Lost in darkness
It's time for winter holidays. On the way to the cabin, Urushihara is thrown out of the car by the annoyed Emi, leaving Urushihara alone in the snowy forest. Nobody sees it as a problem, the cabin is only 3 kilometers ahead, but the next morning there is still no trace of Urushihara.
Prolog
This is another one of those days best erased from memory.
It all started quite harmlessly. From the moment he got up and for the rest of the morning, there was this indefinable pressure behind his forehead. Everything was still bearable, nothing he would have wasted more than a thought on. But then Ashiya Shirou alias Demon General Alciel, his roommate and self-proclaimed househusband of this small household, ran into a louse again and he showed his true, demonic nature that lurked behind this otherwise so smooth, adapted facade.
Even now, half an hour after this lecture, the content of which he can't even remember, Urushihara Hanzou's ears are still ringing. What's worse, however, is that the pressure in his head, which had been tolerable up to now, has now turned into a throbbing pain that clasps his entire skull like an iron ring.
That is why he is standing here in the bathroom, blinking into the bright light.
Another wave of pain makes him groan and press the heels of his hands against the bone of his forehead.
"Fuck." Cursing, he rummages through the medicine cabinet, pulling out a few boxes of pills and trying to read them. Unfortunately, it's very difficult because his vision keeps blurring.
"Fuck!" he repeats a little louder, stuffs everything back in and throws the door shut in frustration so hard that the framed mirror shakes.
With the same helpless fury, he pushes the bathroom door aside.
"Alciel! Do we have anything for a headache?"
The tall, white-blond man at the stove doesn't even turn his head in his direction, continuing to stir the pan on the stove.
Urushihara takes a deep breath.
"Ashiya," he corrects himself.
That will have to do, he thinks.
Alciel's annoying habit of insisting on his human name, even when they're alone as they are now, is just one more white-hot nail in his poor head at the moment.
"In the medicine cabinet," Ashiya answers curtly.
Urushihara feels a slight wave of nausea as the spicy-sweet smell of roasted vegetables hits his nose.
"Already taken three pills. Doesn't help."
"That's what you get for sitting in front of your laptop all the time," it comes back unapologetically. "Everybody knows how unhealthy that is."
"Ashiya..."
"No. I'm not going to the pharmacy to buy expensive pills for your little headache. Have a cooling pad."
With these words, he opens the refrigerator, takes an ice pack out of the freezer and hands it to him without really turning away from the pan.
Urushihara snatched the cooling pad and gave him a venomous look. But Ashiya Shirō doesn't even notice.
Murmuring to himself, Urushihara retreats to his hideaway - the closet. He has made himself reasonably comfortable there, and he can close the doors and block out the painful light.
"I'm back!" elated, Maou Sadao a.k.a. Demon King Satan Jacobu - who, here on Earth in human form, is forced to pay rent and food by working part-time at a world-famous fast food chain - enters the apartment that is his home here on Earth, which he shares with his two generals.
"Welcome back, my lord," Ashiya greets him as usual.
As he takes off his shoes and hangs his jacket on the coat hook, Maou glances past Ashiya into the apartment.
"Where is Urushihara?"
His usual place at the small table is empty and his laptop is closed. This is so unusual that it almost worries Maou.
"The last time I saw him, he complained of a headache and retreated to his closet," Ashiya answers, placing the last bowl on the finished table. "And when I knocked on the door five minutes ago, he just growled at me."
Thoughtfully, Maou walks to the closet.
"You didn't look?"
"My Highness, he growled at me."
"Urushihara?" Tentatively, Maou knocks on the doorframe.
"Urushihara? Hello, are you alive?"
There is a faint sound on the other side of the door. He pricks up his ears. It actually sounds like a growl. Irritated, he raises his left eyebrow.
"Lucifer?" he tries again, this time in a more ingratiating tone. And he uses Urushihara's real name - maybe he'll listen better?
"Lucifer. Dinner is prepared."
"My lord, he'll come out when he's hungry. Please sit down."
Maou hesitates.
"My lord, we really shouldn't pay him any unnecessary attention," Ashiya admonishes, still a bit annoyed because he was growled at. "If it's something serious, he'll let us know, that's for sure. Until then, we should just keep our distance."
Maou hesitates at first, then nods in agreement and turns away from the cabinet.
Thirty-two days later, he would blame himself for not having done a better job of listening to his own gut feeling at that moment.