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 for the lateness, guys, I've been busy again ^^' I'll most likely take that hiatus btw, my final assignments for uni are due in just over two weeks and I have two essays of 2500 words each to write before then. So I (probably) won't be updating either Misfit Together OR Opinions for a week or two. But hey, that should give me time to finish planning the rest of the chapters~ Ok, now, let's get back to the story!
(And to the guest reviewer Lokifer - thank you! I know exactly what you mean, OC stories can be hard to get into if they aren't done right. I'm glad mine have turned out good enough, though~ I have a lot of OCs but the others are all for original stories. These are my first inserts into a canon universe)
Chapter 12
Emi stood pouting for a brief moment. She shouldn't have to do this, it was his own damn fault if his friend had run off.
"You're the Hero, aren't you?! So do your job!"
Ugh. She hated admitting when one of the demons was right. With a calming sigh, she gathered herself together and made her way over to the girl standing a few feet from the front entrance of SFC. Emi took note of the way she fiddled with her wristband and chewed her lip as she stared uneasily through the window; she was obviously nervous, which could be a good thing for her. It would be easier to persuade her not to go in if she was already hesitating.
"Um..." Emi approached and flashed a friendly smile when the girl turned to look at her, "Sorry to bother you. Are you... Momoko Hamasaki...?"
At the sound of her name, Momoko nodded and curiously took a few steps closer so she was right in front of Emi.
"My name's Emi Yusa. A... friend of mine told me about you and I just wanted to talk with you about something."
She held back a grimace on "friend" and placed a hand on Momoko's shoulder to casually guide her away from the restaurant as she spoke.
"Uh...? A-a friend...?" Momoko stuttered, quickly glancing back into SFC's window then up at Emi.
Hearing the word "friend" again, Emi cringed. She waited a couple more seconds until she had brought Momoko far enough out of sight from anyone, namely Sariel, inside SFC.
"Yeah," she let a couple pass by before continuing, careful to keep her voice low, just in case, "... Urushihara."
Momoko immediately stiffened, now looking up at Emi with a frantic expression on her face.
"Urushihara...?"
Emi looked down solemnly, not noticing.
"I know you've learned about his true identity. I want t-"
"Are you the same as him?"
The question rendered Emi speechless for a moment. She hadn't stopped to think this might happen.
"Wh-what?"
"Are you some kind of... monster too?" She was gripping her wristband.
"I-I... No, no, I'm not. I promise you that."
Emi held up her hands, trying to calm her. Momoko frowned. She didn't know if she should believe her.
"I swear. I'm human," she said softly, "Although I am from the same world as him. Technically, we're enemies but I guess we've reached a truce, you could say. I know for a fact he's done a lot of terrible things in the past but I'm certain that whatever he did to scare you, he didn't mean you any harm."
"B-but he... He was... He was so angry and..." she trailed off as she realised... she had no further argument. She didn't understand any of this. All she could remember was that Hanzo was furious and she was frightened. And Shizuka was-
"Shi'ka!"
"... Shi...?"
"Shizuka!" Momoko had fallen back into a state of panic, "I left Shizuka alone with him! Will he be ok? Could he hurt him?!"
"Well... 'Could', yeah," Emi had to be honest there, but she saw the fear on Momoko's face rise at her words, "But I don't think he would...!" and, under her breath, she muttered, "Even if he did, you can bet I'd make him regret it..."
Just as Emi was muttering to herself and Momoko was considering what she had said, two familiar male voices called out.
"Momo!"
"Momoko!"
She froze at the first of the two.
In an instant, she was almost bowled over. Suddenly, there were arms clinging to her and a weight on her shoulder. She blinked a few times in surprise and saw a mass of purple against her chin. Momoko pushed him away with a shriek. Urushihara stood before her, looking distressed and still trying to catch his breath. Behind him, Shizuka was also panting lightly.
"I-I'm sorry... I guess I shouldn't..." Urushihara raised a hand and took a step back, his eyes dropping to the ground.
Further down the street, Maou, Ashiya and Suzuno were following them.
"I'd say Urushihara could stand to try moving that fast at home if he has the energy to do so..." Ashiya mumbled.
His voice trailed off. Maou and Urushihara stopped, too, all three of them looking at Momoko uncertainly as Shizuka came forward to try and comfort her. She stared back at them, confused.
"You're giving off a lot of negative energy right now, y'know…" Maou said through a forced smile, trying to lighten the mood a bit, "Are we really that scary...?"
The second those words left his mouth, something clicked in Momoko's brain.
"You idiots!" Emi snapped, coming forward and thus unintentionally giving Momoko an opportunity to slip away, "What are you thinking just running in out of nowhere like that?!"
Urushihara, Maou and Ashiya cowered under her glare for a brief moment before Suzuno spoke up.
"Good Emi, please. We are in public. And besides, there are far more important matters to attend to."
Emi, Urushihara, Maou, Ashiya and Shizuka watched as Suzuno turned her head away from them. They followed her gaze to the front entrance of SFC.
"She went inside."
Urushihara, clearly worried, gritted his teeth.
"I warned her not to go near him, why couldn't she just listen to me? Then we wouldn't be in this mess...!
Emi scoffed.
"Oh, come on! You can't possibly expect her to trust you now, after she's seen what you really are."
"I didn't mean for her to see!" He meant to snap back at her but it came out more as a childish whine.
"Regardless of your intentions, Good Hanzo," Suzuno was much gentler in the way she spoke to him, "The damage is done and now we need to fix things. I would suggest you all return to Good Sadao's apartment for now and let me speak with her alone."
"What?"
Urushihara began to protest but Suzuno held up a hand to silence him.
"She clearly won't respond well to you," she turned to Maou and Ashiya, "And I suspect she already figured out that you are both demons as well from your remark about 'negative energy'. On top of that, she is unlikely to trust Good Emi or even Good Shizuka now that she associates them with you."
"I'm not gonna just leave now, Su. She's my friend, got it?"
"Hanzo... Maybe she's right."
Urushihara was honestly surprised at Shizuka. He'd expected him to be on his side in this.
"Are you kidding me?"
"Well, look at what just happened! She really isn't gonna listen to you. And what am I supposed to say to her? I barely understand any of this myself! Kamazuki's probably the best candidate right now."
He didn't argue. He didn't want to admit that they were right, that his friend didn't trust him anymore.
"... Fine..."
"C'mon, man, it's only for a shor-"
"I said 'fine'! Let's just go... Suzuno, you better know what you're doing."
His voice was harsh but his eyes were scared. Suzuno couldn't help but feel sympathetic. She nodded.
"I will do my best. I promise you."
The boys started to walk away, Urushihara falling behind slightly. Once they were out of earshot, Emi spoke up.
"I'm going with you."
"No," Suzuno's tone was firm, "I already said it, she associates you with the demons. She may not deem you trustworthy. You told her you knew him, I assume?"
"Well, yeah..."
"And that you are sworn enemies?"
"Of course I did."
"And then he appeared soon after. She might suspect that you were lying. Please, Emilia, allow me to make an attempt, at least. And quickly, before Sariel drives her away from us as well."
Emi thought for a moment. Maybe she was right.
"Alright. I'm counting on you, Suzuno."