"Pleeeeeease!" The young woman, still dressed in business casual having just finished her shift at the Dokodemo call center, pleaded over the table as the dinner rush began to die down at the Hatagaya SFC. The face on the other side unmoved, choosing rather to focus on the child in the booster seat next to her, slowly working away at her kids' meal.

"Rika, you know I owe you a lot, but there's no way I can help you."

Emi Yusa, who had travelled across her home world, vanquished hordes of demons, and chased their ruler through space, was currently cornered by her closest friend in Japan. Rika Suzuki was one of the few people in this world who knew Emi's true identity as Emilia Justina, the Hero of Ente Isla.

She may have been five years her senior (even if Emi's ID would show the gap to be only three years) but, in spite of this, Rika currently looked more like a teenager begging her parents for a bigger allowance.

"You know I wouldn't ask if there was anyone else I could turn to. I may not get another chance like this!"

Rika's eyes were now approaching puppydog levels of pleading Emi was having difficulty meeting them.

"What about Maki?"

Emi offered up the name of another of her former co-workers from Dokodemo, who was a mutual friend of theirs, desperate to find a way out of this conversation. Rika put down her iced coffee and leaned forward, a serious look on her face.

"I love Maki, but you and I both know she lacks the tact for an operation like this." Emi had to agree with that, although "operation" seemed like entirely the wrong word for what Rika was planning. "I know you said you didn't want to get involved, but I can't do this alone. I need someone who can keep me from freaking out. Plus he would never have agreed if it was just me!"

Emi was quickly running out of escape routes, when another light bulb went off in her mind.

"Chiho! Why not ask Chi? I'm sure she'd love to go."

Emi suggested, trying her best not to sound as desperate as she really was. At the name of their high school aged mutual friend, the first human in Japan to learn the truth about Emilia and the others from Ente Isla, Rika sank back into her booth seat and let out a sigh.

"I actually already thought to ask her, but she's away visiting family and won't be back for a while."

Emi was truly running out of options. She knew all too well that once Rika got it in her head to do something even the Demon King's army couldn't get in her way. She let out a sigh, resigning herself to her fate.

"But, why me?"

The question seemed a bit pointless at this stage, but Emi asked anyway.

"These are exactly the kinds of things girl friends are for!" Rika excitedly proclaimed, now sensing the weakness in her friends resolve. "The passes are only good with four people. And besides," she added, turning to the child sitting between them, "I'm sure Alas Ramus would love some quality time with her Mommy and Daddy."

Hearing this, the young girl turned eagerly to her "Mommy".

"Gonna visit Daddy!?"

It was more than a little underhanded on Rika's part, but even still, there was no way Emi could say no to that face.

"A waterpark?"

"Yes my liege…"

The former Great Demon General of the east now turned house husband, Shiro Ashiya replied, dejected, as he placed that night's dinner down on the small table in the middle of room 201 of Villa Rosa Sasazuka.

"But, why'd you even agree to go in the first place? That doesn't seem like you." The third demon at the table chimed in, not even looking up from his plate as he stuffed rice into his mouth.

"I fear, perhaps, the heat has rather weakened my resolve." Ashiya shot back after letting out a long sigh. "To think I would not only allow myself to be caught off guard, but to even be called into question by a freeloader like Lucifer…" By this point Ashiya's head was in his hands.

"Bro, come -"

"It doesn't sound like a terrible idea."

Before the fallen angel, now known as Hanzo Urushihara, could finish griping about once again being slighted by his fellow Demon General, Maou silenced the room with his unexpected statement.

"Wait… what?"

"Sire?"

"I mean, it has been pretty hot around here lately. This sounds like a good chance to cool off on the cheap."

With the heat of summer fully descended upon the city and no room in Ashiya's budget for air conditioning, the small apartment that currently housed three Demons had certainly become increasingly uncomfortable.

"Besides, I've finally got a weekend off."

It was also true that Maou rarely got an entire weekend off from work as a shift supervisor at the Hatagaya MgRonalds.

"B-but… to be so indebted to Ms. Suzuki…"

"Ah, just be grateful. She did say it was her way of thanking you, right?"

Urushihara commented, already finished with his diner and turning back around to his makeshift desk.

"It would only be polite of us to accept her offer."

Maou seconded as he jumped to his feet, fist clenched, clearly desperate for any excuse to escape the heat.

"So, when are we going?"

