It meant, in other words, that Ashiya had been keeping enough demonic force to transform this whole time, in secret. Perhaps it was out of an abundance of caution—maybe he didn’t quite believe everything about Gabriel or the heavens closing up—but then he would’ve told someone. It didn’t seem to Chiho that Maou or Urushihara had any idea—or were they just not telling Chiho about it?
“…”
She immediately dismissed the idea. After all, if all three of those demons were keeping it a secret, that wouldn’t explain why Ashiya revealed his true form to Rika. Did Ashiya always plan to scare Rika out of her feelings for him? If so, it meant he knew about Rika’s love and prepared the required demonic force for the act in advance. But that didn’t sound like the Ashiya that Chiho knew, and it’d contradict Rika’s story.
To Ashiya, the love confession came completely out of left field. He was a kind person, and in order to nip her feelings in the bud, he tapped the demonic force he happened to have around for some reason and made the terrifying transformation he did. If Rika was to be believed, this explanation sounded much more like Ashiya’s approach.
But if so, what was that “some reason”? It made even less sense. Ashiya knew that Rika was on good terms with Emi, Chiho, and Suzuno. If Rika told them that Ashiya had enough demonic force left to transform, that’d set Emi and Suzuno on guard again, right when they were starting to soften their stance a little. There was no merit to the demons antagonizing their old enemies all over again.
Chiho didn’t get it. And as the inscrutable anxiety crashed over her again, Rika let out a heavy sigh.
“Man, I’m stuffed. This place is really good! I guess a hundred yen still gets you a lot more than I thought.”
“Oh, um, great…”
“Ahhh… Whew.”
Rika exhaled in front of the fifteen plates stacked up on the table as she poured another cup of tea. Chiho was even hungrier than before, but the story shocked her so much that she only managed five plates.
“Y’know, Chiho…?”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s do it.”
“Huh?”
“…Urp.”
Rika took plate number sixteen out from the belt, already looking fairly pained as she brought a tuna-salad gunkan roll to her mouth.
“Um, you aren’t pushing yourself too much, are you, Suzuki?”
“Yeh.”
“Um?”
She was already on plate seventeen. It was no kind of meal a fit woman like her should be having.
“I gotta or I can’t go on. C’mon, join me, Chiho. I’ll pay.”
“N-no, I couldn’t.”
“Please. There’s no way I could ask Emi to do this.”
One hand was on her lips while the other took plate eighteen.
“I really didn’t get it. Even if Ashiya gave my feelings the nod and so on, I couldn’t have really done anything. He’s got his own future to pursue, and it’s not the kind of future some girl on planet Earth he happened to run into can keep up with. But…”
“Suzuki…”
Plate eighteen remained on the table as Rika covered her face with her hands.
“But…it’s weird. I’ve got no proof of this…but I can’t help but think you can keep up with the future Maou’s gunning for, Chiho. ’Cause right now…you’ve still got the freedom to choose your own future.”
“Choose my future…?”
Chiho wasn’t sure what Rika meant at first. Then it struck her, causing her to sit straight up.
“I mean, I may not look it, but, you know, there’s a lot for me to shoulder and stuff, so…”
“Suzuki?!”
“I’m sorry. I tried my best, but now that I’m full, I’m kinda…letting my emotions go. This is really good…”
“Oh, don’t cry, Suzuki. I mean, me too…”
“I’m older than you and stuff, too… I’m sorry. I get dumped in the most pathetic way, I turn to food to deal with it, and I’m sobbing my eyes out. I’m sorry.”
“…!”
Chiho stood up from her facing seat and jumped over to Rika’s side, hugging her by the shoulders.
“It’s all right… It’s all right.”
“I’m sorry… I—I know this is just as hard for you, Chiho.”
“It’s fine. It’s fine.”
“Nn… Nnngh…”
Rika leaned into Chiho’s shoulder a bit, gritting her teeth.
“If I had it my way…I’d rather he told me never to see him again… Then I could make a clean break finally…”
“…Ashiya’s too kind for that.”
“He’s too kind, yeah… If he had to go that far, why’d he…? Why’d he have to worry so much about my—my health and stuff…?”
“It’s totally something Ashiya would do. Really.”
“I love him… I still love him now…”
Chiho kept hold of the quietly sobbing Rika until she calmed down.
By the time they split up, it was nearly eight o’clock. Rika apologized to her when they did, now fully composed again—but as she watched her go through the Sasazuka station turnstile, there was none of that nice, easygoing, big-sister type present, the lady who liked wheedling Chiho and Emi more than anything else.
“Suzuki…”
Kaori told her to stand strong and put her feelings straight across. But that’s just what Rika did, and it both literally buried her and did nothing to put her emotions in order. That scared her. She never thought about that when she made her own confession to Maou—but when the answer finally came, would it mean a final, decisive split away from him?
“What should I even do?”
What about Rika? With her mind still a mess, would she start avoiding Ashiya or the town of Sasazuka in general? It didn’t feel that way to Chiho. Even if she and Ashiya didn’t become an item, after that bold stand she made, wouldn’t she still want to be near him? Or would being so close and never managing to cover that final gap crush her? She didn’t know. No matter how much she thought about it.
