“So what’ll you do?”
“…I’m thinking about it.”
“Not that it’s for me to say, but the longer you leave it unaddressed, the more complicated it’s going to become.”
“I really don’t need you telling me that. Will you kiss and make up with your daughter for me already?”
“That’s what I’m waiting out here for, remember?”
“Yeah, and let me say, if you’re expecting me to thank you for that, you got another think coming. Emi’s one of the craziest stubborn people I know. If she doesn’t like someone, she’s a hell of a lot more ruthless toward them than I am.”
“R-really? …What do you mean, ‘ruthless’?”
Emi winced as she detected the slight stiffening in Laila’s voice.
“You know, she’s had a hard life, so it’s not that easy for her to trust in people. Chi or Rika Suzuki are one thing, but—well, you see how close she and Suzuno are. At first, Emi was so suspicious of her, she practically gave up trying to curry her favor.”
“…It certainly doesn’t seem that way now.”
“Not now, no. The only Emi you know is the one you see now and the one you had just given birth to.”
“I don’t see how that’s not true for you!”
“I still got a year or so of a head start. I’ve wasted a lot of time hanging around her, one way or another.”
“…What do you mean, ‘wasted’?” Laila balked.
As she listened, Emi scowled, her wrinkles deepening.
“She hates it when things don’t turn out fair,” Maou continued, “and even if they do, if they don’t turn out the way she wants, she gets all emotional about it. She meddles in everything, but she’s such a wimp mentally that she freaks out about the dumbest things. I don’t know how I deal with her.”
Emi was on the other side of the outer wall and couldn’t see Maou, but she had no doubt he was closing his eyes tight and frowning as he whined on end. But despite all the verbal abuse he heaped up, none of it irked her in particular.
“What…?”
Instead, there was a slight, passing thought floating in her heart—like a stubborn curry stain on a white handkerchief—that went like this: Did he really have to go that far?
“Hmm…”
Meanwhile, Laila seemed less than interested in this put-down of her daughter, spouted at her by the enemy of all mankind. That, if anything, sparked Emi’s anger. Being her child, things couldn’t help but be complicated in her mind. But she held it back, not wanting to accept it.
“Although, granted, I think she’s doing a great job taking care of Alas Ramus by herself. She used to go on and on about how I was a bad influence on the kid every time we had a visit, but now she’s hangin’ out here with her every day she has off, as if that’s the new normal for her. Alas Ramus loves it, and I’m sure that’s easier for her, too.”
“Huh… I see.”
“That’s the only reaction you have? …Wait, why were we talking about this?”
“We were talking,” Laila replied, “about why I can’t make up with Emilia that easily.”
“Oh, right, right.”
He knew that, but it still made Maou lose his momentum and fall silent.
Emi felt it was about time to come out. Having all this bile pointed in her direction made her worry that the curry stain in her heart was going to spread, and she didn’t want to admit that to herself. But—
“You know pretty much everything about Emilia, don’t you?”
That single statement from Laila glued Emi to her spot once more.
“…Excuse me? What’re you talking about?”
“You know her likes, her dislikes, the way she thinks… Almost everything, isn’t it? You’ve clearly been observing her carefully.”
“…”
Emi gasped as she felt her cheeks suddenly begin to bake. She sat down on the spot, despite already being hidden from sight, this new reaction throwing her into confusion and fear.
“Why did I…just now…?”
“Man, you really shouldn’t say that,” Maou retorted. “You’re gonna give people the wrong idea.”
“Give who the wrong idea? It’s only you and me here. I’m just saying, you’re obviously taking a lot of consideration for Emilia’s feelings. You give her a lot of thought, in your mind.”
“Quit talking about that. It was one time.”
Maou’s voice grew heavier. Maybe he was cupping his head in his hands.
“You don’t have to act so ashamed about it.”
“I’m not ashamed. I’m watching her because I have to, okay? ’Cause back in the day, Emi was liable to assassinate me in my sleep at any moment. I had to keep tabs on her at all times or else it would’ve literally been my neck on the line.”
