The meal with Hauser went rather smoothly from there. I couldn't get the image of him demanding that he marry me out of my head, but I still had fun. I had pretty much forgotten about the whole argument between King and Ban- and was just focused on having a good time (for the first time in forever). The kingdom was celebrating us tomorrow and we just beat Hendrickson. I have absolutely nothing be upset about. If those two choose to be upset, they can go right ahead, because I just don't care anymore.

"I have to go help with the rebuilding," Hauser said, "Sorry to cut it short."

"No no, you're fine!" I hummed, smiling gratefully at him. "Thanks for cheering me up Hauser. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I'm glad we got to hang out."

His cheeks erupted in a bright pink, and he scratched the back of his head, chuckling nervously. "I-It's no problem! Anything to help you out."

"Still," I smiled, moving toward him. "Thanks."

I wrapped my arms around his torso, resting my head against the area just below his shoulder. His entire body tensed up at the contact and he froze, going stiff upon contact. I remained pressed against him for a few moments, then pulled away, grinning widely at him. His face was flushed pink and he was still frozen in the same position.

"See you tomorrow!" I laughed, then turned around and walked down the street. There were a few buildings which had been destroyed, but it didn't seem to bad in this area of the city. The northern part of the capital was where the real damage had been done.

I sighed, frowning slightly as I watched the citizens rebuilding. Men of particular buffness carried large planks of wood and hammered them into place, creating the structures back from scratch. I was tempted to help, but... I'm sure they wouldn't want it from me. Besides, all I can really do is lift heavy stuff and set shit on fire.

I continued walking down the streets, keeping to myself, but occasionally window shopping as I passed various stores and merchant booths (which had been set up in place of destroyed buildings). I didn't buy anything, as nothing seemed to strike me as a necessity (and I didn't have any money), but I did enjoy looking at all of the products and keeping myself occupied. I simply wandered, talking with various townspeople, who thanked me. Quite honestly, I didn't think I deserved the thanks. I didn't really do anything.

Still, it was nice to see that people appreciated what the team did. It seemed like they really didn't believe we were traitors now, save for a few skeptics, who glared at me when I walked past.

I had now found myself now on the western side of the Capitol, strolling down streets, getting approached every so often. Holy Knights who were helping to rebuild occasionally came up and thanked me, or asked me to train them. Which I awkwardly refused, by the way. Me? Training someone? Yeah, right. Maybe in smart remarks- that won't be all that smart... or funny.

"(Y/N), (y/n)!" A familiar, childish voice called out, distracting me from my thoughts and making a big grin form on my face. You know what? Maybe this morning was just to get all of my bad luck for today out of the way.

A small girl with hair that matched mine and eyes that matched Ban's barreled toward me. My smile faltered upon thinking of him, but I shook it off as Emma came charging toward me at full speed, a large group of children following faithfully behind her. Pelio and Meera (who was holding Eric) were directly behind her, matching her speed.

"Hey there, kiddos!" I grinned widely (noticing vaguely how much I sounded like a "cool" dad), opening my arms as she, Meera, Eric (kinda), and Pelio practically dove into my arms. I passed noogies all around, except for Eric, who I poked on the nose and gave a raspberry. He laughed excitedly, grabbing at my cheeks happily. "How'd you do? Didja kick some ass for me?"

"Yeah!" They all laughed, pointing at small injuries on their bodies. Meera spoke after, "We helped a whole bunch of people get out of houses, and we even helped a Holy Knight get away from one of those big monsters!"

"Woah! You guys are the bravest kids I've ever met!" I exclaimed happily, then narrowed my eyes, "Are you sure you aren't part of the Sins?"

"What? No way!" Pelio exclaimed, "You guys are way too cool for us!"

"But you guys are the coolest people around!" I gasped playfully, setting them down. Emma scurried back to the other kids in the group.

"See! I told you we know (y/n)!" She said triumphantly, grinning at the other kids as they stared up at me in awe.

"Hey, don't go bragging, Emma," I smiled, walking toward her. Pelio and Meera walked faithfully by my side, standing next to me as I bent down the kids' height. I grinned, waving. "Because now they know me too. Hi, I'm (y/n), the Raven Sin of Despond of the Eight Deadly Sins. Nice to meetcha."

"Wooaaahh," the group of kids said collectively, their eyes shining with happiness as they stared up at me with wide grins.

"What? (Y/N)..!" Emma whined, "But we were special!"

"You're still special, don't worry," I winked, "You guys are the next Deadly Sins after all!"

She immediately lit up, her eyes shining with determination as she grinned. "That's right! I'm gonna be the coolest fire mage ever!"

"Of course," I hummed, messing up her hair.

"U-uhm M-Miss (y/n)..." a child mumbled, and I looked away from Emma and over to her. She was in the back of the group, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "I-If it's not to much to ask, c-could you sh-show us your p-powers..?"

"What's your name, sweetie?" I asked, and her face lit up, turning bright pink.

"A-Alm-mania..." She stuttered, and I smiled.

