Sadao Maou had no idea why Emi Yusa was being so kind to him. She had handed him an umbrella, and when he'd thanked her, she replied in a very cheery voice, twirling her own umbrella happily. Maou's suspicion may have seemed unwarranted to any who did not know of their history, but then again, few knew that Maou was the Devil from another world. Nor did they know that Emi was the Hero, a rare combination of human and Angel bloodlines, resulting in a very special power known as the Sacred Sword. It was said that the Hero of Ente Isla, the fantastical world from which the Devil and the Hero both hailed, was destined to stop the Devil. Emi was sure that she was the Hero of legend. No one had ever come as close as she had to defeating him. In fact, he'd only just managed to escape from Ente Isla after being defeated when he'd traversed the Gate and wound up stuck with no magical power in modern day Japan. Emi had followed, only to be trapped just as Satan had. And now, after witnessing a newer, more humanitarian side of Maou, Emi had little choice but to believe he had changed.

Maou had saved humans time and again, using up his precious magic to repair their buildings and structures, doing his utmost to prevent casualties and prevent knowledge of paranormal beings from Ente Isla from spreading. Emi had watched as he battled Lucifer. She had witnessed the King of Demons fight off angels and defend human life in one night. Maou had even saved Emi, though she was rather ungrateful for it. And now, after all that, they stood together in the rain, clutching their umbrellas.

"Hey Maou?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought… well, the Devil's Castle is pretty far away, and this rain isn't going to stop until later tomorrow morning. If you'd like you could-uh-come over and sleep on my couch or something, seeing as Dullahan was crushed by Suzuno."
Emi looked at Maou and was surprised to see Maou's eyes tear up.

"Are you seriously crying, Maou?"

"Many steeds shall come and go, but Dullahan shall always hold a special place in my heart."

"Ok then, you can walk back to the Devil's Castle in this downpour, that's fine by me."

"Wait… I'd be an idiot to refuse an offer to stay closer to work. Only one thing, what's the catch?"

Emi smiled big and sent a shiver up Maou's spine. For the first time since his manager had told him about a MgRonalds worker being sent off to Greenland, he felt fear.

"No catch, I promise. I just thought I'd be nice, seeing as you saved me from Sariel, but if you'd rather-"

"No! No that's fine, I'll take you up on that offer. Lead the way Emilia."

"No problem, Satan."

"Whoops, sorry. I meant to say Emi."

"I thought so."

When Emi opened the door to her apartment in the enormous complex, Maou was completely taken aback. He always figured Emi had a nice place, but she had made herself a fine little home in an unfamiliar world. She had a laptop with internet, a flat screen TV with cable, a fully stocked kitchen and a bathroom that Maou could actually move in without falling into either the tub, the sink or the toilet. While Maou showered, Emi set to work. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen and hid it in her sleeve. She slipped a small dosage of the Holy Vitamin Beta into the soup that she had been simmering since she'd left for work that morning. Emi frowned as she chopped and stirred and diced, finishing the final preparations for the set up. Sadao Maou would answer for his crimes on Ente Isla. He would suffer as Emilia's father had. And then, at the end of it all, she would kill the Devil.

"Emi?"

Maou's voice startled her as she focused upon how close her vengeance was. She slipped with the knife in her hand and accidentally nicked her thumb. It wasn't a bad cut, but it bled profusely. Maou stepped into the light, covered in only a towel wrapped around his waist. Emi didn't notice his lack of clothing until Maou stopped his approach and just stared at Emi. She looked and found him gazing intently at the blood on her hand, his eyes almost glowing with an insidious crimson light. His mouth hung open and his breaths were shaky.

"Maou, put some clothes on," Emi shrieked, unsure of what he might do next.

Maou's eyes blinked and in the moment they were concealed the glow vanished, leaving Maou looking normal, dumbstruck and dripping on the kitchen floor.

"You're hurt."

"I'm fine."

Emi turned away from Maou, rifling through the drawers about the kitchen in search of an expendable rag she could use to stop the bleeding.

"Here, let me help-"

"I said I'm fine!"