“But you were watching.”
“Would you stop forcing the conversation in that direction?”
“And because you were, you completely failed to notice when Chiho made sure to set up a comfortable, stress-free environment for you.”
“………”
“Huh…?”
The unexpected mention of Chiho’s name drove Maou to silence and Emi to raise her eyebrows high. Maou wasn’t paying enough attention to Chiho?
“Nice of you to clam up when I said that.”
“…You’re the one who’s saying I’m giving excuses, no matter what I really meant.”
“I am,” Laila replied. Emi could almost hear the grin on her face.
“Even if I was, it wouldn’t have been to you. I’ll have to make excuses to Ashiya, and Suzuno, and Chi, too, even or else I’ll never be let back inside. And why am I kicked out only until Emi gets back here? That makes no sense.”
“Maybe because it works out right timewise or maybe for some other reason. There’s no way you can visit Chiho’s house at this point, either way.”
“If I pull anything as crazy as that, it’d make Chi’s mom and dad think less of her.”
“If you can understand that, why did you miss out on the most obvious thing of all?”
“That’s the way I made excuses to you and Suzuno and Ashiya and let her spoil me, isn’t it?”
“Maybe.”
“Ugghh… Just get here already, Emi… I’m seriously gonna catch a cold otherwise.”
The conversation settled to an end at that point. Silence ruled over the apartment building once more.
After all that eavesdropping, it was too clear to Emi that, through some inconsiderate remark or action lodged at Chiho, Maou was kicked out of his apartment until she arrived. That was it, though. That, and Laila’s observation that Maou understood Emi more than Chiho—which, if you turned it around, probably hurt Chiho’s feelings.
“…I dunno if it was good for me to hear all of that or not.”
She began to vaguely understand the situation—and that gave birth to a pure form of panic in her mind. She still didn’t have the full picture. Did Maou directly do or say something, or did Chiho react the wrong way to something he unintentionally did?
That was unclear, but one thing wasn’t: Chiho was growing jealous of Emi over him.
“Wh-what should I even do…?”
She couldn’t even blame Chiho for it. Even with all the furor following Laila showing up and Erone causing all kinds of trouble—even with all the brain errors she used as a convenient excuse—she really had been spoiled by Maou’s kindness.
“Wait. I can’t jump to conclusions. I need to talk things over with Bell. And if it’s true, then I need to apologize to Chiho about this misunderstanding…”
Before she’d just call it manipulating Maou and remain firm, but now was different. Now she was totally letting Maou spoil her, and she wasn’t only allowing it—she had adjusted her heart to the point that she actively let him do it. And Chiho picked up on that all too keenly.
“Um, wh-what do you call this? Like, when you’re with a criminal for so long, you…some kind of city name, I think…?”
She tried taking her phone out of her bag to look it up. Her hand was shaking, her fingertips too dry to work the screen too well.
“Ah!”
Finally, the phone slipped out of her hand and hit the asphalt below. Maou and Laila didn’t seem to notice the dull thud, but now Emi could no longer quiet her trembling heart. If she stayed here, there was no telling what direction her mind would race off toward next. She had a long shift today, and that plus the serious heart-to-heart with Rika had just mentally exhausted her. That’s what she had to tell herself, or she wouldn’t even be able to stand up any longer.
Groggily, she picked up the smartphone, staggering away from the wall and heading toward the apartment.
“Ah! Emi! God, it’s about time you showed up!”
“Huh? Oh, um, Emilia. Uh, welcome back… Ah!”
“Where the hell you think you’re walkin’?! Why did you come here from that direction?!”
Laila, still too tense and unsure how to deal with Emi to greet her naturally, was pushed aside as Maou rocketed down the stairs.
“…What’re you doing up there?” Emi asked in a deliberately reserved voice, ignoring Maou’s shouting.
“What was I…? Look, I’ve been kicked out of my place until you got here, all right? Go see Suzuno for me! I’m gonna die of frostbite in a second! Ashiya! Suzuno! Emi’s here! Please let me back in!”