In the air, letters formed, spelling out her name. The small figure of a girl fiddling with her dress appeared above it. She looked up in awe, her cheeks still red. "That's a pretty name, Almania."

The rest of the kids immediately jumped up, asking me to make all sorts of stuff. I gave one of them fire wings, which let them fly around, and one of the girls asked for a flowing fire dress. Some boys asked for fire swords to fight with, and I formed various animals and fought some fire monsters for them. They seemed to enjoy it immensely, and after about 30-40 minutes of doing so, I cut it off and said I had to leave.

"Awwwww..." they all said in sync, pouting. I laughed, wrapping them all in a large hug.

"Don't worry, guys, you'll see me again," I grinned, "And you'll hear all about awesome battles in the future, okay? Maybe you'll even see one!"

They all cheered and we said our goodbyes; I slinked off, heading more toward the outskirts of the kingdom. I wandered around, finding myself leaving it entirely and wandering on a path in the woods. Eventually, I left the path, and just widened through the woods, relaxed. It had been a while since I left the Boar Hat.

I wonder if anyone's looking for me...?

Nah, probably not. They probably don't care. Honestly they shouldn't care. I totally overreacted... it was my fault they were arguing, so why did I get mad at them?

There was a brief silence, where I quietly processed the information. Emotions I had fought so hard to get rid of all day came boiling to the surface with a vengeance. I huffed, trying to expel the bubbling in my gut, which was just begging to be released.

"Ugh!" I growled in frustration, crouching down so my knees it my chest and grasping my head in my hands. "Why is all so damn complicated?!"

I groaned in anger again, standing and punching a tree beside me. I punched rather meekly, but it still got uprooted and went flying back. I groaned again, turning toward another tree. I covered it in fire so I could keep it in place. I started punching aggressively.

"Why did they have to have that stupid fight, huh? Why couldn't I just have a good day for once?" I demanded, punching as hard as I could, the tree had almost immediately caved in from the force of my punches, so now I was just hitting my solidified fire. I didn't really care.

"Why do I have to be the cause of everything?" I begged, my voice becoming a bit more of a combination between sad and angry- a hint of somberness behind the rage. "Every time something stupid happens, I'm always somehow the reason for it! All the fights and the arguments and the problems! They're all me! Why am I always so stupid and dumb and idiotic and problematic and sad and attention seeking and mad and such a fucking nuisance!"

I panted as I let out all my frustration on the tree. Tears started to fall, unnoticed, down my cheeks, and my punches grew weaker and weaker. Sadness took over the rage too quick.

"That lady... Emma... she said to believe in myself..." I cried, my punches now practically light taps against the flames. That's when the sobbing started, tears falling in streams as my voice broke with every word. "But how can I... when I'm such a goddamn failure..?"

Sobs wracked through my body as I fell to the floor. I wrapped my arms around my body, hugging my abdomen as hard as I could while I sobbed to no end. I was practically screaming in pain as I cried, my power fizzling out and the tree falling limply to the floor. I faced the ground, eyes screwed closed as I bent forward in my siting position. My bottom was still on my calves, on which I was sitting, but my stomach was pressed against my thighs now, my face directly above the floor.

"Why can't I do anything right?

"I fucking murdered thousands of people because I can't control my goddamn emotions. I made other people feel just as bad as I was because I'm a fucking pussy...

"Then I made Meli take me in because he felt sorry for me... and I was just a burden to our whole team... I am a burden to the whole team...

"I forced Diane and Elizabeth to be my friends... I forced King and Merlin and Meli to look after me... I made Ban indecisive and then got all bent about it when I figured out the results of my actions... and Escanor and Hawk probably hate me because I'm so useless...!

"God, stupid, stupid, stupid!" I shouted, sobbing unendingly as I punched the ground. My entire body was shaking vigorously as I stared at the wet, black grass floor below me. The entirety of the wildlife around my was charred and burnt to a crisp- up to about twenty feet away, where it was green, as it should be. Tears fell in streams and snot leaked from my nose, saliva occasionally dripping from my lips as I spoke negatively about myself.

"Why am I so stupid? I'm such a fucking idiot! Why did I ever even think anyone actually liked me...?"

I stared down at the ground, my torso only held up by my vigorously shaking arms. I stared down at the floor in absolute despair. I'm sorry, Emma- I told you I would try and believe in myself and stay positive, and I couldn't last more than a couple hours...

Ha, figures...

God, why can't I just decide? This morning I was pissed and sad, and then I was happy, and now I'm just sad...

"Just make it stop..." I whimpered, curling my knees to my chest in a fetal position. I grabbed my head, trying to stop all the despondence flooding over me. It was physically painful to sob as hard as I was, and my thoughts really did hurt me. "Just stop it... make me happy again... just make all this fucking bullshit emotion stop...

"I just... I want to be normal for once," I sobbed, "I want Amelia back and I want Meli and Ban and King and Merlin and Diane and Elizabeth to come and save me...

"God, why can't I just die alread-"

"(Y/N), please don't finish that sentence."

My head whirled to the side upon seeing the voice, and I scrambled backward, eyes wide and terrified as I stared at the people in front of me.

Shit.

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