“Yo! Whatcha thinkin’ about all alone out here?” Shin asked as he entered the top floor terrace.

Everything — the floor, the walls, the statues and the railings — made out of polished marble. A place about 7 meters wide and 5 meters out. And there, at a small round table, sat the crimson haired girl, Hannah.

“Nothing much. Just…”

“Just?”

“I was just thinking back at how quickly the last month passed by. The fact that you’re helping me out on my selfish wishes. I sometimes feel like I’m taking advantage by relying on you too much…”

“Again with that thought?” he said as he leaned on the railings, “Just go ahead and rely on us. We’re friends after all. You need help, you get it. You want to help, then you go for it. It’s that simple. Nobody’s gonna hold it against you, you know.”

Hannah giggled, “I guess you’re right,” and she stared up at the night sky.

“Oh that’s right! I almost forgot,” he began salvaging his pocket, “Here!”

“This is…”

“It’s a hairband. Your hair is long so I thought it might get in your way when you’re fighting. Although it’s probably really insignificant since you’re more than rich enough to get over dozens of them. Just thought it’d help, hehe!”

“This is… your first present… to me…” she mumbled to herself.

“Huh? What did you say?” he asked, bending over, bringing his ear close.

“It’s nothing, idiot!” she rubbed her fist against his head.

“Ow ow ow ow! At least a ‘thank you’ would’ve been enough?”

“You’re not getting any!”

Shin simply sighed and smiled as he gave up.

“But…promise me you’ll keep this a secret between us.”

“Hm? I don’t see why giving you a hair accessory needs to be kept a secret, though.”

“I-It’s not that! It’s just that… you see…um…considering you didn’t know what his personality was like, what impression would you get about Claude?”

“Hm? Well, putting it that way, I guess he’d be pretty popular? I mean, he’s really strong...and looks cool. He’d probably give off a pretty confident or cocky atmosphere which would attract people to him. Kinda refreshing?”

“Yes...and you wouldn’t be wrong. Because, that really was the case for quite a long time…”

“I don’t quite get it but… why are we suddenly talking about him again?”

Hannah paused for a moment, “…Claude is…my…ex-boyfriend.”

“Eh?”

“It all began in middle school…” she started to explain, “Just as you’d expect, he was really popular among everyone, especially the girls.

He wasn’t really social but was quite soft spoken when he talked to others. Of course, he was also among the best in studies. Even I secretly admired him.

One day, he started to act differently. He seemed a little agitated, and wasn’t focusing in class. Then, he was absent the next two days.

Naturally, we were worried. But then the next day when he showed up in the classroom…”

「“Hey, you’re Hannah Rose, right?” (Claude)

“Hm…???” (Hannah)

“Say, wanna go out with me?”

“……!!!” she turned extremely red when the words finally sunk in.

“KYAAAA!!!!!” “Oh my god! Did you just hear that!!” “Quick bring out your camera!!” The crowd cheered and rambled.

“I-I-I…I-I’m so sorry!!” Hannah ran out of the classroom」

“Wait, so you turned him down?”

“Not really. I was happy that the person I admired had feelings for me, but that was just too sudden. So we ended up dating later on and the uneasiness faded.

I was just another naive little girl, being so elated after that. He became the only thing that appeared in my head afterwards. And one day, we were supposed to go on a date, so he came to our house to pick me up.

「Ding dong, he rang the doorbell.

“Yes~! I’m coming~!” and opening the door, “Sorry for making you wait, Claude!” she said panting.

“Nah it’s fine. Let’s go then.”

“Ahem!”

“Huh?”

“Well?” she twirled around.

“It’s pretty. Looks good on you!”

Blushing, “Y-You don’t have to be so blunt about it…” she poked her finger tips together.

“HEY!! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!” William came running.

“Grandpa?”

“Hannah, I hope you haven’t forgotten. You begin your training from today!”

“Huuhh~?? C’mon! But we’re just about to go on our da—…go shopping together!”

“No! It’s the Rose family custom to begin training at your age! Both your father and I did it, and so will you!”

“But…”

“It’s okay. I can shift my schedule on another day if you’re busy. I’ll be taking my leave then.” Claude assured her.

“What, no! After you came all the way here! Grandpa, say something!”

“Well I suppose he can come watch.”

“Yay! Isn’t that great? You’ll have dinner here too, won’t you?”

“Hehe, I guess I don’t have a choice…”」

“What happened then?”