Urushihara asked over his shoulder without pausing as he clicked away at an online shopping site.

"Ms. Suzuki mentioned only two passes, so Lord Satan and myself will be attending."

"WHAAA-!"

The afternoon sun beat down on the two demons, waiting as patiently as they could, outside the train station.

"I'm telling you Ashiya, accepting her offer was definitely a good idea." Maou mustered up as much excitement as he could as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

"Ashiya! Maou!~"

Rika's voice carried across the crowd of weekend travellers taking advantage of the marvellous weather. Maou turned to return the greeting but the words stopped in his throat once he turned around and all that escaped was an airy,

"Emi…?"

The two women had made their way through the crowd, Alas Ramus tightly wrapped in Emi's arms now struggling to break free.

"Daddy!"

"H-hey Alas Ramus." Maou had managed to regain a little composure, the sound of Alas Ramus' voice bringing him back to his senses. "I didn't know you were coming too." He tossed, noticeably less cheerfully, to Emi.

"Look I'm here because Rika invited me… and Alas Ramus wanted to visit."

Emi stood her ground, managing to contain the Sephirah child in her arms who was desperately trying to go hug her "Daddy". Noticing the current standoff between the former combatants from another world, Rika decided to step in.

"We don't want to miss our train, and this sun is killing me, let's get moving guys!"

At that, the rather odd group made their way into the station. Thankfully, the waterpark was only a few stops from Hatagaya so the trip passed uneventfully; Alas Ramus standing on Maou's lap, staring over his shoulder, transfixed by the buildings and lights flying past.

After reaching their stop, winding their way through the crowds and down a few side streets, they had reached their destination. The massive building was clearly brand new with its modern design and massive glass dome that was practically glowing as the summer sunlight bounced off of every surface.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Rika shouted over her shoulder, already making her way towards the entrance with Ashiya in tow. Turning from the building Emi and Maou made eye contact, only to both immediately turn and look anywhere else as they followed after them; Alas Ramus between them, holding their hands, and skipping along contentedly.

"What is taking these two so long?"

Maou, glancing up at the clock, was seated at a small table with a large rainbow patterned umbrella. Ashiya, seated across from him, had been oddly quiet since they entered.

"I'm sure they'll be out soon. Try to be patient, my liege." Maou turned to him, noticing the entirely foriegn expression on Ashiya's face.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"There you guys are!~" Before Ashiya had a chance to cobble together a presumably feeble excuse, Emi and Rika had finally made it out of the changeroom. "I hope we didn't keep you waiting long."

Rika was wearing a pristine white one-piece suit with daring cutaways on both sides of her waist. Emi, decidedly less interested in impressing anyone, was wearing a two-piece that Maou recognized from their short trip to Choshi. A floral pattern with a bow tied in the center and a sheer wrap tied loosely around her waist. Maou and Ashiya, who rarely saw the two of them in anything other than their work and casual clothes, were rendered speechless for a moment. Ashiya, first to regain his composure, tried his best to offer a reply.

"N-not at all…"

This situation clearly had even the unflappable Great Demon General Alciel on the back foot.

"Daddy, look. New Suit!"

Alas Ramus, happily waddling over to Maou, was indeed sporting a new white and blue bathing suit with a frilled skirt around the waist.

Emi must have gotten this just for today. Maou thought to himself.

"It took a while to get Alas Ramus into her new suit."

Emi offered up. Even though the real reason they had been in the changeroom so long had been Emi trying feverishly to convince Rika that she looked just fine in her own new swimsuit. But, that was a detail neither of the demons needed to know.

"You know, you don't have to pay for these sorts of things on your own."

Maou had scooped up Alas Ramus and was now holding her up over his head much to the young girl's delight.

"It's fine." Emi replied, in a voice she realized was much softer than the tone she normally took with Maou. "W-what sort of hero asks for help from a demon anyways?"

She tried her best to sound more like her usual self but didn't quite manage a convincing tone. Thankfully for her, Maou was currently paying more attention to the Sephirah child in his arms than Emi's tone of voice.

"What do you say Alas Ramus, ready to swim?"

"Swim!"

She may have just been repeating the word but from the determined expression on her face it was clear she would follow Maou wherever he led.

"Well, why don't we head over there then?" Rika motioned towards the small kiddie pool just past the chairs and tables that Ashiya and Maou had previously occupied.