She continued to search through the numerous drawers about the kitchen. She tried to stop the blood from flowing but it was no use, she bled on the floor, on the counter and in several drawers she'd looked through. Emi's hair fell into her face and she huffed it away angrily. Finally she found a rag and tied it tightly around her thumb. With the bleeding stopped she once again noticed Maou's semi-nude state. She covered her eyes with her bad hand.

"Go to the guest room, check the trunk at the foot of the bed, there might be something in there for you to wear."

"Thanks."

Maou turned to leave.

"Oh, and Emi?"

"What?"

"Thanks for letting me stay here. After my battle with Sariel, I'm honestly not sure I would've made it home tonight. I mean, I could've been mugged and I would have been completely helpless."

"It's no problem."

Again, she spoke without feeling, just looking at the floor and making conversation, her voice betraying no joy whatsoever.

"Then why does it feel like it is a problem?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind, thanks again. I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning so you don't get too uncomfortable."

With that Maou left the kitchen. Emi leaned against the counter and crossed her arms, feeling the blade she'd hidden in her sleeve. She brought up a hand to her chin, holding her head up.

Am I doing the right thing? He may have been the Devil, but now he's just so…

She continued to think until she heard an insane howl of laughter coming from her living room. With a leap she took off, wheeling about to face the intruder. Instead she saw Maou, dressed in shorts and a tee shirt that were obviously not the right fit for him. He rolled on the floor in front of the TV, laughing uncontrollably at what Emi guessed was a child's cartoon. Maou poked the controller, hoping to stop his laughter so that he could breathe. Instead it flipped over to a stand-up comedian and after a quick one liner, Maou was on the floor again, giggling like an idiot. He spotted Emi staring at him from the doorway to the Kitchen.

"HA Ha haha, Emi, Haha ha ha Haaaa. Emi, you have to- HA- you have to watch this-s-s-s HA! HAHAhaaa! This is-" he inhaled deeply trying to calm himself. "This is great, I think you'd like this guy."

Emi stood there, fighting the urge to smile as she watched the Lord of Demons roll on her living room floor and laugh at jokes about the economy. Then a thought occurred to her, why was she trying not to smile? Why was she holding back her feelings of happiness and mirth? Because she was about to kill this man? Because she was too focused on revenge? If all of these bad things had happened to her, then didn't she deserve a laugh? Didn't she deserve to be happy? Emi smiled. For the first time in a long time, she actually entertained the thought of forgiving Maou. He was, after all, only human now. Could he really be held accountable for all the death and destruction caused in Ente Isla?

She returned to the kitchen and watched the soup, as it was very nearly done. When she had finally deemed it edible, she dished two bowls and activated her higher senses. The celestial force contained within the broth was detectible, but it wasn't unbearably strong. Everything in the apartment was coated in it, Emi's presence did that. The food was no exception, but would it pass by Maou undetected? She breathed a long, low sigh preparing herself for what she was about to do.

Fixing a smile on her face, she walked out to the living room and handed Maou a bowl, before slumping down onto the couch next to him. They sat together in silence and watched the news for a while until Maou broke the silence.

"Hey, the soup is great! Is there more?"

"Sure, it's on the stove. Help yourself."

Maou got up and entered the kitchen and Emi listened hard. She heard the lid being lifted off the pot of stew and the ladle scraping the bottom. She then paid closer attention to the TV as Maou returned and seated himself on the couch, resting against the opposite armrest as Emi. He scarfed down the food and stared intently at the TV.

"I didn't miss anything did I? I've been keeping tabs on current events, in case I missed anything in the clean-up after our battle with Sariel. The most I've heard is that he disappeared from his cell after my manager got him booked for being a creep. I don't sense his presence anymore though, so I think he's gone back to Ente Isla. If I had to guess, I'd say he'll be reporting to his heavenly superiors. What do you think, Emi?"

"I wouldn't know as I'm not an angel."

"Well, your half angel. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"You heard Sariel. There's a reason my power is called the 'Better Half.' It's because angels believe they're better than humans. We're just lowly beings who depend on the Angels to protect us from you demons," Emi said sarcastically, "so no, I'm not exactly kosher with the angels either."