“Huh? Chiho? Why are you out of the doors now?”
“Agh?!”
Right then, Chiho leaped at the voice erupting from behind her.
“A-Acieth?!”
Acieth Alla was standing there, chewing on a chocolate ice cream bar in the frigid night, carrying a shopping bag full of other snacks.
“Going home from the work or something?”
“N-no, just back from having dinner out…”
“Dinner?! Now?! Me, can I join?!”
Her willful ignorance of the words back from exasperated Chiho, but the realization that Acieth hadn’t changed her ways one bit made her smile in relief.
“Sorry, but I’m full. Besides, if you go out to eat somewhere right now, that’s gonna melt, Acieth.”
Chiho pointed at the ice cream bar in her mouth. She nodded back, as if noticing it for the first time.
“Mmm, yes, maybe so…”
“Are you alone right now?”
She looked around. None of Acieth’s more or less guardians were near.
“No, not alone.”
“Oh?”
The obvious contradiction in her answer made Chiho freeze.
“I am going home from eating the dinner, but Amane and Erone, they became lost, so I search for them.”
“Huh?!”
Realizing what had happened, Chiho wordlessly took out her phone and called the number Amane gave her for emergencies. She picked up on the first ring, a bit out of breath.
“Chiho! Hey, have you run into Acieth or anything?!”
“Sure have. I ran right into her at Sasazuka station… Sure, I’ll wait here.”
With a grin, she promised to keep Acieth in place until Amane could run over before hanging up.
“You see? It is why Maou should buy me the phone, too, when this happens.”
“Ha-ha-ha…”
It was the perfect picture of brazenness from Acieth, whether she herself reali
zed it or not.
“By the way, Chiho, were you with the other person? I can smell Rika a little from you.”
Chiho stared at her. Acieth was right, but how could she have smelled that?
“Wow, I’m impressed you knew… Ah.”
The surprise of it all loosened her lips a little too much. Chiho instantly regretted it. Acieth was currently shacking up at Shiba’s house adjacent to the apartment, but she was a regular visitor to all the tenants inside. Emi would be there soon to pick up Alas Ramus—what if Acieth ran into her and told her Chiho was with Rika? That struck Chiho as something to avoid for now. Rika would probably tell Emi herself sometime, but until Emi had a better hold of herself, learning the news from Acieth would put far too much stress upon her.
“Oh, um, Acieth? If Yusa is at the apartment, can you keep it a secret that Suzuki was in Sasazuka?”
“Huh? Why?”
What could she say to make Acieth understand? It was easy for Chiho to picture her saying something like Rika was together with Chiho, but it is secret, so I cannot say it! to her. But there was no way she could tell Acieth the whole story. Acieth wasn’t deliberately bad, but she had no mute button at all.
After several moments of thought, Chiho built a story that would be safe for Acieth to blab about.
“Um, well, we got invited by Laila to see her place tomorrow.”
“Mom’s place? Ooh. Yes, there was the place for her, eh?”
Even a mystery archangel needed someplace to live in, after all.
“Right. And usually Suzuki’s one to talk about her troubles with Yusa, but Yusa’s got enough trouble dealing with Laila right now. So Suzuki came to me instead this time.”
Acieth briskly nodded, still chomping away. “Ohhh. I wish Emi was more the, um, flexible with family.”
“I’m totally sure Suzuki will talk to Yusa later on about it, so can you keep quiet about it for now?”
“Okay! Yes, it can’t be helped! Secret is safe with me!”
“Ha-ha-ha… Thanks.”
Chiho was less than confident about this, but there wasn’t much more she could do.
“But still…Emi and Rika, they are same, yes? If there is something to say, just say it fast or else lots of regrets. I know there are the issues, but sometimes I see them and I really worry.”
“Oh? What do you mean?”
“Mmm? Me and my big sister, we were separate for such the long time. So say the thing when you can, before you cannot say it anymore. Eat the thing you want when you can!”
“Before you can’t say it anymore…”
The last part of it was a bit off-kilter, but the passing remark from Acieth held heavy meaning for Chiho.
“Acieth, have you…ever not been able to say it anymore?”
“A little.”
Acieth stuck her thumb and pointer out, marking a distance in the air that meant nothing to Chiho.
“But now I see my sister and Erone again. Maybe I had chance and lost it, but you know, that was not last chance forever. But, you know, the wait until the next time, it was really rough.”
“…Mmm, really?”
“Really, really! So, Chiho, say the thing you must say. Eat the thing you must eat! Okay! Here is one for you!”
“Um, thanks.”
She was having trouble keeping up with Acieth’s flow, but Chiho accepted the packet of gum planted in her hand anyway.
“Ooh! I haven’t seen this in a while. They’re still selling these?”
It was a cheap package with a picture of an orange on it and four balls of bubble gum inside.
“Mikitty said the balls, they are smaller than the past, but do you know, Chiho?”