“While I trained, he showed interest in it too. So he trained along with me. Surprisingly, he did quite well too. We even ended up having the same Material Natura.”

“Sounds like everything was going pretty well.”

“But the shock I received later destroyed everything… Just like any other day, we were returning from another date.”

「At the entrance of her house, “I’ll be fine here, Claude. Thanks for everything today! I really had fun!”

“......”

“You know, I wish we could spend our days like this forever. Training to get stronger together and also having fun outside. If only Grandpa doesn’t go so hard on you, you could easily fit right in our family,” she blushed, “B-But I don’t mean like ‘family’ family. That almost sounds like we’ll get m…ma…marr……oh I can’t say it!!” and put her hands on her cheeks. However—

“Ugh, I can’t take this anymore! How long do we have to keep doing this?”

“Eh?” she said confused.

“You keep on rambling about meaningless stuff. And you even spray weird perfume! It’s friggin annoying!”

“...C-Claude…what are you…”

“Do you still not get it? Oh, you’re such an idiot. I’m saying…” and he shifted to a vicious look, “…when do I get to destroy you and your pathetic family, huh~??”

Hannah was shocked speechless at what she saw. That was the first time she ever saw such a scary expression on Claude, no, on anybody! She simply stood stiff.

“AHAHAHA!! Man, you should really look at your face right now!” he made a claw with his hand, “Ugh, it pisses me off to no ends...” and slowly brought it closer and closer down on Hannah’s head.

But a familiar hand came in and grabbed his arm in its path.

After a moment of silence, “Hannah, get inside…” the voice spoke out.

“U-uh…” she nodded and turned back. Closing the door behind her, she leaned there until her legs gave in and she sat on the floor, her eyes looking like a dead fish.

“I’ve searched your background. You’re ‘that’ person’s grandson, aren’t you?”

“Let go of my hand, you shitty old geezer,” he jerked his hand free.

“I don’t know what you were told to do, but listen. What had happened was my son’s fault. As a father, I’ll take full responsibility. But as a grandfather, I’ll tell you this: LEAVE HANNAH OUT OF THIS.”」

“After that, I couldn’t even hear a thing. I just sat there, and then I walked backed into my room when I could muster back my strength.

Then the next day, something completely unexpected happened. I had calmed down, so I had no problem going to school. However…”

「“You got something to say?!”」

“I was sitting right there on my chair, when I heard Claude yelling outside, in the hallway.”

「“If you got a problem, take it out on my fists, you hear?!”

“Y-Yes! I’m sorry! Keep my money! Just leave me alone!” the frail looking student ran away in panic, and crying.」

“Naturally, I walked to the door to take a peek at what the commotion was about. There I overheard two girls talking…”

「“That was so cruel, wasn’t it?” one of them whispered.

“Yeah, this is the first time I’ve seen Brandt like this.”

“Speaking of which, isn’t he going out with Ms. Rose? I wonder if anything happened between them.”

“That’s right, they haven’t talked to each other today like they used to.”

“To witness such a dreadful scene, something must’ve definitely happened between them!”

“What on earth could Ms. Rose have done to turn someone so kind into such a jerk!”」

“I couldn’t handle it anymore. If it’s one thing I hate, it’s causing a misunderstanding!”

「“Hey, Claude! What do you think you’re doing? Do you realize what will happen if this reaches the teachers’ ears?”

“Huh? What, you’re still into me? Man, you just don’t give up do you? Listen up, I’ll spell this out clearly for you. I never had any sort of feelings for you, okay? Not from the beginning, not now, not ever. If anything, I’ve been pissed off for some time now. So go on. Go and do whatever you annoying girls do when you’re being useless,” and he gestured a shoo-shoo with his hand.」

“Just that moment, I felt hurt, but also a sense of relief. To be honest, I had simply marched out to say something, without a plan. But to think things would work out my way like this, was kind of unexpected.”

「Hannah smiled, “What a relief! That goodness you’re a bonehead who likes to yap his mouth all the time. You just took off a huge load off my back. By saying all that, you cleared out all misunderstandings and misdirected rumors that may have started. Now then, let me speak out as well. I’m going to punish you for every sin you commit! Outside is something different, but here in the school premises, I’ll make sure to discipline you!”

“Oh, really now? That was a really bad joke, if it was one. Just what can a useless piece of shit like you do? Just so you know, I’m stronger than you. And if you plan on punching me, you’re the one who’s going to get in trouble.”