“Ah! Wait…!”
Maou grabbed her by the hand, Unable to shake it off, she found herself pulled upstairs with all his might. She passed by the dumbfounded Laila’s face for only a moment before reaching the landing, followed by the wide, curious eyes of Suzuno and Ashiya as they flew out of Rooms 201 and 202. The shivering Maou took the chance to bound back into his apartment.
It was rude of him, undoubtedly, pulling her along without a word of warning. Emi stared blankly into space. She had let him do it, all the way, and she did nothing.
Suzuno flashed an annoyed look at Maou as he fled into his room, then turned toward Emi.
“Alas Ramus is asleep, so keep it quiet. I believe you saw Laila outside. Did you speak with her?”
“Um… Yeah. Hi, Bell. Sorry I didn’t text you…”
Emi found it hard to maintain her coherence.
“Mm? Ah. Indeed. Well, if you are done speaking with her, I need to discuss Chiho with you for a moment. I know you must be tired, but I can whip up a fresh batch of tea for us…”
Then Laila chose that moment to stick her neck out from the landing. “Emilia? Um, sorry to keep you after work and everything, but, um, I was waiting for you because I needed to ask you something… I’m sorry, Bell, we haven’t spoken yet.”
“Oh, you have yet to?”
““We—we had other things,”” mother and daughter responded in unison.
“Mm? What?”
“No, um… What’s up with Chiho?”
“Laila takes first priority for now. Please make it quick, Laila.”
“All right. So, um, Emilia… Emilia?”
Even as she spoke to Suzuno and Laila, Emi seemed less than completely there with them mentally. It unnerved the angel.
“I’m listening.”
“A-all right. Um, so, the day after tomorrow, Satan and Chiho are going to visit my…um, the place I’m keeping in Tokyo. I wanted you to join us.”
“Your place? The Devil King and Chiho?”
“R-right. I heard that you, Satan, and Chiho are all off work in the evening two days from now, so, uh, what do you think? Emeralda and Bell could come along, too, if they want.”
“Oh…”
…came the halfhearted reply to Laila’s fervent plea.
“Alciel and Lucifer don’t have any plans, but I don’t think they’ll be joining us, so…um, I just want to more fully reveal everything that’s been vague or unclear up to now, and there are some things I want to give all of you, too, so…”
Ashiya had no plans for two days from now. It wasn’t at all the main gist of Laila’s plea, but that was about all Emi picked up from it. The very day after the one her best friend, so freely open with her love for Ashiya, planned to put all her chips on the table—even after she had the whole story about him. But Ashiya was staying in his apartment, no particular plans in mind.
Rika’s feelings. Chiho’s feelings. Her own feelings. She felt like she could see them all, but they remained so elusive at the same time. And no matter how great the life-changing transformations they were going through right now, none of them had much of an effect on the world. Emi felt she was losing herself among this vast chain of emotions, unbroken since ancient times.
And the next thing she knew, she had said—
“Just do what you want. I’m not really interested.”
“Ah…”
“Emilia, are you sure?”
The reply shocked Laila into silence and made Suzuno beg for confirmation.
“It’s not like going would achieve anything, and it’s not like it’ll change what you wanna have me do.”
“B-but I want you to see, so you can tell I’m acting in good faith. I know I’ve been putting myself in and out of your lives up to now, but I want to prove all that’s over now—”
“If you’re ready to do that, then fine. And if the Devil King and Chiho are convinced by it, great. But it’s not like me seeing your house will earn anything for me.”
“M-maybe not, but…”
“The Devil King’s already living like this, and even Sariel and Gabriel aren’t far removed from the Japanese mainstream anymore. I’m sure it’s the same with you, isn’t it? I’m not that interested in seeing it for myself. I’m sorry to make you wait in the cold and all that, but I’ll pass, thanks. Have a good night.”
“E-Emilia!”
“I am sorry, Laila…”
Realizing Emi’s mind was made up, Suzuno stepped in front of Laila and invited Emi to join her inside.