"That's gotta be tough. I'm still confused though, prophecies and legends say that the Hero is supposed to stop the Devil. That's me. I would think that the angels would put you up on a pedestal or something. The Hero who stopped the Devil being half angel would be great publicity."

"Yeah, I'm confused too. Anyway, I'm gonna go to bed soon, I took an extra shift at work and I have to wake up early. Could you finish this?"

Emi held out her bowl of soup and Maou's eyes widened. He lunged and snatched the bowl away before Emi could react.

"I take it you like it?"

"This is amazing," he said thickly through a mouthful of potato, beans and meat. "This is the best soup I've ever tasted. You've gotta give Alciel your recipe. I bet if it tasted a little less celestial forcey it'd be a favorite of demons everywhere."

"You think so? Sure, let me just contribute to the feeding of your demonic army!"

"Sheesh, fine keep it a secret."

"Just kidding. You can have the rest if you want. You can take it home and Alciel can replicate it."

"Really? Are you sure?! Great, I'll take it. Actually, I'm not sure I'll have any left, any chance I could just get the recipe?"

"Wow, you demons sure are demanding… I'll print off a copy of the recipe, you finish off the soup. Then I think you can help me do the dishes!"

"…deal."

Emi clicked away, pretending to look for the recipe. Maou went to kitchen to finish off the soup and she waited for the Holy Vitamin Beta to work its way through the Devil's system. She knew it had worked when she heard his body hit the floor. She spun about and slowly approached the prone figure. He was lying next to the empty pot that, only minutes before, held the soup. His stomach had a bump from his gluttony and he giggled like an idiot. Emi had seen this before, at a party she had attended with Rika. The Devil had gotten drunk off of Holy Vitamin Beta. He looked up at her and his eyes glazed over. He had large pink blotches on his cheeks and his speech was rather slurred.

"Emi… I need to tell you shumthin. It's -hic- important. Jusht… don't hit me-hic-pleashe."

"What is it?"

"I can shee up your shkirt."

Emi delivered a sharp kick to Maou's ribcage, causing him to roll over and curl up, moaning angrily.

"I shaid… don't hit me. I even-hic-shaid pleashe."

Emi sat on the couch and looked down at Maou, the Ruler of Demons, whom was now in her power. The Holy Vitamin Beta would eventually wear off, so she decided to put her plan into action. She drew the knife from her sleeve and brandished it at Maou, whose glazed eye's suddenly widened with realization. Even in his slow and drunken state, he knew his life was at stake.

"You are going to answer my questions, Maou. And if I don't like your answers, I will make sure you die in the most painful way possible. Now, why did you kill my father?"

"I didn't."

"You DIDN'T," Emi cried.

"NO! You had LUCIFER and his ARMY do it, YOU are BLAMELESS, right SATAN?" Emi yelled every other word and Maou simply lay there, not trusting himself to speak. His mind was cloudy and his tongue felt thick.

"Emi, listen-"

"I don't want to hear it, Demon King, I know you did it!"

"No, Lucifer… I didn't… the army was ambushed. The town you grew up in… destroyed… before Lucifer got there. Knights were waiting. I swear to you, Emi."

Maou's head rolled as he looked at Emi, tears filling the corners of his eyes.

"I can show… I can let you watch… the memory."

"I don't trust you inside my head."

"Mirror."

Emi stood up carefully, concealing her body from the man on the floor as she fetched a mirror from the bathroom. It was rectangular and rimmed in metal. She set it next to Maou and kneeled next to the mirror.

"Do it," she demanded. "Show me what you're talking about."

Maou reached out a hand from where he lay and set it on the mirror. For a moment his eyes glowed brightly, a burning red glare. Then his hand sunk through the mirror and it became a black rectangle. An image slowly formed of a dark throne room and Emi stared down at a man, kneeling before her view point, presumably from a high throne.

"General Lucifer, reporting in, Sire."

"Good. I presume you have news?"

Emi didn't realize how long it had been since she'd last heard the language of Ente Isla.

