Disclaimer - I don't own The Devil is a Part Timer!/Hataraku Maou-sama! or any of its characters. Copyright to Satoshi Wagahara, White Fox and Funimation. Momoko and Shizuka are original characters created by me.

Sorry this is slightly late, my internet was going off and on all day yesterday and when it finally came back on I was way too sleepy to focus on writing... Btw, I'm considering making a start on that other one-shot collection idea MichaelisHearts from WattPad gave me, so that might be coming within the next few weeks(?) Anyway, let's get down to it~ This chapter turned out longer than I expected

Chapter 6

Despite their conflicting opinions on the matter, both Maou and Emi had told him to think about it. Urushihara didn't want to think about it. He had made his decision.

Hadn't he...?

Even so, not thinking about it was proving to be easier said than done.

While he may not have cared about lying to Emi or Chiho, something about lying to Suzuno, right to her face, like that just didn't feel right. But when she had asked about those hard-to-explain situations, he couldn't bring himself to admit it. They were on good terms now, sure, but they still weren't quite friends. Urushihara was far more concerned about what his real friends would think of him. Still, she did have a point; he'd given them plenty of reasons to be suspicious of him already. And although he hated to side with Emi in any way, it was true their obliviousness could be a problem.

If they knew the truth, they would understand why he was so protective of them, and of himself. They would understand why he needed to keep a low profile. They would understand why he was even in his situation.

On the other hand, Maou was right in waiting. He and the others hadn't even met Shizuka or Momoko, they couldn't risk letting them into their little circle when they had no idea what sort of people they were dealing with. Most importantly, they had to be sure they could trust Shizuka and Momoko with their secret. And that Shizuka and Momoko could trust them.

Trust was a funny thing, as Urushihara saw it. Momoko was almost too trusting sometimes. She was the type to always give a person the benefit of the doubt, whether she knew them well or not. But whether or not that was a good thing always depended entirely on the circumstances. Then there was Shizuka, who wasn't quite so trusting, but his perceptiveness and observant nature more than made up for it. He questioned things that Momoko readily accepted. He might not instantly believe whatever was thrown at him, but he was thoughtful and cautious. At least, that's the way he seemed.

But what would all that mean for Urushihara? It was still too hard to tell and he couldn't help but feel anxious. With how much he was worrying about this, it was totally possible that he'd blurt it out the next time he saw them without thinking. He tried to push it out of his mind for now. They had, after all, told him to think about it. That meant he had time.

A little nervously, he opened Tumblr and immediately flinched at the sight of a message notification. He had quite a few other followers but besides Shizuka and Momoko, not many of them sent him messages out of nowhere.

Click.

It was Shizuka. Of course. But as he read it, he felt himself relax.

Hey sorry but I won't be able to make it to Tokyo for a while, got exams coming up. Gotta study ¬.¬

That would give him some extra time to work things out, then. But soon after he responded, Momoko appeared in his IMs.

You heard from Shi'ka?

Was she going to say the same thing? Hopefully.

Bout exams? Yea why?

You wanna meet up without him? Idk if he'd feel left out...

So much for hope.

Don't you have exams too?

Well ya but like

He should have known better. Momoko didn't have the problem of living an hour away, plus she was a lot less concerned with her grades than Shizuka was.

Best if we don't. I got stuff going on anyway...

No prob then ( ' ヮ')ノ

No questions asked.

He let the conversation go on for a little while longer, trying to keep the subject away from meeting up. He didn't expect that on the other side of the screen, Momoko was starting to wonder.

She didn't want to say anything to him, but after what Shizuka had said at SFC the last time they were out together, it was hard not to notice the way Urushihara was acting.

The next time she logged on, she saw Shizuka online. She hesitated for a second then typed a message:

I think you're right bout Hanzo...

What about him?

How he's been actin lately. Any idea what's goin on with him?

Not sure. I don't want to start accusing him of anything but it's like he's keeping something from us, y'know?

It did seem that way. Momoko paused, biting her lip and curling her fingers above the keyboard before continuing.

Should we ask him bout it?

She didn't like to pry. It was his business. If he wanted to make it her business as well, he would.

Wouldn't he?

Not just yet. He might tell us on his own if we give him some time

At least Shizuka thought the same. And they left it at that.

Although, she still found herself thinking about it, just little thoughts popping up in her mind over the next few days. Urushihara had never really told them much about himself. There was a lot she didn't know about him, and a lot that she could only assume. In fact, now that she thought about it, most of what she thought she knew about him was just assumptions and guesses, pieced together from the little details he gave. He didn't have a good relationship with his family and had moved out, dropped out of school and met Maou and Ashiya, who he had mentioned in passing. They'd let him stay with him after he'd gotten himself in some kind of trouble and had nowhere else to go, but for whatever reason he still didn't get along so well with them.

And that was it. That was the whole story, or what she knew of it, anyway. She had never met his roommates, and he'd never told them where he lived, so it wasn't like she could go ask someone who knew him...

Someone who knew him.

She could ask someone who knew him.

Even if he had explicitly told her not to. He hadn't given her a good reason why she shouldn't speak to the guy.

Yeah, he was kind of a creep but he didn't seem like the type to do any real harm.

Momoko looked down at the clock in the corner of her screen. It wouldn't take too long to get to Hatagaya, and it wasn't so late that the street would be empty. She's be in full view of anyone walking by, so she'd be safe. Closing the laptop, she stood up and headed downstairs, making sure her phone was in her pocket. Before she left, she called out to her dad:

"Just running to the store, I'll be back soon...!"

The door shut behind her before he could reply.

She struggled to keep her mind from wandering the whole way there, but she couldn't help it. This could go any number of ways. She only hoped whichever way it went would be helpful.

She didn't know this person. Urushihara did, and he had said he was bad news. What he meant by that she didn't know. But then, at this point, she didn't know if she could believe Urushihara.

Luckily, there was still a few customers at SFC. Momoko paused outside, suddenly feeling unsure of herself, but then she saw the man with the blue hair approaching the door with a few flyers in hand. He gave her a quick glance and a slightly unnerving smile that was obviously meant to be flirty. Momoko groaned inwardly but refused to back down, even when he spoke in that gratingly irritating voice.

"Well, good evening, miss. If I remember correctly, you were here only a week or so ago. Were you considering dining with us again?"

"Dining"? Ugh, it's a fast food joint, not a 5-star restaurant...

"Uh, actually, I wanted to ask you something. You wouldn't happen to recognise the name Hanzo Urushihara, would you?"

He only frowned.

"Short guy, long purple hair, kinda anti-social..."

The man's frown turned into a sour-looking smirk.

"Oh, him."

His tone changed completely, now dripping with disgust. He went to remove a flyer from the front of the window and replace it with one he had brought out. Momoko tried to keep her voice steady and confident.

"Well, I'm a friend of his," at this, she noticed his eyes narrow, "Apparently, he knows you... Or at least, knew you. He's been acting weird lately and I don't think he'd tell me why if I asked him. Do you know anything?"

"Now, then, that depends on how much you know about him."

"... Know what about him?" Momoko raised an eyebrow, suddenly nervous. The look on her face alone seemed to tell him everything.

"Nothing you should be concerned with, my dear," he finished his work and turned to face her directly again, "Though perhaps you should be a little more careful around your friend. You wouldn't want to get yourself into any unfortunate situations, now, would you?"

He opened the door and went back inside, leaving Momoko standing there idly. She felt a chill run down her spine.

What was she getting herself into?