Once the shocked-looking angel disappeared from view behind the door, Suzuno settled down next to Emi as the Hero ran a hand through the hair of her daughter, sleeping in a corner of a futon.
“Emilia,” she said softly, “are you all right?”
“Was that the thing you talked to me over the phone about?”
“Y-yes. Um, the Devil King resisted the idea of visiting Laila’s residence before you did, so he made her ask you directly first…”
“Ah. I feel a little bad about making him wait out there, then. After he thought that much about me.”
“Hmm?”
The sight of Emi feeling worse for Maou than Laila disturbed Suzuno a bit. But realizing that discussing Laila any further wasn’t a smart plan for tonight, she spoke up to change the topic.
“Well, in any case. You saw how the Devil King was kicked out, yes? I asked for him to spend the night outside, but Alciel insisted on compromising, so I reduced it to until you arrived. It all began, you see, when I ran into Chiho in town…”
“The idea of the Devil King putting me above Chiho… That’s ridiculous.”
“That accursed Devil King was being completely spoiled by Chiho’s good intentions, and it drove Chiho to… Pardon?”
“It’s not like the Devil King thinks anything of me.”
Suzuno’s eyes opened wide. “E-Emilia?”
“What did he say? Or was he out with Chiho somewhere?”
“Neither.”
“The Devil King, you know,” Emi continued, expression calm as she kept patting Alas Ramus’s head, “he’s kind to everyone he meets. To the point where I’d call him a friend, even though I’m after his life. He’s been looking out for me only because I’ve gone through a lot of trouble and life changes recently. I’m not anything special to him.”
“Emilia… Was there something that happened?”
“I’ll prove it to you. The Devil King’s just as kind to Laila, isn’t he? He talks a big game about how much she drives him nuts, but look at how willing he is to wait patiently until she properly takes car
e of things. He even went through the trouble of coming up with those contract conditions so me and her could make up.”
Alas Ramus turned over a bit, away from Emi’s hand. It stopped in midair.
“Listen, Bell. The only person the Devil King truly cherishes from the heart…the only one he wants to be with as an equal…is Chiho. What do you think we should do to make Chiho understand that?”
“Th-that…”
Suzuno fell silent.
“It’s something the Devil King will have to do, won’t he?”
“A-Alciel and I spent much of today lecturing him about that…”
“I’ll bet. Because it might look like he treats Chiho as precious, but really it’s been the other way around.”
“Y-yes. Yes. And then…”
“He wants to be treated as precious.”
“Oh?”
“…I can’t do this tonight. I’ve had all these complex conversations; my thoughts are gonna get weirder and weirder.”
Emi lowered her hand from the air and sighed.
“Maybe I shouldn’t say this, Bell, but I’ve got to tell someone. I hope you’ll listen. I need to organize my feelings a little.”
“C-certainly,” Suzuno said, clearing her thoughts as she stood there.
“Just now, when Laila asked me to visit her place, what do you think my first thought was?”
Suzuno had no reply. Anything she would guess, she surmised, was probably wrong. And that turned out all too correct.
“I thought…well, the Devil King never visited my house back when I was his nemesis, Emilia the Hero. So the idea of me visiting Laila’s place… Isn’t that the most ridiculous bullshit you ever heard of?”
“Emilia…Emilia, you don’t really think…?”
“…You know how chaotic my mind is now, right?” Emi raised her exhausted face to Suzuno. “I don’t get it. I try to think things over seriously, like oh yeah, this is it, this is it, but I know I’m wrong. I’m merely hiding things from myself or trying to explain them away. But I had that thought just now. He never came to my place. I really couldn’t even consider what he had to say about this. Right now, even being with him would be enough to provoke Chiho. There’s no way I could join them the day after tomorrow. If I went there in this state of disarray, I’m worried I’ll wind up hearing about everything from Laila. All so I could escape from Chiho and the Devil King… Am I being weird or…?”
The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 13 Page 10
