Chapter 12: Children are a Nuisance Part 2.

Notes: This chapter is rather short.

Life was filled with stumbling blocks, failures, inconsistencies, breakups, questions, but above all, cruelty. In life, there were several things a person had to go through to achieve their goals: whether being a high school student, a college student, a police officer, a lawyer, a hunter, or even the nanny of a demonic girl.

There was no exception for anyone in this world, everyone would suffer in the end, not in the same way but there would always be a reason to shout to the four winds how miserable they feel. In addition to cruelty or miseries, there were also the challenges of having the great weight of responsibility that many have entrusted to you on your shoulders.

This fills you with an anxiety that is hard to describe with words, but the fear of failure always persisted, because if something went wrong then you would disappoint the people who placed their trust in you. In this case, the trust of others didn't matter as much, what mattered more was the chaos that could be unleashed if something went wrong.

Unfortunately, something had gone wrong.

For that reason, Yuna was walking in circles in her office, biting the nail on her thumb out of worry, the sound of her heels was the most audible in the room besides the soft sound of the air conditioning, yet for anyone who was there, the sound of her heels would have been considered annoying. Makima might agree with that, although that was now the least of her problems.

Yuna wasn't saying anything, but it seemed like there was a great debate in her mind, and sometimes she glanced sideways at the yellow-eyed girl sitting in a chair looking at her with curiosity.

They had found out, not just one person but now two, Kishibe and the boy who came with him. This shouldn't be happening, it should not have happened. She had given Makima clear orders to hide, but then she appears in the elevator holding hands with a boy who at no point did she know had entered.

Now someone else knew of Makima's existence; it might just be an insignificant kid, but still, a witness, and the actions they would have taken against him would not have been friendly at all. Although she was impressed by the fact that Makima hadn't done anything to him, she was also surprised to see that the kid was still alive despite being alongside one of the most dangerous devils on record.

Of course, it was likely that the kid didn't know that last part, which explained why he wasn't afraid of Makima. That's when Yuna felt some calm inside her, maybe the boy just thought Makima was an ordinary girl his age, of course, all this also depended a lot on whatever the girl had told him, that was what worried her the most.

"Can you explain what you did?" Yuna demanded an answer as she stopped and looked at Makima.

She shrugged nonchalantly, it was more of an excuse because she didn't know where to start. "To be honest, I still can't believe if all that really happened"

Makima could still feel the warmth of that hug she shared with Hiro, his arms around her and rubbing her back felt so comforting and made her wish for more. Maybe even a bit of his scent stayed on her sweater, she would check later.

Yuna rubbed her temples; it was annoying enough to have to explain everything to Kishibe before, and now she had to deal with a child's problem, though this went beyond a simple reprimand, the situation was much more serious and she didn't understand how Makima could not see it by this point.

No, she wasn't like this, she shouldn't be so careless, something affected her and caused her to lower her guard.

Could it have been that boy?

"I gave you explicit orders to hide, why didn't you obey?"

Makima looked at the floor thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, it felt like a stimulus. I was going to hide in the library but then I saw through the windows when the hunter got out of his car, then I saw him come out, Hiro."

Yuna mentally noted the boy's name, just in case she ever encountered him again she would know what his name was, although she doubted there would be a visit from Kishibe anytime soon.

"When I saw him, I felt fascinated; I had never seen a boy my age before. I had seen them in movies, but seeing one in real life was fantastic," Makima spoke with a bit of joviality that she tried to hide, but Yuna could still notice it.

That made Yuna think for a bit; she had never considered the idea that Makima might be enchanted by seeing another 10-year-old boy, simply because that desire sounded strange. If it were about wanting to socialize, then it would be more realistic, but Makima had been taught that relationships would lead nowhere.

Maybe for Makima, it was like seeing an animal in its natural habitat; she sees them on television, but seeing them in person was more amazing, just as it was interesting to read about demons, but it was even more fantastic to see them in person. She hoped that at least it came close to what Makima felt.

"What did you talk about, or rather, what did you tell him?"

Makima looked at Yuna and smiled as she recalled her time spent with Hiro. "Nothing you need to worry about, you can trust me, Doctor," she sounded very confident, but that did nothing to ease Yuna's insecurities.

Yuna really couldn't say with absolute certainty that she trusted the Control Devil; at the end of the day, she was something to be feared, and her track record didn't help much. Murders, massacres, unimaginable destructions, conspiracies, excessive manipulation involving powerful people, and many things that were in the reports.

So, there was a significant possibility that she was lying about not having told him anything important. However, on the other hand, Makima's mind had not developed enough to think like the Control Devil, so there was still time to mold her and teach her what NOT to do.

"Do you know you're a devil?" Yuna asked, imagining how the boy would react if he knew he had been interacting with a devil from thousands of years ago; he would probably get scared and run away.

And from what she remembers, the boy at no point showed fear towards Makima, so it was likely the boy didn't know. She knew very well that if that boy had come up here, he must have passed through the rest of the building, so he would know very well that everything happening here wasn't normal.

Makima thought for a moment and realized she really hadn't told Hiro that she wasn't human. She wasn't quite sure why she didn't say it; maybe she had been so busy reveling in his presence that she simply forgot it completely, and that hug didn't help her thoughts flow correctly either.

Or maybe... Maybe she didn't want him to know she's a devil. How would he react? Makima had questioned for a moment if Hiro's thoughts about her would change if he knew she was a devil. She was afraid he would hate her or reject her, or feel disgusted by her. Anything scared her and made her heart hurt and feel like grabbing it with her hand to ease the pain.