There was a time in Chiho’s youth when she was obsessed with the stuff. The first bubble gum she successfully cajoled her mother into buying for her was this exact type—a memory she never thought she’d recall here. That was the first of several occasions, each ending with her happily blowing bubbles as she skipped down the street. But then she lost interest, and she’d hardly tried the stuff since. She had liked it a lot, but now she couldn’t guess when the last piece of orange gum she had was.
“I guess I’ve changed, too, while I wasn’t paying attention.”
Was that maturing or just changing? She didn’t know. All she knew was that it took time to recall the things she adored as a kid when she ran into them again—those crushes that you unconsciously shunted into the past all the time.
“I don’t want to make it a thing of the past.”
“Mmm?”
Chiho smiled, grasping the small pack of gum. “Thanks, Acieth. I feel a little bit better now.”
“Oh? I dunno what you are meaning, but you take more, if want. Eating always makes better!”
“Huh? Oh, I don’t need that much!”
“No need for the politeness! This is not my own money, that I buy with!”
“That’s all the more reason not to take it! …Ah, thank you, that’s enough!”
Despite the Urushihara-style heinousness of Acieth’s spending habits, Chiho wound up accepting three packets of gum, two boxes of caramels, and five different snack bars. All this was fished out of her shopping bag, so she must have paid money for them—likely provided by Shiba or Nord. No way Maou would ever trust her with cash.
As she thought about this, Chiho spotted Amane on the other side of the rail-station mall, Erone in tow.
“Chiho! Whew, thanks a lot! You were coming home from going out?!”
“Good evening, Amane. That’s right. I was having dinner with a friend…”
“Ohh. Well, thanks for helping out. Come on, Acieth! I told you not to wander off like that! And where’d you get that ice cream and all that candy from?!”
“I think she bought it with the allowance someone gave her, maybe?”
“Someone too weak to defy her, I’ll bet. Either Nord, Laila, or Aunt Mikitty!”
Chiho completely agreed. And considering the retro bubble-gum purchase, Shiba was likely the victim.
“I cannot believe this. And did you know that all-you-can-eat deals aren’t all-you-can-eat, either? The manager can stop you anytime they want!”
“Um, neat…”
So after eating so much of the restaurant’s pantry that the manager had to intervene, Acieth still had enough room in her stomach for ice cream and sugary snacks. It gave Chiho a fright to think of.
“I tell you,” sighed Amane, “we should really start looking for places with those ‘eat this massive sandwich, win money’ deals! We’d clean up!”
Something told Chiho this wasn’t a good idea. Given Acieth’s knack for timing, she’d no doubt throw in the towel when she had one more chicken wing or whatever left to eat.
“But anyway, I’m taking you two back to the apartment! Thanks again, Chiho! I can’t accompany you since I have these hellions to deal with, but take care on the way home!”
“See ya, Chiho!”
“Bye-bye!”
“See you. And thanks, Acieth!”
Chiho sighed a bit as she watched the two distant Sephirah relatives walk off. She felt bad for Amane, but as much fun as both of them seemed to be having, she could just barely imagine how much time it took for them to see each other again, laughing and smiling and saying what needed to be said to the other.
Even if her feelings didn’t quite come across, she still wanted to see them through, rather than condemning them to the past. Merely waiting around, waxing nostalgic about it long after the fact, would be the worst thing she could do.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained, huh?”
Rika really was a good big sister to her. When Chiho hemmed and hawed about taking action, Rika pushed herself into doing it. She didn’t just unconsciously push those emotions into her past.
But she had a more pressing concern—namely, the double handfuls of candy she was now carrying.
“What should I do with this? I don’t have my bag…”
“Chiho? What
’re you doing here?”
“Oh! Mom!”
Just then, Riho Sasaki walked out of the station and gave her daughter a dubious look.
“What’s a good girl like you running around this time of night for? And all that candy, too?”
Her mother gave her a friendly grin as she took a caramel from Chiho.
“Wow, this sure is an old brand. As far as I can remember, I think these caramels were the first candy you harangued me into buying for you. I didn’t realize they were still on sale.”
“Huh? Really? I thought it was bubble gum.”
“Oh, you begged me for all kinds of candy back then. Boy, were you a ravenous child!”
“Wow… Really?”
“Mm-hmm. So what did you do for dinner? Not just this candy, I hope.”
“No, um, I had a friend invite me out to the conveyor-belt sushi place over that way.”
“Ooh, look at that! A piece of candy used to satisfy my little girl, but now she’s going out and eating at fancy sushi places! You must have a lot of free money, hmm? I’ll be expecting something very nice next Mother’s Day.”
“Mmm? I guess so, yeah…”
Chiho gave an ambiguous smile as she dumped the candy into her mother’s purse. They continued to chat aimlessly on the way home, both feeling more than a little relieved.
“Oh, Emi! Welcome back!”
“Acieth? What’re you doing out this late?”
The sight of Acieth with a shopping bag in front of the apartment made Emi do a double take.
“I ate dinner with Amane and Erone, and at station, I run into Chiho and we talk!”
“Chiho? At this time of night?”
It was odd for Chiho to burn the midnight oil like that if she wasn’t at work.
“Today, who is big sister together with?”
“Bell. Alciel said he had something to do out this afternoon, and the Devil King was at work, too.”
The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 13 Page 16