"Oh… you guys don't have to stick with us if you'd rather hit one of the slides or something."

Rika glanced up at one of the three massive water slides that took up most of the park. After a nervous chuckle she shook her head. "Nah… not yet at least. We have all day. And besides, I want to cheer Alas Ramus on!"

The nervousness left her face as quickly as it came and the whole crew made their way to the shallow pool near the entrance, Maou with Alas Ramus on his shoulders leading the charge.

With Maou holding both her hands, and Alas Ramus now sporting a life jacket they had grabbed from the front desk, the girl kicked her tiny legs with all her might as the hero and demon king took turns leading her around the pool. Ashiya and Rika sat back at the edge, legs dangling in the water, neither looked particularly comfortable but from what Maou could tell at least the conversation hadn't stalled out.

"Go Alas Ramus!~ You're doing so well!" Rika, for her part, was definitely filling the cheerleader role well.

"Look Mommy… pah… swimin'! Brrtrtttr." Her tiny head was bouncing just above the water, but that didn't stop her from seeking a little extra praise from her "Mommy".

"Y-you're doing so well!" Emi managed to put on her best encouraging voice as she took the child's hands from Maou to take her turn around the edge of the pool.

Things were quiet. Peaceful. She glanced around as she walked backwards away from the group and saw Maou's relaxed smile and a laugh from Rika. It had been so long since she had experienced anything like this. Having gone through so many trials in such a short amount of time. Thinking she lost her Father, losing her home, facing down the Demon King's army, being transported to a wholly unfamiliar world, she felt like she had barely had a moment to stop and breathe in recent memory.

"Emi… Emi… EMI!"

THUD

Lost in her thoughts, Emi hadn't been paying attention to where she was going and had walked backwards, straight into Maou. Now she was half submerged, leaned back onto Maou with both his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her up. As much as she may have wanted to jump straight to her feet, Alas Ramus had now floated directly on top of her, preventing her from moving at all.

"Awe, what a cute family dear" An older woman pointed out to her husband from the side of the pool.

"Come on honey, don't embarrass the young kids."

Now Emi's face was turning a brilliant shade of red. Meanwhile, Maou had managed to get his footing, lift Emi back onto her feet, and remove his arms from her waist.

"You alright?"

The genuine concern in Maou's voice only proceeded to make Emi feel even less "alright". Now her brain was flashing back to memories of hugging Maou outside of room 201, but if she allowed it to linger there she worried it might short circuit again so she quickly pushed that memory to the back of her mind.

"I'm fine! … Um, sorry about running into you."

Emi had to admit the collision was her own fault. She handed off Alas Ramus to Maou and stepped back as the pair took off back down the length of the pool.

Seeing the smiles on Maou and Alas Ramus' face, as the tiny girl kicked away, brought back a moment in Emi's past that she hadn't thought about since she was a little girl.

Before her home village of Sloan was attacked by the Demon King's army, in the small pond behind the humble farm house she grew up in, a fairly similar scene had taken place. A much younger Nord Justina was waist deep in the water, teaching Emilia how to swim. Before the burden of her half angel genetics and the fate of an entire world had been thrust onto her shoulders, this was the peace that she had been longing for.

Staring intently at Maou's back, as he was making his way through the pool, a rather disturbing realization came over Emi.

Wait… why is seeing Maou bringing up memories of my Dad!

At this point the demon in question had completed his lap and returned to the group with a rather exhausted Alas Ramus in tow.

"Looks like it's time for a lunch break." Rika, spotting the tired toddler being hoisted out of the water, suggested from her perch at the edge of the pool.

Walking through the condensed food court was almost overwhelming with the sheer amount of choices. Thankfully it seemed that Rika already had a spot in mind as she confidently marched through the food court, stopping in front of an unassuming Yakitori stall.

"Rika? You made it! Good to see you. These must be your friends."

"Guys, meet Tetsuya Ishikawa. He's an old friend of mine from school. He's actually the one who got me the passes in the first place. On the condition that we stopped here for food at least."

Tetsuya was a rather large man, especially standing next to Rika. He had broad shoulders and long dark hair, tied back with a white headband. The two of them certainly made for an odd pairing.

"Any friend of Ri-chan is a friend of mine. Don't you worry, I'll bring out the special for you guys so go on and grab a table."

"Oh my… I told you to stop calling me that ages ago! It makes me sound like a little kid."

