Moko-chan: Evidence that I am not the only one who thinks about the fanfic ideas. So this is a random thought pika318 had in the morning. This is me just making it into a comprehensible fanfic….Lalala...adding a dash of my favourite angst XD. Post vol 11.

pika318: I had this random idea two days ago and only told Moko-chan the idea this morning. Then she typed this fic at work and asked me to edit it. And this is how a story is finished in one day haha. On a side note, please do not learn from Moko-chan and write fanfiction at work. She had a quiet day at her assigned store and used this for stress relief.

One shot: Transitions

"Suzu-nee chan~~~~I'm done~~~~" A small silver haired toddler, Alas=Ramus, said happily as she crawled out of the clothing cabinet of Room 202 of Sasazuka Rosa Villa. This room was the residence of Kamazuki Suzuno. At the moment, Suzuno was refolding all her summer clothes and keeping them neatly in her cabinet and drawers. At the same time, she was also taking out her winter kimonos and scarves and placing them in a more accessible place. It was October after all, and the weather had become a lot cooler.

"Thank you, Alas=Ramus-chan." Suzuno replied gently as she folded another yukata and placed in on the tatami floor. Then Alas=Ramus walked over, took the folded yukata and headed to the cabinet once more.

This is the only way I can think of entertaining her, huh? Maybe we can go to the park later but it's a bit too windy now…

Usually Suzuno did not have to take care of Alas=Ramus as she is usually merged with Yusa Emi, who has taken the role of Alas=Ramus's mother. But as Emi had changed her job and is currently working at Hatagaya's MgRonalds, which is nearer to Sasazuka, she is able to leave Alas=Ramus at the apartment without worrying that Alas=Ramus would disappear into her again.

The other reason for leaving Alas=Ramus at the apartment was because the Demon King, Maou Sadao, was working at the same MgRonalds. If Alas=Ramus sees him, she might get overexcited and appear. Not only would this terrify the other employees and MgRonalds' patrons, there was clearly no logical explanation for such a phenomenon.

Maybe I should bring her next door.

Since Alas=Ramus seemed to be highly fond of Suzuno's next door neighbours, Ashiya Shiro and Urushihara Hanzo as well, they might be able to contribute to this babysitting cause. Not that those two were her only choice of helpers. Sometimes Alas=Ramus's younger sister, Acies=Ara and Emi's father, Nord, would drop by and keep Alas=Ramus occupied as well, but currently they are busy with taking care of Iron, another child born from the Sephira.

Almost on cue, Alas=Ramus pointed at the wall, in the direction of Room 201 and asked:

"Suzu-nee-chan, can I go play with Ashiru and Lucifa?"

"Ah, after we're done with keeping the clothes ok?"

Hearing Suzuno's reply, Alas=Ramus surveyed the room and realised there were only about four or five pieces of yukata left on the floor. All the winter Kimono have already been piled neatly next to the chest of drawers inside Suzuno's apartment. Knowing that it would not take long to finish the chore, Alas=Ramus nodded and continued keeping the clothes.

"Wah CHOO!" Urushihara let out a rip roaring sneeze and quickly grabbed a piece of tissue.

"Oi...I already cleaned up every speck of cat hair….two months ago." Ashiya commented, narrowing his eyes.

"Geez, I have a sensitive nose, it doesn't have to be cat hair! Do you know how dusty those things are?! And that smell!" Urushihara replied, annoyed, as he pointed at the two big piles of fabric that have been pulled out of the cabinet.

As the weather has been quite windy lately, Ashiya thought it would be a good idea to air Maou's and his own mantles. Both mantles have been stuck at the bottom of the cabinet since the beginning of summer with a bunch of mothballs. Also, Ashiya wanted to make some space to store their summer clothing (not that there was much) and winter jackets for when the weather turns even colder. During the current month, when it's just the end of autumn, a long sleeve sweater and a pair of long pants were sufficient.

"Sigh, we don't really have much space, even though we got rid of the unnecessary things from the cabinet." Ashiya commented as he eyed the top part of the cabinet which was filled to the brim with crystallised demon magic. He gave a troubled frown as he tried to plan the best way to rearrange all the items in the cabinet to maximise the space.

"Did you just categorise me as an unnecessary thing?" The fallen angel grumbled unhappily but the other demon general ignored him.

Then there was a sound from the door. There was someone knocking on it.

"That's probably Bell." Ashiya said as he took three long strides across the room and to the door. After he opened it, he was greeted by Alas=Ramus and Suzuno.

"Hello, Ashiru, Lucifa~~~~~"

"Hello, Alas=Ramus." Ashiya greeted, smiling. Then looking at Suzuno, he said "Um, I'm actually a bit busy right now…"

"It's alright. This child just wants to see the both of you." Then glancing past Ashiya, she could see the small piles of the clothes and two large mantles on the tatami floor.

"Looks like you could use some help."

Ashiya turned around, and seeing Urushihara sneeze again, he gave a troubled smile.

