Takes place right after the end of the anime. Sorry, I haven't read the light novels. I do know the gist of the plot after the end of the anime, so have no fear, dear readers! I kinda know what I'm doing. This will be a series with each chapter focusing on one song. The first song is "7 Years" by Lukas Graham, with some lyrics changed to suit the story. I've taken some liberties with demon culture and music.

FYI, this will be a bit of a slow burn. No love songs yet. But plenty of MaouxEmi! Enjoy!

Of course, I don't own anything. [insert standard disclamer here]

Chapter 1:

The Devil Serendipitously Acquires a Guitar

Maou didn't know what to think of it.

He could still see it clearly, the moment Emi walked up to him. The moment she handed him the umbrella. The light, teasing tone of her voice. The slight blush that painted her cheeks. The way she had twirled her umbrella with a smile after he had said thank you.

The patter of the rain, drowning out the sound of Maou's own pounding heartbeat.

"Maou-san! Watch the fries!" cried Chiho from the cash register nearby.

Maou growled at himself and brought his focus back to his work, finishing the burger he was making. The fries were nearly done, he would have to take them out soon. He had to control his distracted thoughts. It the fries were burnt, Ms. Kisaki would have his head.

Still, he couldn't stop thinking about last night.

Maybe they didn't have to be enemies anymore, the Hero and the Devil.

Around others, he would never stop being Satan the Demon King, and she would never stop being Emilia the Hero, but when it was just the two of them, maybe they could let themselves be who they really wanted to be. Emi and Maou.

He liked the sound of that.

"Maa-kun!" came Kisaki's voice. "Do I smell burning fries?"

He yelped and raced to the deep-fryer.

Even then, he couldn't stop thinking about it. Maybe things could finally change.

And though the Demon King wouldn't ever admit it to himself, he had never seen anyone quite as beautiful as Emi had been that night.

Emi yawned and stretched her arms, walking lazily back from work. It had been a busy day, and she would have normally left work exhausted and crabby, but today was different. Today she was too busy thinking. Something had happened yesterday, between her and Maou. Emi didn't know what drove her to give him the umbrella. She was just so . . . tired of keeping up the act.

The more she thought about it, the less she could find it in herself to hate him.

No matter what he had ordered his armies to do on Ente Isla, Maou was not a cold-blooded killer. He just didn't have that look in his eyes. And nowadays, she had begun to wonder whether she could even call him evil at all. Because he wasn't evil. He wasn't cruel, or manipulative, or heartless. He was the exact opposite of everything she had wanted him to be.

The truth was, he had a kinder heart than any man she had ever met.

So the umbrella was her way of saying both I'm sorry and I forgive you at the same time. Not exactly a forgiveness, not exactly a friendship, but a connection.

An acceptance.

They were tied together, it seemed, by the strings of fate. The least she could do was get used to him.

Besides, she couldn't lie to herself. They completed each other, the Devil and the Hero.

Sure, they annoyed each other at every chance they got, but even Lucifer had mentioned that they argued like an old married couple. Maou was special to her. Nobody else could match that infuriating smile, nobody else could live up to that sarcastic drawl. Nobody else could make her so damn angry and yet so truly happy at the same time.

Not a colorful or exuberant happiness. A quiet sort of happiness.

The happiness that came with sharing a smile as they outsmarted the conman who had cheated Urushihara. The happiness that came when she stopped by MgRonalds for lunch on her days off just to annoy him. The happiness that came with meeting him at the street corner on a cold rainy night, seeing him give her that sideways look that he never gave to anyone else.

The look that said, "Hey, we're supposed to be enemies, but . . . we both know we're something more than that."

The look that made her feel as if they were sharing some sort of secret, something only the two of them knew.

She shook her head.

Get a hold of yourself, Emi. In the end, he's still the Demon King, and you're still the Hero. Even if you don't want to be.

Maou had done unforgivable things, and even if Emi could understand him a little, she could never forgive him entirely. And she would never forget. Not after all the pain and blood and violence she had seen, not after all the innocent lives that had been lost. As much as it looked like he had changed, Emi knew one thing. Demons were long-lived, patient, and incredibly good actors, and Satan Jacob was the king of demons.

That sobered her up a little.

I need to talk to him.

Abruptly, she changed her course as she was walking, her decision made. She would just walk up to Villa Rosa Sasazuka and confront him. There were many so things she needed to know.

Maou was on his way home from MgRonalds late in the evening when he passed by another apartment complex close to Villa Rosa Sasazuka. Normally, he would have walked past it just as he had every other day, but this time, something caught his eye. The man who lived there—Uzumaki Naruto, he believed the name was—was clearing out everything.

"Hey, Mr. Uzumaki!" called Maou. "Are you moving?"