Rika's complaints didn't seem to register as Tetsuya had already given the group a wave and quickly turned to prepping "the special".

Still looking a bit peeved by her friend's choice of nickname, Rika and the others made their way over to a table across from the stall. Before they even had a chance to settle in Tetsuya was at their table with a rather large tray in one hand and a booster seat in the other.

"Here you are. Hope you enjoy it!" He placed the tray down with grace that seemed out of place for a man of his size. "Oh, I figured you would need this for your daughter, Miss..."

"Uh, Emi Yusa… Thank you." Emi managed to reply, as she took the booster seat and propped Alas Ramus up next to her.

"Well enjoy you guys!" And, tossing a cloth over his shoulder, Tetsuya left them with a rather impressive spread of food.

"... Wow."

The exclamation from Maou really didn't do it justice. With a full sampler of Yakitori skewers, pickled cucumber, grilled edamame, boiled spinach, and even a separate dish of appropriately sized slices of chicken for Alas Ramus.

"This guy knows a thing or two about service."

"Tetsuya really is the best. You guys are going to love this."

"Chick'n!"

Alas Ramus was particularly pleased with the selection. Emi, who had been helping her add some vegetables to her plate and keep a handle on her grilled chicken, turned to Maou.

"Can you help Alas Ramus for a bit? I'll be right back"

"Ah… S-sure."

Emi got up from the table and Maou slid over to take her seat; wiping the sauce already accumulating on Alas Ramus' face, who now had a piece of chicken in both hands.

Come on Emilia, clear your head.

After checking that she was out of sight of the table, Emi gave her head a good shake; stopping to lean against a wall just outside of the bathrooms.

"What is going on with me lately?"

The question, directed at no one in particular, faded away with the sound of her words as she let out a sigh.

"You all alone babe?" Emi, looking back up, realized that three young men were now standing in front of her. "Why don't you come hangout with us?"

The three of them appeared to be around college aged. Probably students on their summer break. The taller one in the middle, with short blonde hair and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, had been the one doing the talking. They had certainly caught Emi more than a little unprepared.

"Uh, I'm actually here with my friends."

"Ah, but I'm sure you'd have way more fun hanging out with us. Right guys?"

The other two nodded and shuffled a bit closer to Emi. It was a rather busy day at the park but, of course, Emi had walked to the washrooms at the far corner of the building to clear her head. She may have been more than strong enough to handle three punks like this, but she realised that causing a scene like that might put quite a damper on Rika's plans for the rest of the day.

Just as she was weighing out the consequences of having to brute force her way out of this, another voice called out from behind the students.

"Everything alright Emi?"

Maou was now standing a few feet behind them, sounding a bit too casual to be at all threatening. His slender frame and 'unassuming' style weren't helping his case much either. But, when the blonde student turned and made eye contact with Maou, Emi could have sworn she saw a flash of something in his eyes.

"Oh? You didn't say anything about being here with your boyfriend." The two of them still hadn't broken eye contact. "No need to get bent out of shape here. We aren't trying to come between you two or anything. This is all just a misunderstanding."

With that, the three of them made their way past Maou back towards the food court. Emi, still a bit off balance from all of this, didn't notice that Maou had taken a few steps forward.

"Are you feeling alright Emi? You've seemed a bit off all day. Normally you would have no problem telling those guys to get lost."

Emi could feel her face getting flushed again.

Why does he have to sound so genuine? And when did he get so close?

Emi shook her head, having trouble forming a response.

"I… you didn't… everything was under control you know! Why'd you even follow me over here?"

"I saw those guys start to follow you. I just wanted to make sure that nothing happened."

Now Emi could feel the heat radiating from her face.

"What is WITH you… eugh." She spun on her heel and hurried around the corner, into the washroom. "I can't stand that guy."

With the veritable mountain of food that was in front of them finished, Ashiya rose first from his seat.

"Please don't worry about lunch Ms. Suzuki. Since you were kind enough to invite us along I insist you allow us to cover the bill."

He turned to leave but Rika jumped up quickly to follow him.

"Wait, Ashiya, you don't have to do that…"

The two of them walked off back towards Testuya's stall, leaving Emi and Maou staring blankly at the spaces they had just vacated.

"Did Ashiya just…"

"...offer to pay for all that?"

Just across from them, Tetsuya was now ringing up the order for Ashiya.