“I’ll become the Student Council President! From here on out, there will be no broken rules gone unpunished! Especially for you!”

“Hiding behind posts and positions again, I see. What’s the point of leading if you’re not strong enough for people to acknowledge you?”

“Then I’ll become stronger! Just who do you think I am, huh? I’m the first and only daughter of the renowned Rose Family, Hannah C. Rose!”」

“And after that, this is how everything continued to be. I trained and got everybody to acknowledge me. But even after entering high school, and all the other students recognizing me, Claude was the only one who didn’t. Garth and Nicolas as well, who started to follow him in the third year of middle school, don’t really pick a fight with me like he does.”

“Hmm, I see. Pretty rough.”

“Yes, it is. That is why I keep apologizing. Even if it involved others, it doesn’t change the fact and this all grew from something personal.”

“You know, you should really stop apologizing. Doesn’t suit you. If you’re going to lead like how a President should, then you should just give the orders. Simply put, we’re just trying to fix up a problem child who bullies others, right? Then it’s no big deal. We’ll get stronger for sure. Just wait for us!” and he stared up at the moon.

At that time, Hannah was so dazzled. Shin was simple minded, one could even call him a plain idiot. But it was amazing at how dependable he could be, or at least sound. His strong, straight figure under the light gleam of the night sky felt reassuring.

Hannah found it ironic, but pleasant. Someone from a renowned Rose family, the next heir, who was supposed to act of high rank and nobility was being consoled by a nobody like Shin. No, he wasn’t just a nobody anymore. He was her friend. But in the light breeze that made their hair flutter, Hannah felt a different emotion other than ‘friendship’ arising from herself.

Her cheeks turned a gentle red as she stared dazed at him. The air felt cool as her body got warmer. Her breathing turned slow and steady; peaceful. Her tea… got cold. What a waste.

“Hannah, Diavolo-boy sure is taking his time. You sure he’s alright?” asked a voice of nobility, interrupting the moment.

“O-oh my god! Just look at the time! Really, what is keeping him so long? Maybe we shouldn’t have left him alone with Suzume after all,” she stammered at her grandfather’s sudden appearance.

“Are you sure he didn’t just get lost on his way back?”

“WHAA~? If that’s the case, why didn’t he contact me sooner! Quick, give me his cellphone number!” she swiped out a small device, about three-fourth the size of her small palms.

“Cell…phone? What’s that?” Shin gave a confused look.

After a few quiet seconds, Hannah processed the fact that Shin wasn’t really joking. She was so flustered for a moment that she forgot that he was from a desolate island and had no way of knowing about this new technology that had been developed.

It was different from traditional telephones that used wires to transmit information and were localized. It was also unlike crystal communication devices that needed to be paired up and used a lot of energy from the user to work.

It was an experimental new technology that used radio-waves to exchange information. It was originally designed for people who couldn’t use Natura or Raze to be able to communicate wirelessly. It’s only downside was that the cellphones needed to be within a certain range of radio towers designated to specific areas. The only requirement was to know the unique number of each device and to pay a small fee to the service providers.

However, since it was new, it was really expensive for the time being, and only wealthy people like the Rose family could afford such a thing.

“Oh, no. Nevermind, forget I said that. But what do we do now?! We don’t even know Miss Shiro’s telephone number! We also have an important day in school tomorrow! He mustn’t be late at any cost!”

“I could check the registry, but everything ‘down there’ is under your father’s jurisdiction. Although, if you think this is an emergency I could use my authority if you’d like.”

“Nah, it’s okay, Mr. William. Just leave him be. If he’s lost, it’s his fault. That’ll teach him to focus on the road more than the girl he was walking with, hehe! As for sleeping...well, he’ll find some place outside!”

“What? But he’ll catch a cold!”

“We slept in the forest countless times. I’m sure he can just find a tree or bush in the park and manage. Stop worrying so much! He’s not gonna let something like this do him in!” he reassured her, giving a large smile.

“It… bothers me as a host, but… if you say so,” she said, trying to avoid eye contact.

[Diavolo POV]

The two had arrived and were sitting in the living room. It was a moderate sized room where half was treated as the living room and the other was dedicated as the dining room. In the inner corner of the dining side, was a door sized opening which led to the kitchen.

From the outside, their house was an ordinary duplex with a small front and side yard. It looked like a place where a family of four or five could comfortably live in.

