Woohoo! I am BACK, y'all! And I'm allowed to use y'all because I spent half my life in the south. The other half, well part of it was on the East coast, another part in Utah, and the rest in Oregon. But, that's off-topic.

Sorrysorrysorry it's been so long. The easiest way to explain my life since January is "My life never seems to calm down for more than a few weeks at a time. Then something else blows up in my face." I said that to a friend who was commenting on my hectic life. And said calm spells are spent catching up on my sleep and just about everything else. Which leaves me very little time to write. Ehhh, but I try. At least it's not as bad as Alyssa's life, she has to deal with ghosts!

Anyways, KnightOwl247- Glad you enjoyed it. Not sure how you're stomach is involved, but o-kay!

RepeatingSimplePhrases- Yeah, it kinda drives me crazy how little some people update their work. Then again, this story went dormant for about two months so guess that's the teapot calling the kettle black on my end. Kiddie Lucifer is just adorable, isn't he? Regular Lucifer is cute, so...

Meg- Glad you like this! Wait, can anons leave names now? I think this is an anon, I have no idea. Anyways, thanks!

Ashiya wound up spending all night researching and trying to come up with a plan. Oddly enough, it was Riku herself that helped him keep her away from everyone else.

He'd just angrily tossed yet another piece of paper littered with a doomed plan (holding her captive until the end of the trip by tying her up and locking her in some abandoned shack was a very, very bad idea) at the trashcan and was debating on whether or not he should actually attempt sleep (he was in the hotel lobby, not wanting to wake up Maou-sama) when he heard someone whisper "You look frustrated. Is something wrong?" causing him to shriek and jump back about ten feet, landing in a defensive stance. When later asked Ashiya would deny everything.

He looked at the person who was none other than Riku herself, who was currently trying- unsuccessfully- to avoid laughing at him. He glared at her and she just laughed harder. Eventually she quieted, announcing, "Okay, I'm good."

Ashiya glared at her before glancing up at the clock. "It's barely seven in the morning and we didn't go to bed until well past midnight. What on earth are you doing up?"

Riku shrugged. "Don't always need eight hours if you're me. Six does just fine on most days. What about you, you look like you didn't sleep at all."

"I didn't. I was... trying to figure something out."

Riku sighed, "If you're trying to figure out a way to open the Gate so that you and your comrades can return home, forget it. The Gate's sealed shut, for the time being. Nothing's going to open it, no matter what world you're in."

"How do you know that? Why is it sealed?"

"Reasons," she said. Whatever the reason, it seemed to upset the young woman. So Ashiya decided to change the subject.

"So, Kohaku-san, about what you saw in my mind-"

The platinum blonde held up a hand to stop him. "Don't. Just, don't. Okay? I saw what I saw and neither of us can take that back. Don't get why you were thinking about that, though. I mean, you sorta know me, but not as well as, say, Kiyoshi."

"But I'd like to get to know you better," Ashiya argued.

"Not by doing what you were thinking of, you're not."

"No! Not like that! Of course not!"

Riku smirked. "Good. But, seriously, quit calling me by my last name if you wanna know me better. I hate formalities, in case you haven't noticed. At least call me Riku-chan."

"I'll do my best Koha- err, Riku-chan," Ashiya said. He paused. "What are the plans for today?"

"Not too sure what everyone else has planned. But I know what I wanna do today."

Riku ended up dragging Ashiya all over Kyoto, showing him all sorts of sights and things. It was quite enjoyable, really, despite Ashiya's complaints at the cost- at which Riku decided to just pay for them both (Ashiya didn't ask her to do that, also didn't want her to, but she did anyways). She'd taken him to lovely gardens where the pair enjoyed the beautiful scarlets and oranges that adorned the trees on that lovely November day, walking into small little shops to getting dragged into the Toji Temple Market. Which is where Ashiya- against his better judgement- somehow decided to buy Riku a gift of a pair of jade earrings that were immediately put on.

The day ended at the Shore-In temple, whose gardens were illuminated by thousands of tiny blue lights, giving the place an otherworldly glow. Ashiya thought it was amazing, seeing Riku in the soft blue lights, face lit up with awe and joy (she'd been there once before at night, but she still loved every moment). She turned to look at him. "Hey, Ashiya?"

"Yes, Riku-chan?" It felt weird, calling her that, but wonderful at the same time.

"Today's been really good. Thanks." She gave him a gorgeous, genuine smile that took his breath away. At which point Ashiya admitted to himself that yeah, he'd probably fallen for her pretty hard because there was no other person he'd ever met that was just so beautiful and amazing and wonderful as her (although he would still deny having said feelings if anyone had asked him).

They returned to the hotel after ten in the evening where everyone was waiting for them. Yuki tackled Riku as soon as they opened the door, which startled Ashiya although Riku seemed used to it. Ashiya wondered how Riku was able to handle such a hyper person.

"Guesswhatguesswhat?!" Yuki shouted, practically bouncing in her excitement.

"I don't know. What is it?" Riku asked.

"Well, you know how you were telling us that you were trying to help out Luci-kun and that you'd used that true form spell for only a few seconds before it backlashed?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, because Akira had this absolutely brilliant idea to have you, me, Sora, Kiyoshi and Akira all pool together our power to use that same spell. It'd last about 24 hours and the backlash would be divided with all of us so nobody would have to pass out!"

"Wow, that's a really good idea," Riku said. "Akira, you're amazing. I mean, seriously. You're awesome."

Riku seriously hated Akira, now more than before.