“So let me get this straight. After all this, you still don’t know what kind of feelings Chiho Sasaki has for you?”
“It’s not that I don’t know. It’s just… You see how I am.”
Chiho’s kiss after the summit—that explosive bolt of energy that had built up for so long, following Maou’s delayed answer—was such a straight expression of her feelings, it trampled all over Maou’s nature as a demon. It wrecked his health, after years of never suffering any illness apart from malnutrition at a very young age. He could almost feel his body going out of control, like all the demonic force was leaking out of it. It struck him so hard that Sariel could’ve stuck a whole onion in the rice porridge he’d made for him out of spite, and he would’ve eaten it, not noticing.
“I want to cherish Chi. But if you’re asking me whether I care about her so much I can withstand this level of passion…”
“What are you, a preteen?”
“Huh?”
“No, maybe not that. You’re thinking like a man in his forties or fifties. The kind who, despite having actual feelings, pretends he’s not suitable for his partner, like some dried-up tumbleweed.”
“…My mind’s a little bleary, but I can tell you’re bashing me.”
“Not that there’s much point reasoning with someone willing to eat that kind of rice porridge…”
Sariel turned from the pot he was washing in the sink and sighed.
“I said this to one of your men before, but there’s no way to tell what the other person really feels in their heart. There are a lot of loving couples in the world, but how can you quantitatively measure that from the outside?”
“…Stop using all these hard words. My head hurts.”
“A perfect ten in Chiho Sasaki’s heart is different from a perfect ten in yours. You’re not duty-bound to give back exactly what your partner gives you, and besides, that’s not even possible.”
“Chiho’s ten is different from my ten…?”
“Lemme try to put it this way: Never once have I ever wanted Ms. Kisaki to reward my love poetry with some of her own.”
“Ha-ha…! I get it. If she asked for that, I’d take a step back, too.”
“Ms. Kisaki cares far more for work than for the trappings of love…and I’m fine with that. But if her exhaustion reaches its peak at some moment, I want to be wherever she returns to. I’ve always felt that.”
Sariel and Kisaki were not at all a couple. It was entirely a crush on Sariel’s part. Based on Kisaki as of late, their relationship wasn’t as stormy as when they’d first met, but if asked whether she had romantic feelings for Sariel, a hundred people out of a hundred would shake their heads. He was aware of that, of course, but that didn’t stop him from waxing on about this stuff. Truly an amazing case.
“So is Emilia’s father the type of person to sing love songs every time he sees Laila?”
“…I heard he’s pretty lovey-dovey with her, but nothing like that, no.”
“Is Chiho the type of person who’d weigh her private life against work and choose work every time?”
“…No. That’s not her style.”
Chiho didn’t have the sort of work-first, everything-else-second credo that Kisaki basked in. At least, she didn’t in Maou’s eyes.
“What, so you’re saying there’s no answer, then?” he asked.
“Not in terms of love having a particular shape, I mean. It all comes down to what you want Chiho Sasaki to mean to you. That, only you can say. Not even she can tell you. But if you ask why Laila and I can find it within ourselves to love human beings, well, it just comes down to how we want to be thought about.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I hate to say it, but the talk we had definitely helped me work out my feelings.”
“I’d hate to say that, too.”
Sariel was their enemy. Everyone who knew the archangel could tell that he’d never find the ideal future he dreamed of. But put that aside, and here was a man unafraid to discuss his most intimate hopes in detail—and in a way, thanks to Maou and Chiho, he no longer hid any of that from Kisaki.
“He’s so happy, isn’t he?” Maou said, chuckling.
“As someone who put me in a lot of danger,” Chiho said, smiling back, “I can’t say I like it very much.”
“So, yeah, Chiho…”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want you to forget about me.”
“Yes!”
“Why didn’t I erase your memories back then? I know I’ve said a lot, but in the end, it all boils down to that. I didn’t want you to forget about me. And now that’s even more true. If you forgot about me now, I know that’d leave a hole in my heart.”
“…Yes…!”
“So…give me just a little more time to answer your feelings. I’ve got one other thing now; one more thing I need to solve before I can answer you. Nothing to do with the assault on heaven. It’s a problem strictly about me…or between me and you.”
“…Yes!”
Tears were forming in Chiho’s eyes, tears she couldn’t hold back. She was trying her hardest to keep them in, but she was rapidly approaching her limit.
“That…and we have a certain order to think about. You remember what I told you, Chi.”
“Yes… Yes… Right.”
Chiho knew that Suzuno had confessed her love to Maou. It was different from the romance-driven love Chiho felt for him, but Maou had postponed his answer to those feelings as well. And no matter what he decided, Chiho made him promise that he’d save his answer to her for the very end. Considering Maou’s behavior up to now, that wasn’t too much to ask. That’s why Maou was so preoccupied with the “order” of things.
“…Um… Like, I’m sorry. You had yourself all ready, and I’m giving you this half-assed response.”
“That’s all right. I’m totally fine with it. But, um, I don’t think I, um, will be able to focus on studying too much today…”
Wiping away the tears she could no longer contain, she revealed a beaming smile beneath the streams.
“It’s certainly not done yet, after all.”
“No. If we can solve a few other things before then, it’ll be easier to think about more stuff.”
“…Thank you very much.”
“Don’t thank me. Really, I’m sorry I’ve made you wait so long.”
He put both hands against his cheeks. They were blushing—something very unusual for him.
“…!”
“Maou?!”
“…No, um, I—I feel so ashamed right now. I totally get why you ran from me that one time now. I, um, I’m gonna go on ahead a little! Good luck with your test prep, Chi! See you!”
Before he even took another breath, Maou was on his Dullahan II and pedaling away at a furious speed. Chiho watched him zoom away. It was all so unexpected.
“Oh, come on…”
She stood there until she could no longer see him. Then she shrank down, trying to shut in all the unbearable heat coming from within her chest. Despite her efforts, the love and happiness kept streaming out.
And that was why.
“But Maou…”
She wanted to release her feelings, like fireworks into the summer daylight. She knew everything there was to know about Maou—about Satan, the Devil King—but she still loved him. She wanted to shout it to the world.
And that was why…
“Haaahhh…!!”
Those feelings were exhaled, even hotter than the summer air.
Restraining the tears threatening to shoot out anew, Chiho took out her phone and called a very familiar number to her.
“Hello?”
She thought she was cutting it close timewise, but when she heard the noise in the background, she realized she was just in time. Or maybe the person she was calling was expecting Chiho to call her at this exact moment. The recipient of the call sounded like she was in a rail station—in front of Meidaimae Station, perhaps—and that made it natural for her to be able to answer Chiho’s call. And from that moment, until this one, the world that she saw had moved itself. Chiho wasn’t aware of this. But she was.
“Call? From Chi-sis?”
“Don’t take the phone, Alas Ramus.”
Through the speaker came the drama of a mother keeping a smartphone away from her child.
“Hello? Chiho?”
“…Yusa?”
Emi’s voice sounded as normal as ever. The same Emi Yusa that Chiho had known ever since she’d met and befriended her.
“Chiho? What’s up?”
Emi, picking up on Chiho’s erratic behavior, lowered the tone of her voice. She was worried for her, from the heart.
So Chiho drummed up the willpower to ask. She could no longer look at the path Maou had disappeared down.
“Yusa… Why… How… Did you know this would happen?”