There, on the floor, Suzume cleansed his wounds and applied first aid, bandaging his ‘self-burns’. Bandaged or not, left arm and right hand pretty much looked like those of mummified corpses. Having rested a little, Diavolo stood up.

“This is so terrible… How are you feeling? You shouldn’t force yourself, you know,” said the concerned Suzume.

“Nope, I’m fine now. So, this is your house, eh?”

“Y-Yes. It’s not very much but…”

“You’re right. It’s kinda plain,” he said with an uninterested tone.

Suzume wasn’t sure whether or not he was mocking her. But she was definitely startled by that unusual remark and thus comically froze. It didn’t occur to her that after spending so long in a place where everything just screamed ‘Wealth! Wealth!’ he had unintentionally set that as the default standard for this city.

“But normal isn’t bad either. That mansion felt kinda alien to me to be honest. However, isn’t this house a bit big for just one girl to stay?”

That was because, even at such a time, Diavolo hadn’t encountered a single person after entering. He had expected to be seen by a parent at least, but nobody was there.

“T-that’s not really the case. My elder sister lives with me. She’s just out on a college trip for a few days. I’m a little skilled at cooking and maintaining the house, so I’ve been able to live no problem for some time.”

“Oh, I see…” but he had doubts. There was no way one’s sister would leave their younger sibling, who was being attacked, alone like this for a mere college trip. But he pretended to be convinced for now.

“Um, if it’s alright with you, you should stay here for the night! You’re hurt and it’s better if you don’t walk back in that condition! And besides…I kind of…owe you an explanation for what happened...”

Diavolo looked at her, his ear open, ready to receive the information. But looking at her, he saw she was hesitating. She seemed unsure of whether or not she should actually tell him, so he spoke out, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“Eh?”

“Everyone has a secret they want to protect. I’m not gonna force you or ask anything.”

“That’s not it! I just—”

“ANYWAY~,” he stretched his arms in moderation, “You mind if I trouble you a bit more?”

“… What is it?”

“You did the tedious job of cleaning the wounds and bandaging me up, but now that I’ve rested a bit, I’m all sweaty. I’ll kinda need to use your bathroom for a bit and you’ll have to wrap me up again. Any problem?”

“Um, not at all. The bathroom’s that way,” she pointed to the door beside the stairs that led to the second floor.

"Got it."

………

……

…

Sitting there, he unwrapped himself and bathed on, giving himself some alone time as the water sprayed onto his head. The moments passed slowly as he cooled himself down, letting the situation soak in. But then—

“I’m coming in,” spoke out a girl’s voice.

“Huh?” Diavolo turned his head to the door. The door slid open and entered Suzume wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her. Unable to see properly in the steam, Diavolo stared at the door, trying to think of why she was here.

As the steam cleared out, he could finally see her. Her face, red with embarrassment, she held onto the towel on her chest with one hand and another between her legs, making sure not even a hint was exposed.

“P-please don’t stare so much…” she said looking away.

Diavolo was caught off-guard. He did not expect such a turn of events. His old mischievous habits of peeping on girls with Bianca’s elder brother nudged at him to keep staring. But he snapped out of it and immediately looked back at the soap in front of him and covered his private parts with his hands.

He was feeling just as embarrassed as Suzume, only, unlike her, who acted timid, Diavolo got hyper and panicked, “W-What are you doing here?!”

“I came to wash your back.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? I can do that by myself!” he grabbed the nearby towel and put it over his thighs.

“No, you’re hurt, so I don’t think you’ll be able to scrub properly.”

“Just leave it be. This bruise isn’t even a—ACK!” he was interrupted by the sharp pain from Suzume suddenly grabbing his arm.

“See? You can’t even handle the pain of a simple touch like that. How do you expect to bend your arms back in this state? Stop acting tough!”

“Ugh…fine, I get it…” he admitted defeat, twitching in pain.

As she cleaned his back, the atmosphere was awkwardly silent. Scrub, scrub. Drip, drip. The anxiousness welling up in the two of them was preventing them from even making the slightest of verbal noise.

“Calm down, me! This is normal. She’s just cleaning my back that’s all. Don’t get any wild fantasies. Both of us are covered, she’s got her towel wrapped up, and I’ve got mine around my waist. Just make sure she doesn’t notice the rising if it does.”

Then Suzume was the first to break the silence, “It’s Hisao… Their leader’s name, I mean.”

Taking a split second to realise what the topic was about, his mind cleared up and only listened.