"Ah, Maou. Yeah, I lost my job a week ago, and I was almost evicted. But I just got a job offer on the other side of the city, so . . . this neighborhood has always felt like home to me, but I guess it's time to pack up and move on, you know?"

"Yeah, change is good, Mr. Uzumaki. Good luck at your new job!"

Uzumaki smiled. "Thanks. Hey, I was planning to dump all of this stuff, but if you want anything, be my guest! I can't afford to move it all to my new place anyway."

Maou surveyed all the items. Nothing particularly useful for him. Used furniture, rusty frying pans, a strange-looking headband.

And then he saw it.

Maou took a sharp breath. He could have recognized that shape anywhere. "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, that old thing?" Mr. Uzumaki shrugged. "I dunno. It used to be my father's, before he passed away. I just keep it around for decoration now. I always wanted to learn, but I never found the time. Do you know how to use it?"

The Demon King nodded.

"Feel free to have it, then," said Mr. Uzumaki with a smile. "Make it useful again. It's what my father would have wanted."

Maou, too shocked to express his gratitude, gave a little bow. "I will."

That was how Maou found himself walking home in the early evening dark, feeling satisfied with life and carrying an old guitar over his shoulder. And not just any guitar. An Ente Islan demon guitar, just like the one his mother had once played, so many centuries ago.

Maou had no idea how it had gotten here, but it made him wonder whether others had crossed from Ente Isla to Earth before he had. If this guitar had belonged to Uzumaki's father, it was very likely that someone from the Isles had brought it here decades ago.

But to be honest, Maou didn't care. His heart was elsewhere, remembering moments passed.

Mama, why do you like to sing so much?

Because, his mother had said. It makes you smile.

"Your Highness . . ." Ashiya was at a loss for words. "This is . . ."

Maou smiled. "Wanna hear a song?"

As strange as it was, Urushihara was the one to break the silence with an excited whoop. "Hell yeah! It's been centuries since we heard you sing!"

"You want to do the honors, Ashiya?" said Maou. "Pick a song. One of our songs."

Ashiya's eyes filled with tears. He knew exactly what Maou was talking about. The folk songs of the demon tribes. As violent, brutal, and cultureless demon society had been before King Satan's reign, even the demon tribes had their own music. In that sense, thought Ashiya, there was no difference at all between any of them. Demons, humans, angels—music was their common language.

"Seven Years," said Alciel.

Maou grinned. "Didn't your old man write that song after he became your clan's leader?"

Ashiya nodded, reminiscent. "My father was a gifted poet. This was his last song." He sighed. "I still remember the day he became chief of our iron scorpion clan. How many centuries ago that was . . . I've lost count of the years."

Maou leaned comfortably against a wall, strumming the strings lazily, as if testing the waters.

There was a short silence, an expectation.

And then Ashiya remembered why his lord was so much more than just a Demon King.

No matter where he lived, no matter how old he became, Satan Jacob would never forget where he came from.

Once I was seven years old, my momma told me,
Go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely,
Once I was seven years old. . .

It was a big big world, but we thought we were bigger, pushing each other to the limits, we were learning quicker,
Well they say the water's sweet but our blood is thicker, never rich so we were out to make that steady figure,

Once I was seventy years old my daddy told me
Go get yourself a job or you'll go hungry
Once I was seventy years old. . .

I always had that dream, like my daddy before me, so between the wars and fights, I started writing stories,
Something about that glory just always seemed to bore me, 'cause only those I really love will ever really know me,

Once I was two hundred years old, my heart was so bold
I was conquerin' everything I saw before me
Once I was two hundred years old. . .

I only see my goals, I don't believe in failure, 'cause I know the smallest demons, they can make it major
I got my boys with me, at least those in favor, and if we don't meet before I leave, I hope I'll see you later

Soon I'll be centuries old, my daddy got six-hundred-one,
Remember life and then your life becomes a better one,
I made a boy so happy when I told a story once,
I hope my children come and visit once or twice a month!

Soon I'll be centuries old, will I think the world is cold?
Or will I have a loving family that can warm me?
Soon I'll be centuries old. . .

Once I was seven years old, my momma told me,
Go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely
Once I was seven years old...

Silence reigned in the Devil's Castle for a long moment. Ashiya was in tears, Urushihara was grinning widely.

Maou had his eyes closed, a small smile lighting up his face.

And outside the door, Emilia the Hero was standing in utter shock.

She was rarely surprised by anything that happened at the Devil's Castle these days. The place was such a magnet for strangeness that she had begun to expect the unexpected. But no matter how prepared she had thought she was, she had not been prepared for this.

The Devil could sing?

Unable to comprehend what she had just heard, and unwilling to interrupt the demons' touching moment, Emi moved her hand away from the door handle and silently walked away. She would talk to Maou, but it could wait until another day.

Right now, she had too much to think about.

Reviews are always appreciated!