"Please do."

As Suzuno stared at the cabinet which has been filled to the brim with crystallised demonic magic, her eyebrow twitched.

"I didn't know the Demon King actually went to collect this much…...Couldn't you demons think of how to make it even smaller?" Suzuno commented, thinking about the compact "Holy Vitamin " that both she and Emilia carry around.

"We would make it smaller if we knew how to…." Ashiya replied with a resigned sigh.

"You're going to need a large black grocery bag to discreetly carry this around in case of emergencies." Suzuno stated.

"I don't think a large black grocery bag would be anywhere near discreet." Urushihara commented.

Alas=Ramus who was walking around on the floor, was also fascinated by the large dark purple crystals. She peeked around Suzuno's legs and started approaching the cabinet.

"Wah!" Urushihara made a dive for Alas=Ramus and pulled her back before she got too close.

"Lucifer, keep an eye on her. That was close." Suzuno said. "Then again, would demon magic affect Sephira negatively?"

"I suppose not." Ashiya replied. "Acies=Ara merged with Demon King-sama and came out just fine. Also, Iron was clothed in demon magic at one point in time. He was alright too. But then again, this is a large amount after all...so it's best to keep them away."

"Yeah. So, Alas=Ramus. You can't go near those things, ok?" Urushihara said to the little girl. Alas=Ramus nodded.

Why is he only so responsible when it comes to Alas=Ramus?!

This thought crossed both Suzuno's and Ashiya's minds at the same time. To them, Urushihara was a lazy and highly irresponsible individual who recklessly spends money on unnecessary things. But yet, when it comes to Alas=Ramus, he would suddenly show more care and make very useful comments in bringing her up.

Just then something else caught Alas=Ramus's attention. She started walking near the cabinet again. And once more, Urushihara grabbed her sweater.

"What did I say about going near those crystals?" Urushihara groaned, wondering why the girl was being so disobedient.

"I'm not going near the shiny things...What's that?" Alas=Ramus pointed at the large thick mantles on the ground.

"That's the Demon King's and Alsiel's mantles, right?" Suzuno asked. She had never seen Maou and Ashiya wear them before but judging from the mantle's sizes, they probably belonged to the two of them.

"Papa's?"

"Yes, your Papa's and mine." Ashiya said, smiling at the girl.

Alas=Ramus then grabbed the edge of one of the mantles. It was the dark blue one which belonged to Maou.

"This one is Papa's!" Alas=Ramus declared.

"Wow, Alas=Ramus-chan is so smart." Ashiya commented, clapping.

"Smells like Papa!"

Eh, what? Seriously? You mean that thing smells like fries?

The Demon King put fries on his mantle?

I only smell mothballs!

The fallen angel, inquisitor and demon will never be able to figure out what exactly Alas=Ramus meant by the mantle smelling like the Demon King.

Then Alas=Ramus grabbed the green one and said that it was "Ashiru's one." Ashiya nodded in affirmation.

"Why doesn't Papa and Ashiru wear them?" Alas=Ramus asked, curious since she has never seen the mantles on the two demons before.

"Ah….they're too large for us now." Ashiya laughed bitterly. Given that Ashiya's and Maou's demon forms were at least three-quarters of a metre to a full metre taller than than their current selves, they would look pretty ridiculous wearing them. Also the thick material of the mantle made it almost impossible to wear it in Japan's climate.

"I'm still amazed that demons actually wear clothes of such material. I was expecting raw animal hide….To think you all use silk and cotton as well..."

"Well, you're not exactly wrong...demons, at one point in time wore very little clothes or just used animal hide, rocks and gems as clothing and accessories. But after Demon King-sama ruled for a few decades, he thought that we should dress in a more civilised manner." Ashiya explained.

"Mama says if you have clothes that you don't wear, throw away." Alas=Ramus said. Recently Emi was cleaning up her wardrobe too and she ruthlessly discarded anything that she hardly wore as they were also unfashionable for her age. Apparently she made very bad fashion choices when she just arrived in Japan.

"Eh, we can't do that! Even though Demon King-sama and myself don't have the chance to wear those, they are still important to us!"

"Important?"

"Yes. Sentimental value….uh, do you think Alas=Ramus would understand that?" Ashiya turned to Suzuno and asked.

"Probably not." Suzuno answered before turning to Alas=Ramus and saying,

"Alas=Ramus-chan. If those get thrown away, your papa and Ashiya-dono will be very sad."

"Oh. Cannot throw away."

"Yes. That's right."

"Then Lucifa's one throw away? Lucifa not sad?" Alas=Ramus suddenly asked Urushihara. Urushihara stared blankly at the girl, confused at what she meant. Then it clicked.

"Oh….uh...I didn't throw mine away."

"Oh right….where are the clothes that Lucifer worn when he was a demon?" Suzuno asked. Normally, she would not care about the personal matters of her demon neighbours but she was curious this time.