“I’m sorry for letting this happen to you all of a sudden. No matter how much you say you don’t care, I just can’t get rid of the need to tell you what this is all about. I won’t be able to give you all the details, but just a brief explanation of the circumstance I’m in.”

“But I told y—”

“Back then, I wasn’t hesitating. I was just contemplating on where to start. So…just stay quiet and don’t say a thing. Or it will only make it harder for me to say this…”

Nodding, “Mm,” was all Diavolo said in reply to her request.

“This is really just a family dispute that goes back many ages. Our ancestor, Isshin Aotsuki, once a great ruler, had 6 very talented children. On his deathbed, unlike the typical rule of giving this wealth and power to his oldest son, Hisao, he handed it to his second son, Akihiko.

According to Isshin, he was vulnerable to a great malice that lay in the future, so even if it pained him so much to not give his belongings to the child he spent most of his life with, he had to do it. Even so, Akihiko was not the kind to hog all power and glory. He wanted people beside him, close to him.

So he divided the power he was given by his father by five and passed them to his younger siblings, keeping one part to himself. As expected, Akihiko also honored his father’s will and intuition, so he didn’t give any to his only older brother.

Both saddened and angered, he left the land. But when he returned, he came along with what his father feared most: destruction of the whole family. He attained the power that wasn’t any of the material elements, Pure Raze: Darkness.

Of course he was stopped, or else we wouldn’t be here right now. But his ‘darkness’ still rages on today. Us descendants have long since cast away the Aotsuki name to hide more easily. Only the descendants of Hisao continue to use the name as a surname to instill fear.

I think at one point, a descendant even named a group for it. I think it was, HATE: Hisao’s Aotsuki Termination Efficacy. The name appears every now and then, but the one in our generation is probably trying to revive it.

The other four descendants are all scattered across the world, so they’re safe for the time being. I’m really weak compared to the others, so I’m being protected by my sister. But since she is gone right now, I needed someone beside me until she returned. She knew that this Hisao would utilize the chance. And you looked pretty strong. Well, there were others who were more skilled than you, but it’s just that…you called out to me, so…”

“You thought it would be easier to use me, is that right?”

“I’m really sorry!” she apologized with a trembling voice, “If I knew it was going to be this severe, I would’ve rather kept running from them all night! Please, just don’t talk to me from tomorrow on! Tell the others that I’m really sorry for all this as well!” she almost started crying as her eyes became more and more watery.

With a long pause, Diavolo took a deep breath, seemingly to calm himself down before forming the words he was about to say.

“Diavolo…kun?”

“Oh I see. And here I thought we were finally friends. So it was just you trying to use me as a meat shield, huh? Fine then. I’ll grant your wish and get out this instant.”

Suzume looked down with guilt, unable to reply to his harsh answer. But this was for the best. Someone as irresponsible as her didn’t deserve to be protected like this, was what she thought. Nobody deserved to die simply for her family issues.

After this, it would all be over. They’d get back to her happy daily lives. After all, it was just another day, right? If she could hold out for just that long, her sister would be back and everything would return to normal. Yes, thinking that, her heart felt reassured, albeit lonely.

“Is that what you thought I’d say?” he had a smirk on his face.

“Eh?” Suzume looked confused.

“Sorry, but that’s not going to happen. We made a deal and I’m going to maintain it. I’m as stubborn as a child after all! I didn’t call out to you for your sake. I did it on my own free will. And after learning about such circumstances, I can’t just turn back with my tail between my legs. If you didn’t know, I didn’t just come here to learn about Natura and Raze and stuff. I needed a challenge, something that would make me force myself to my limits and beyond, unlocking new peaks.”

“What do you mean?”

“Back on the island, I met Shin. We went to the woods together and always competed on everything. Some were so silly, they make me laugh now. Growing up there was fun and I thought that could last forever. But then one day…” he tightened his fists, “…the village was attacked by unknown ‘creatures’. And my mom was…killed right before me.

The immense pressure I felt back then was not normal. It was not just because of my mom’s death, but it was some sort of presence I felt from the assailant. My heart felt like it was being squeezed until there was no room for blood.

I knew from then onwards that there was something missing, a sort of power I did not have, but needed greatly. That power turned out to be the art of Raze, although I didn’t really know the term until recently.

