naomi wondered, sweat-dropping. Whatever it was, it had clearly traumatized the monkey somehow…

"Kakisuke!? Damn you!" The pheasant said, flying over to avenge his friends. "Rocket Launcher: Rurio the Pheasant!" He announced himself, striking a dramatic pose.

"The pheasant… is bigger than I thought it would be…" Hōzuki said as they stared at it. "But that's really all you've got going for you."

DING~

"Pheasants suck…" Rurio moaned miserably as dropped like a rock.

'Why is he being done in by something so bland?' Naomi wondered, sweat-dropping again. These guys were embarrassingly weak in the mental fortitude department.

"Aaaaah!! My comrades!!?" Momotaro cried, rushing over to the fallen animals.

"Momotaro…" Rurio said shakily. "Oni are just too powerful…"

"We're better off not messing with them…" Shiro agreed weakly.

"You damned oni…! You're heartless through-and-through!" Momotaro shouted, gritting his teeth as he turned on Hōzuki with his sword drawn, though personally Naomi didn't think anything the oni had said was that bad. She'd heard nastier insults in her middle school's girls' locker room. "It's time for you to sample my skills with a blade!" Very slowly, Hōzuki raised his spiked iron club and stepped forward to face the irate hero. The two men stood facing each other. It was like watching a frog trying to stare down a snake.

CHING~!

In one swift motion almost too fast for the eyes to catch, Hōzuki swung his club, snapping the blade of Momotaro's sword in half effortlessly.

"!" Naomi and Nasubi gasped as the broken half flew straight past their heads, embedding itself violently in the rock behind them.

'H-Holy shit…' Naomi thought, staring at the deep hole the blade had bored into the dense rock with wide eyes. If it had been an inch or two off on either side, it could have skewered one of them!

"NOOOOOO!!" Momotaro shrieked, staring at what still remained in his hands of the broken sword in shock and horror.

"Well, yeah…" Kakisuke said as he and his fellow animals watched him break down.

"Even a master swordsman's sword is gonna break if it's hit with an iron club…" Shiro finished with a frown.

"How in the world did this man win at Onigashima?" Hōzuki wondered aloud as he stared down at the bawling Momotaro, who had retreated into his own little corner of woe.

"For real…" Naomi agreed, sweat-dropping. For a group who was supposed to have defeated an entire island full of oni, these guys were humiliatingly weak.

"Well, to be honest the oni were all dead drunk at the time…" Shiro admitted frankly, causing Momotaro to flinch in shock at his betrayal of such vital information.

"Don't give that away!!" The crying hero snapped.

"Chalk it up to youth, vigor, and beginner's luck…" Kakisuke added.

"Hey!!" Momotaro yelled.

"The townsfolk were so happy, and we were so proud…" Shiro continued.

"We got carried away in our arrogance." Kakisuke admitted shamefully.

SMACK!

"!!" Everyone gasped when Hōzuki suddenly struck Momotaro hard across the face in one of the most perfect bitch-slaps Naomi had ever seen. The force behind the stinging blow sent the wannabe hero to his knees. Momotaro was in so much pain that he couldn't even talk back. He was too stunned by the sudden attack.

"You lived your life as a hero, and then you go and do this in the afterlife… Don't you have any shame?" Hōzuki demanded sternly.

"… He's right, Momotaro…" Shiro said after a moment of silence had passed. "Stop this… Were you so desperate to protect your pride?"

"Momotaro… I know I give you a lot of lip, but the real reason I've stayed with you is because I'm fond of you." Rurio admitted seriously.

"Yeah…" Kakisuke agreed.

"But, we can't keep clinging to our past glories forever…" Rurio continued solemnly. "It's wrong to be fixated on oni 'because you're Momotaro'."

"You… You guys…" Momotaro said as he looked over at his friends, deeply touched.

"Excuse me, but would you three like to work here in Fukisho?" Hōzuki asked the animals, already squatting down in front of them to speak on their level. "At first you'll be on a three month contract, but after that you can become a full-time employee." Hōzuki explained.

"Eh? Really!?" The animals asked excitedly, crowding around the straight-faced oni.

'Well, that was fast!' Naomi thought. He didn't waste a single second getting back to work. 'Not to mention that's pretty similar to the offer they made me… is that the standard company policy around here or something?' she wondered while the animals let out an excited cheer, happily accepting Hōzuki's offer for employment.

"Hey!!" Momotaro shouted incredulously. Didn't they just say they wanted to stay with him? They changed their minds about that hella fast!

"I have a job opening I would like you to fill as well." Hōzuki added, glancing up at the hero while he was petting Shiro.

"Heh?" Momotaro said, blinking in confusion.

"Oh, is it with that peach farm in Heaven?" Naomi asked.

"Yes." Hōzuki replied with a nod. "You will have to work the specific terms of your employment out with them, but I can introduce you and provide you with a reference if needed." He told Momotaro.

"Er…" Momotaro started a bit awkwardly, not quite sure how to feel about this sudden offer for a new job. The only thing he had ever done up till now was go after oni…

"It's all right." Naomi said as if she knew what he was thinking, placing a hand on his shoulder. "The secret of change is to focus not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Don't be afraid to move on and try new things. You just might be lucky enough to find something even better than what you're leaving behind." Naomi said, gracing him with a gentle and comforting smile, thinking back to when she had reached a similar crossroads in her old life, back when she was first recruited to work at the club with Asami and the rest of the gang. Those were wild, strange, and crazy days, and she never would have imagined that her life would end up going the way it did… but it was fun being together with everyone.

"You… For oni, you all are actually pretty nice…" Momotaro said as he glanced between Hōzuki and Naomi, stunned by her seemingly angelic radiance. Naomi nearly face-faulted.

"You do know that I'm human, right?" She asked, sweat-dropping.

–∞–

Hell has 272 subdivisions. Among those are also duty stations run by animals. They say that one of these is a hell of wild beasts.

"Remember the taste of these sinners' blood, newbies!" A fierce and wild looking white dog with a scar across his face and a spiked collar around his neck barked at Shiro and the others as he instructed them on the proper method for punishing animal abusers in Fukisho.

"Yes, Sempai!" Shiro answered dutifully, gnawing away on the skull of one screaming soul, while Kakisuke bit his arm, and Rurio pecked another's brains out.

'So zealous…' Naomi thought as she watched, making sure to stick close to her boss so she wouldn't accidentally be mistaken for one of the souls who was supposed to be receiving punishment.

"Does this resolve your staffing issues in Fukisho?" Hōzuki asked the minion they had started out talking to in the very beginning.

"Yessir!" The oni responded happily, glad the problem had finally been resolved.

And as for Momotaro…

"So cute~" Naomi sang happily as she picked up one of the many rabbits hopping around the peach farm in Shangri-La, holding it gently but firmly so she could stroke its soft fur while she walked with Hōzuki, who had also gotten hold of an adorable ball of fluff to pet. It was so refreshing to be able to enjoy the peaceful company of something without a set of razor-sharp claws and/or teeth that could be used to rip a person limb from limb.

"How is the job working out?" Hōzuki asked Momotaro as they approached him.

"Oh, very well, thank you." Momotaro said politely, pausing in his task of cutting weeds away from the trees for a moment to greet them. He was looking much better without that ostentatious costume, and he had ditched the lipstick. "I come from a long line of woodcutters, so it's perfect for me!"

Despite the small incident in Hell, he has begun to distinguish himself working in Heaven's Shangri-La.