"You really don't have to pay. I'm the one who invited you guys in the first place."

"Oh, just let the man pay Ri-chan. Alright, that'll be 6000 yen."

Ashiya fished the money out of the small travel wallet he had with him. Rika had resigned herself to pouting at yet another mention of her old nickname. Reaching out to accept the money he had handed him, Tetsuya placed a strong hand on Ashiya's shoulder.

"Make sure you take good care of Ri-chan, alright Mr. Ashiya?"

"...TETSUYAAAA!"

Rika was trying her best to reach across the counter but Tetsuya stayed just out of reach, never taking his eyes off Ashiya.

"Oh… um, of course."

Still a bit unsure what on earth was happening, Ashiya nodded to the man across the counter. This seemed to be enough for Tetsuya as he nodded back and removed his hand, placing the money into the register.

"Well, hope you folks enjoy the rest of your day! Thanks again for coming to see me Rika."

"I can't believe you!"

Tetsuya, still sporting a customer service smile, waved them off as they made their way back to the table.

"Ms. Suzuki, are you feeling alright? You seem to be rather flushed."

"I… Uh… Hey, Emi!" Having made it back to their friends Rika dodge the question entirely, using her friend as a shield of sorts. "Didn't you say you wanted to put Alas Ramus down for a nap after lunch?"

"Oh, yeah, we're just going to go get Alas Ramus changed then."

"G'night Daddy."

Alas Ramus waved to Maou and Ashiya as her and Emi made their way back to the changeroom. After finding a secluded corner and changing Alas Ramus back out of her swimsuit, Emi fused her back into her body for an afternoon nap.

Man, I'm sure mothers everywhere would be jealous of this…

When Emi emerged from the changeroom, only Maou was waiting for her outside.

"Where did Rika and Ashiya go?"

"Rika said she wanted to check out one of the slides and dragged Ashiya off with her." Maou was nodding toward one of the three large slides taking up the back half of the park. "Do you want to go catch up to them?"

Emi eyed up the large slide, but then noticed something just past it.

"Actually, let's just go up there."

The unlikely pair made their way past the slides and up a set of stairs at the very back of the park to a raised observation deck. Since it was tucked away across the back wall there weren't many people here compared to the rest of the park. There was a small fountain in the middle, with benches and planters full of brightly coloured flowers all around the outside. It was a nice spot to take a break, with a great view of the whole park.

Maou walked over to the railing while Emi sat down on the bench just behind him.

"Hey, there they are."

Emi looked down towards where Maou was pointing to see Rika and Ashiya who had just splashed into a pool at the bottom of one of the slides. Even from here Emi could see the smile on Rika's face.

I guess today wasn't all bad

Emi took a deep breath, letting the tension out of her shoulders. She glanced up at Maou's back as he scanned the park below.

Things have been pretty hectic for him too, huh.

She couldn't remember the last time she had truly seen him relax like this.

"Thanks…"

The word slipped out of her mouth before she could catch it.

"Huh?"

Maou turned to face her but Emi turned away, not meeting his gaze.

"T-thanks for today… I know Alas Ramus really enjoyed it."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm glad then."

Maou stepped back from the railing and sat down next to Emi, being sure to leave a healthy gap between them.

Eugh, it's not like I have a disease or something.

Emi wasn't sure why the space Maou had left between them would even bother her.

"And… I have to thank you too." Emi's gaze was squarely focused at her feet as she fidgeted nervously with her hands. "Don't get me wrong, I still haven't forgiven you or anything, but today it felt like I got a small piece of my childhood back and, in spite of everything, you were a part of making it happen… So, thanks okay."

Maou was completely silent. Emi couldn't bring herself to glance up to see the look on his face. It may not have been completely unprecedented for Emi to be nice to Maou but it was definitely well outside the norm.

Ahhhhhh, why did I have to say all that!

"I'm glad…" Emi reflexively turned her head up as Maou broke the silence. Now it was his turn to look away, with his hand opposite Emi resting on the back of his head. "I had hoped that you would be able to enjoy yourself at least a little today. I know that I've caused a lot of trouble for you and since we've been spending so much time together as of late I wanted to try and make it up to you at least a little. The Hero and Demon King may always have their differences but, I don't know, maybe Emi Yusa and Sadao Maou can make things work… for Alas Ramus' sake."

Maou quickly added the last part and still wouldn't meet Emi's gaze as she stared wide eyed at the seemingly out of character admission.