"I'm not sure, Urushihara was already wearing Japanese clothing when we met him here." Ashiya replied. It was indeed strange. When Urushihara and Olba first arrived in Japan, they must have been wearing Ente Isla's clothing.

"Where did Lucifa's clothes go?" Alas=Ramus asked again, this time persistently tugging on Urushihara's sweater. She was determined to get an answer from him.

"The doctors took them."

"Huh?" Suzuno and Ashiya both exclaimed at the same.

"I got seriously injured when I was still at Ente Isla. Then..."

"Lucifa hurt? Why?" Alas=Ramus interrupted before Urushihara could continue, and stared at him intently. To an onlooker, she looked just like a curious child, but as Urushihara looked at her, he could see the slight anger in her eyes.

"It was an accident, that's all." He answered as smoothly as he could so as not to raise her suspicion. After all, how was Alas=Ramus supposed to feel if she knew that it was her own Mama would hurt him?

"Oh." Alas=Ramus replied. And just like that, the anger in her eyes dissipated. Urushihara took the chance to continue his explanation.

"Anyway, some doctors took care of me after that. But because my clothes got torn up, they didn't return them to me. I guess they couldn't fix them." Urushihara explained, blatantly covering up the details of what happened in Ente Isla. The doctors were, of course, not real doctors at all. He was referring to Olba and other church members who found him after his defeat in the Western Continent.

"Doctors threw Lucifa's clothes away?"

"Maybe."

"Lucifa not sad?"

"Not really." Urushihara said. As he said this, he looked out of the window at the sky.

"That coat of yours….Demon King-sama told me that he had never seen such a garment before which is why he wanted to use your clothes as an example for the demons' clothes….where was it from?" Ashiya asked.

"Heaven." Urushihara replied, a carefully blank expression on his face.

Ashiya gave a silent 'oh' but did not say anything after that. Suzuno, realising that the atmosphere got really tense, tried to change the atmosphere.

"To...to think demons would actually take their fashion cues from angels! I would never have been able to imagine that." Suzuno suddenly exclaimed as though she just discovered something amazing.

"To think an inquisitor would take her fashion cues from old Japanese videos thinking that it was the modern fashion." Urushihara commented. Suzuno's face went red immediately.

"I didn't know…." Suzuno tried to explain, but she was quickly interrupted by Alas=Ramus.

"Ashiru! Make new clothes for Lucifa. Something like Papa's and Ashiru's!" Alas=Ramus said as she started tugging on Ashiya's pants.

"Huh? Urh...I can't do such a thing. When we get back to Ente Isla? I guess?" Ashiya replied. Even though Ashiya was capable of doing many things like cooking, planning battles and mending clothes, making clothes was not one of his talents. However, denying Alas=Ramus at such a time was not a good idea, so he answered in a vague manner, which seemed to satisfy the young girl, who turned to Urushihara and said in a determined manner,

"Lucifa will get new clothes so don't be sad!"

"I never said I was….Besides….mantles will get in the way of my flying." Urushihara smiled slightly at the girl's enthusiasm. Though he said he was not sad at all from the loss of his black coat, it seems as though Alas=Ramus was able to see through him.

"Alas=Ramus-chan, let's help clean up the mess before your Papa and Mama come back, ok?"

"Ok." Alas=Ramus then attempted to drag Maou's heavy mantle to the balcony.

"Uh, that's too much for you. Let me help you with that. Wa-wachoo!" Urushihara said as he took the mantle away from Alas=Ramus. But he forgot it was dusty and started sneezing again.

"...Urushihara, a mask…." Ashiya pointed at the box of masks on the computer table.

"Yes yes, I'm getting one." Urushihara muttered, grabbing a 3-ply paper mask from the table.

"Hang it up properly! Don't drop it!"

"Got it…Alas=Ramus, if it's too heavy, you can drop it." Urushihara looked down and saw that Alas=Ramus is holding onto a significant amount of fabric.

"Helping!"

"Oh ok." With a heave and some quick help from Suzuno, who was a lot stronger than she looked, they managed to hang Maou's mantle at the drying area. After that, Ashiya's mantle went on the pegs too.

After that, the group started to clean up the clothes and leftover moth balls from the floor. To be more accurate, Ashiya and Suzuno were the ones doing most of the cleaning, while Urushihara stopped Alas=Ramus from doing anything dangerous, like wandering too close to the open closet, or picking up the moth balls and squeezing them.

And like this, while preparing for the change in seasons, another peaceful day passed.

Moko-chan: Hidden angst for the win.

pika318: Moko-chan wrote most of this and then she asked me to finish because she did not know how to T_T I ended up writing the last two paragraphs (more like the last paragraph and the last sentence). And as usual she left me to come up with the title and summary. Lastly, a note to explain some things.

In Volume 0, when Maou saw Lucifer for the first time, in his mind, he thought that he had never seen that kind of clothing before, which is why we have the theory that Lucifer got that coat from when he was in Heaven. On an unrelated note, Maou also thought that Lucifer looked surprisingly youthful.