But in the end, these were just thoughts with a minimal chance of occurring, nothing is said and done but until the day she tells Hiro the truth, she would have to live with that doubt and anxiety.

"No, I didn't tell him. He knows nothing about my past or what we're doing here, the only thing I did with him was invite him to read in the library," Makima said calmly but inside she was still debating whether to tell Hiro the truth.

Yuna finally felt a bit of calm after hearing that, she really wasn't sure what to do with a child who knew this kind of information. She could easily order him to be killed, but Kishibe would kill her first before she could give such an order. She just hoped she wouldn't be forced to use those methods.

Makima considered for a moment telling her about the hug they shared, but decided to keep it to herself, after all, it was good to have one or two secrets.

"Do you think he'll come back here?" Makima asked in a hopeful and anxious tone.

Yuna frowned in annoyance, she was about to tell her it was a bad idea to meet with that boy again because it would only distract her from becoming who she needs to be. She was going to say that she was forbidden from meeting with that boy or anyone else who would distract her.

But then she thought about the weight her words would carry and the risks they could pose. Makima, whenever she mentioned the boy, sounded happy, as if that child had a significant influence on her. She had also mentioned that he was her friend, so she already had a friendship with him, which only made things more complicated.

If she told Makima that she was forbidden from speaking with the boy again, then the chaos she would cause would be terrible, her emotions would unleash in a mix of anger and sadness, but more so anger. No one could accurately imagine how much disaster a devil could cause over a simple childish tantrum, especially one as powerful as the one she was facing.

Makima was not yet at the stage where she could control her emotions, it would be harder for her to control them because she is a devil, and it would be very difficult for her to keep power away from her emotions. A simple fit of anger might destroy half of the upper floor, Yuna couldn't risk something like that happening.

Makima had a lot to learn, she really still had many things to teach this girl.

"I think that now depends more on Kishibe, he brought the boy with him so if he comes again it's likely the boy will come with him. Although it's not like you gave him a good first impression, from what I saw you seemed ready to attack him." Yuna could still remember the feeling of the murderous aura that Makima and Kishibe exuded, it was something extreme and exaggerated. "Kishibe knows how dangerous you are and he probably doesn't want to see Hiro near you again."

"So, I doubt Kishibe will show up with the boy again, he seemed to care for him so he won't want him to get involved in more danger. Therefore, the chances of you seeing that boy again are minimal" Yuna hoped that would be enough to keep Makima from getting angry and to understand that meeting with the boy again was not a good idea.

All she was doing was directing that anger towards Kishibe, she didn't regret it at all.

Makima frowned, completely displeased by the slim chances she had of seeing her friend. She really didn't care what that hunter thought, Hiro was her friend and nobody could say otherwise, and if she had to go through that hunter to reach him then so be it.

It seemed the cards were not in her favor by the way she acted, but that hunter also had intentions of killing her and her first instinct was to try to defend herself.

She didn't like the idea of being separated from Hiro, and she would probably never get used to that feeling.

0O0O

When it was night and the moon illuminated the night sky, Makima was in her bed trying to fall asleep, however, it was somewhat complicated compared to other nights where she just had to close her eyes, then like a simple blink the sun would already be in the sky.

Without dreams, nothing at all, Makima didn't dream about absolutely anything, Yuna couldn't explain this phenomenon since she didn't know if her demon characteristics influenced in some way or if it would be something else.

Though in this case what Makima couldn't achieve was sleep, the reason was because she still couldn't get out of her mind all the events that happened today. Just remembering them made a smile grow on her, also a warm feeling filled her chest and only made her wish for more.

So many thoughts and memories were floating in her and prevented her from focusing on sleeping, a task that should be easy but Makima found that in the end, it wasn't, if someone thought a lot about something then they wouldn't be able to sleep.

Unconsciously, she had in her bed the sweater she wore today, and just as she imagined, a bit of Hiro's smell was impregnated in the sweater. Makima thought she would never tire of his scent, it was so intoxicating and there was something about it that relaxed her. It also didn't help that the scent was from someone special to her.

Makima slowly started to feel sleepy as she hugged the sweater, it was so comfortable and relaxing that she felt she could finally sleep.

And so it was, Makima slowly closed her eyes, a smile of satisfaction adorning her features as she was taken into the arms of Morpheus.

One of her last thoughts was 'Today was a good day'

That night, Makima had her first dream.

0O0O

Notes: I believe this chapter officially concludes the Research Center arc.

With that, we transition into a new one, the Hunter Training arc.

And as you might imagine, yes, Hiro will begin his training as well as we'll get a glimpse into Makima's training. Well... more or less.

This doesn't mean that the two of them won't come back together, of course, they will have interactions again, we just need to be patient and see how some events unfold.

By the way, if anyone has any issue with the way Hiro behaves, because if you notice, he is very scared of almost everything that has to do with demons. But I tried to be as realistic as I could, I can't imagine a 10-year-old child being brave in the face of creepy and demonic beings, I mean my nephew is almost 10 and he's still afraid of crossing the street by himself lol.

Not all protagonists have to be brave from the start, we need to make them brave, and that's what I want to do with Hiro. When he finally reaches his teenage years, then you'll see a big difference between the 7-year-old boy who was scared and the teenager who sees demons as something normal.

It's just about having patience with the protagonist.

See you.