"There you guys are!~" Before Emi could even begin to form a response Rika, followed closely by Ashiya, came bounding up the stairs. "We should probably get going soon if we don't want to get stuck in rush hour."

Emi glanced up at the clock on the opposite wall.

How long were we up here?

"Uh… Y-yeah, let's go get changed."

Emi silently thanked Rika for bailing her out as she stood up and the group made their way back downstairs.

"So, how did it go?"

Emi turned to Rika as she finished buttoning her shirt.

"Oh… it was good. Really good! Hehehehe."

Rika was quietly giggling to herself.

It really must have been good. Emi thought to herself.

"What about you?"

"Huh…?"

Not expecting to have the question turned on her, Emi wasn't exactly sure what Rika was getting at.

"I hadn't planned on ditching you guys or anything, but to think that you would slip off with Maou for some alone time…"

"I… That's… It's not like that at all!"

Emi was beginning to worry that her face would be permanently red after today. Rika at the very least seemed to be enjoying herself as she smirked at Emi's reaction.

"Well, ready to get going?"

Rika tossed her bag over her shoulder, turning to leave.

"Yeah… I guess I better wake Alas Ramus up now." Checking to make sure the coast was clear, Emi separated the Sepharah child and she was now sleeping soundly in Emi's arms. "Come on Alas Ramus, time to head home."

Back in front of the waterpark, Maou and Ashiya were waiting on the steps when Emi, Rika, and the now awake Alas Ramus finally caught up to them.

"Hey, let's take a picture before we go." Rika suggested, pulling out her smartphone. "Something to remember the day. Come on, squeeze in!" She extended her arm and pulled Emi in beside her as Ashiya moved to her other side with Maou leaning in just in front of him. "Okay, ready? Smile!"

Rarely being this close to Maou already made Emi a bit uneasy, Rika's impromptu photo op notwithstanding. Emi was definitely not pulling off a natural smile. But, before she had time to think much about it…

Click

"It looks great!~" Rika was beaming, looking down at her phone. "I'll send it to you all later."

She slid her phone back into her bag and began to lead the way back towards the train station.

Finally back in her own apartment in Eifukucho, Emi plopped Alas Ramus down on the bed before flopping down backwards herself, legs hanging off the edge.

"What a day."

Emi let out a long sigh when a familiar tone rang out from the bag beside her. She reached in, extracting her cell phone from the depths, to find a message from Rika. It was the photo from earlier with a simple "Thanks!" attached. She stared up at the photo now taking up the full width of her phone's screen. Rika looked… well, she looked like Rika, happy and energized as ever. Ashiya, for his part, at least seemed to be smiling. Maou on the other hand looked like he was seeing his first smartphone, staring confusedly at the camera lens.

"Heh. He might as well be."

Emi laughed to herself conjuring up images of Maou's old flip phone, completely destroyed after an emergency trip to Ente Isla to save Emi, no less.

Of course, Emi could see now that she hadn't managed a convincing smile and looked more like she had just stepped in a puddle. To top it all off, Alas Ramus had managed to pose mid yawn, tying all of the awkwardness in the photo together nicely. Just then, the young girl had crawled up next to Emi to see what she had been looking at and quickly spotted Maou.

"Daddy! Ahhhh. I love Daddy.

Alas Ramus let out a tiny yawn but still managed to relay her affections for her "Daddy". Emi patted her on the head.

"That's why you're such a good girl Alas Ramus."

"Mommy loves Daddy too?"

"Eck…"

Emi quickly turned her head away from her, unable to keep eye contact with the toddler, but kept her hand resting gently on her head and whispered softly so only she could hear,

"I'm sorry Chiho."

Afterward

Thank you! If you've made it this far I really can't thank you enough for reading this whole thing. This turned into a much longer piece than I originally intended. Especially considering it was the first real piece of fiction I've written since I was a kid so this has been a lot of fun (please don't judge me too harshly .).

Also, apologies for my very inexperienced use of the Japanese setting. Being Canadian and never visiting means I know next to nothing about the geography, food, etc. Tried my best to dodge it where I could.

Big shout out to everyone in the HataMaou and Satan's Hero discord channels. It's been great to find a community of people celebrating the light novels I love so much.

I hope everyone had a great MaouEmi Week and I look forward to reading all of your awesome fiction… Once I get some sleep at least.