Chapter Forty-Two: Bitch Demon in Love:

Kazue wasn’t nice, bubbly, cute, or charming. She worked in hell most of her life. The demon had an almost permanent frown on her face. (We’ll get into the “almost” part later. Let’s just focus on Kazue herself for now.)

This demon was not social woman. She spent most of her time in her room. Hotaru gave up on making Kazue nicer and bubbly. Mike and Emiko just left her alone.

“Why did we take her with us?” Hotaru asked twenty years ago. Emiko stretched her arms above her head.

“She has her uses,” she says. “Kazue knows her way around hell, she’s pretty strong, and really good with her wits.”

“Yeah, but does she have to be so… unpleasant?” the loli demon asked. Emiko pulled her into her arms and kissed her on the cheek.

“A fair exchange in my book,” she said. Hotaru forced herself to smile.

Yes, Kazue was difficult to live with. Even worse when she was in a bad mood.

But then March eighteenth happened.

Kazue was outside in town on that evening. Already, this was a bad combination. The demon just wanted beer. Hotaru rejected this idea.

“We are broke,” she pointed out. “If you want beer, you’ll have to get it yourself.” Kazue walked down the street with her usual frown.

“This is bullshit,” she muttered under her breath. “It’s not like I want beef or anything expensive. I just want some beer. Is that too much to ask for?” The demon snorted as she rounded the corner.

“Excuse me,” someone spoke up. Kazue’s nostrils flared as she whipped around.

“What?!” the demon snapped. A man about twenty-nine years old stared at her, panicked.

“Uh… I just wanted to know where the post office was,” he said. Usually, Kazue would snort, click her tongue, and give off a rude gesture. But, there was something about his dark blue eyes behind those black-framed glasses that gave her pause.

“Post office, huh?” she asked.

“Yes,” the man said. His voice… Oh, so calming. Kazue tilted her head.

“You’re trying to go there?” she asked.

“Yes,” the man repeated, nodding.

“Hm,” the demon said. This man gave her a strange look.

“So… Do you know where it is?” he asked.

“Of course!” she was quick to say. “Let me show you the way.” She grabbed onto his arm before he had a chance to speak.

Love is a foreign concept to few. They don’t even try to understand it. Love meant nothing to Kazue.

She looked up at the man’s profile. Despite the confused look on his face, he looked pretty cute. She wanted to reach up and play with his short black hair. His glasses didn’t look too bad either. The man’s eyes rolled upwards.

“Uh…” he said. Kazue looked up at him.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Why are you still holding onto my arm?” the man asked.

“Is that a problem?”

“Well… You are hurting me.”

“Oh.” Kazue loosened her grip. “Better?”

“I guess…”

The demon resisted the urge to smile. This actually felt nice. She could match it to playing war games on her computer while locked in her room.

“Oh, I didn’t quite catch your name,” Kazue said.

“It’s Naoki,” the man said with his eyes looking upwards.

“Naoki…” the demon repeated in a dreamy tone.

“And you are?” her new acquaintance asked.

“Kazue,” she said. The demon lifted her head. “Oh, I think that’s the post office there.” She pointed across the street. Naoki looked up at the lit up building with mailboxes lined up in front of it.

“Thank you so much,” he said. The man slipped his arm out of Kazue’s grasp. She watched as he walked across the street.

“Hey!” the demon yelled. Naoki froze and looked over his shoulder. Kazue shifted her shoulders.

“Um… Can I see you again?” she asked. Even that surprised her when she asked. Why would she want to see some human man again? Kazue didn’t even like anyone.

“I guess…” Naoki said. “See ya.” Kazue tilted her head as he walked away. Just this once wouldn’t be so bad, right? After all, they might not see each other again. The demon shook herself back into reality.

“Right,” Kazue said. She turned around and headed back to the 7-11 for her beer.

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-The Next Day-

Hotaru came down to the kitchen and found Kazue at the table. The loli demon rubbed her eyes as she walked further in.

“Kazue?” she asked. “What are you doing up so early?”

“Felt like it,” the other demon said. Hotaru became pale and shifty-eyed when she saw her housemate grinning.

“Is somebody dead?” she asked. “Did you do it and where’s the body?” Kazue raised her eyebrow.

“No,” she said. “No one’s dead. There are no bodies.”

“Are we going to hear about anything shady on the news?”

“No.”

Hotaru gave her a puzzled look. “So… what happened? You’re scaring me with that grin. Nothing good comes from you smiling. Bad things always happen. What did you do?” Kazue leaned forward, grinning.

“I met someone,” she said. Hotaru gave her a blank stare.

“What?” she asked. Kazue giggled.