So yeah, you could say my purpose is partly revenge, but it would be foolish to wander aimlessly for an unknown culprit. I literally have no leads. I find it much more fun to grow stronger like this. I need more opponents like that guy. I can’t fight my friends with a 100% killing intent, nor do I want to fight a half-assed fight. To be honest, I couldn’t have asked for a better circumstance.

Just take today for example. If it weren’t for that encounter, although I did get heavily injured, maybe I couldn't have unlocked this ‘new stage’.

Oh, but I don’t mean to say that I’m happy that you’re being targeted like this. Rest assured. Even if I end up losing a limb or two, my first priority will be to protect you! No matter how much you refuse, I’ll keep being selfish, got it?”

“Why?”

“Hm?”

“Why would you tell me something like that?! I mean, your mother was killed in front of you?! I did nothing to make you push yourself to say such a difficult story! Stop pretending to keep a straight face!”

“Well, but you took the guts to tell me about your story…even if I told you that you didn’t have to.”

“That was because I owed you an explanation for putting you in such a situation! You didn’t have to—”

“Then I owed you an explanation for not wanting to listen to you about leaving. Listen up, this is my wish! If you consider me a friend, then let’s get through with this together!”

A rainbow of emotions welled up inside Suzume. Her sense of responsibility and fear of causing great calamity was overshadowed by happiness. She held her hand on her chest, feeling her own heartbeat as tears of joy trickled down her cheeks.

“Idiot. Trying to act cool and all…” she murmured with a smile. Diavolo also replied with a grin.

Savoring the moment, they allowed a quiet pause.

Drip, “So~, now that that’s settled…we should probably get out of here now…” he finally broke the silence.

Achoo!

“See what I mean?” Achoo! he sneezed as well.

………

……

…

After dinner, and further bandaging, Suzume restated her proposal, “Um…Diavolo-kun…” blushing, “Y-you could stay here if you want. I mean, you’re hurt and I wouldn’t want you to force yourself too much…” she continued, poking her two forefingers together.

“Really? Well that saves me time. I just hope the couch doesn’t ache my back.”

“T-that’s not needed!” she pouted at the thought that Diavolo would think she would be so inhospitable as to make him sleep on the couch in his state, “We have a guest room. You can stay there!”

“That’s pretty convenient. Thanks! I’ll be at your care then.”

But going upstairs, Suzume twisted the doorknob, only to be stopped by a clank, “Oh.”

“What happened?”

“It’s locked. Hehe, I’m sorry! We don’t normally have guests over and my sister has the keys.”

“Hmm, well I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll be in the living room then,” and he turned away.

“No, wait! I can’t let you do that!”

“It’s not like we have any other options.”

“We do,” she said, blushing and looking down.

“Let’s hear it.”

“M-My…”

“Hmm?”

“You can…sleep in our room. S-Since my sister isn’t home, th-there’s space.”

“Sorry…I’ll pass,” he bluntly stated and started walking away, waving a hand.

“H-How rude! I mean, wait! This is a special case! I need to tend your wounds if anything happens! And besides…”

Diavolo stopped and looked back.

“…If I’m alone, I might get attacked again,” she pretended to act timid.

“Fine, I’ll sleep in your room. Happy?” he sighed. She curled a smile and nodded. But when they entered the room—

“Hey…why is there just one bed here?” Diavolo asked, seeing the only queen-sized bed in the middle of the room.

“Isn’t it obvious? My sister and I sleep together. It’s easier for her to tell if anything’s wrong this way. Also, it’d be much faster to guard me this way unlike if we were on separate beds if we were ever attacked in our own house. So you should just—”

“I’m leaving.”

“Hey!” she comically exclaimed. But inwardly, his blatant rudeness to her ‘hospitality’ was starting to get on her nerves. As such, she impulsively punched him in the gut. And with a thump, he collapsed half way on the bed.

“Oh my god! What have I done! What should I do?” she thought as she panicked.

But her scattered thoughts stopped when she started hearing a deep ragged sound. Focusing her ears, she realized it was Diavolo…snoring.

“Honestly, you scared me just now,” she sighed in relief, “I guess I can’t blame him. He had a rough day,” and whispered. “But you know…” she stared at him for some time, “…if you look at him like this, it’s almost as if he’s a little child,” and she giggled, looking at Diavolo’s innocent sleeping face.

“Now then…” she lay him across her bed and put the blanket over him. She changed into her pajamas and took her place beside him. After a final look at him, she smiled, “Goodnight… Rokkun,” and switched off the light.