"Indeed, Sire. It seems that our sources were correct. The Hero has been found. Unfortunately, we were too late. Upon our arrival a small force of Knights from the church and a single High Priest were waiting for us. After the battle we scoured the village. The Hero's family was not where our intel had said they would be. Everyone else had been killed beforehand. The lack of flesh wounds brought me to believe magic was the cause of death. Even so, the High Priest that we faced was not the culprit, as his magic was substandard."

"So you bring me news of failure?"

"No, lord. I bring good tidings, if you would only listen, I would convey them to you in good time."

"Speak then, but be quick," Satan said with a hint warning in his voice.

"Of course, sire. After piecing together the information I had, I decided to summon a swarm of griffons to track our mystery man. They were intercepted by a well-placed platoon of archers."

"You imbecile!"

Satan stood and charged at Lucifer. Meanwhile, Lucifer stayed where he was kneeling at the foot of his lords throne.

"The archers were then wiped out by the hell hounds I sent to track the one responsible."

The Devil stopped, his hand raised and glowing with energy.

"I recovered a letter, ordering the archers to stay where they were and intercept our griffons. It was signed 'O'. Using what little Celestial Force I had left I managed to sneak into Heaven. With a little negative influence, I succeeded in getting a name from that whelp Sariel. For an Angel of Death, he sure can't take a punch."

"Excellent. Now, what is the name."

"Olba Meyer, the High Priest of the Church and Inquisition. I believe they intend to rest the blame for the destruction of the village on your shoulders. This will give the Hero ample cause to kill you, Sire."

"This is just like the Church, out bedeviling the Devil. Very well, continue your push into the territory. How was Heaven, by the way?"

"As beautiful as ever."

"Continue to serve me faithfully, and you can build your own Heaven when all is said and done. However you like it."

"I think I'd keep it as it was," Lucifer said with a smile.

He turned and strode away from the throne.

"Exactly the same as it was," Satan asked.

"Well," Lucifer said with a grin, tilting his head in thought, "I suppose it would look a lot better in black."

With that the doors slammed shut behind Lucifer and the mirror solidified, turning reflective and normal once more. Maou shook with the effort of casting the spell and rolled over, threatening to vomit on the floor.

"Olba," Emi said, her eye's wide and her world spinning underneath her.

"How could he? How could he do this… I thought…"

"I didn't… I didn't kill him… Emi."

Maou reached up a hand, almost touching Emi's cheek. Before he could, his strength failed. Emi straddled Maou before raising a fist and bringing it down onto Maou's jaw. Tear's fell but she appeared irate more than anything. She looked like she would kill Satan right there and then.

"So you didn't kill my father. The atrocities you've committed, that your subordinates committed while serving you are still so fresh in my mind… I could… I should…"

Emi raised the knife. It would take more than one stab to kill the Devil. As a demon, he was naturally stronger, a predator designed with the express intent of hunting humans and even lesser demons. No, the knife would hurt at first. Then, after he'd suffered, he would finally die.

And yet the knife stayed where in hung from her clenched fist. It shook, slightly at first, then more and more violently. Emi's breathing became ragged and harsh.

"What would… you do… for your kind, Emi? I did… what I thought... would save demons… from the Church. The same Church… that has killed millions… more demons than you know of. I… saved… my… people. There are now-"

Maou drew in a shaky breath, blood pooling in the back of his throat from a split inner lip. He swallowed the metallic tasting concoction that made up his human body and pressed on.

"There are now less… demons in Ente Isla than humans… I… I can't undo… the past… but I can change… my future… my life here… with you… and… the group. I want… a fresh start… a new beginning… free of my kind's burden… the burden of being hunted… all our lives…"

"MAOU!"

The knife came down and sank into-

the floor?

It sank right up to the handle into the floor next to Maou's head. The blade had sliced his cheek on its path down, Emi barely managing to change her original course of stabbing him in the eye. Once again, the demon lord was at her mercy and once again she'd spared his life. This was the being that threw the entire world of Ente Isla in chaos… or had he. The truth began to unfold right before her. Emi's life, her training, the Church's structure, the Church's priests. All of it. It was all cunningly done, to make out Satan as the villain. From the moment the Pope had come to claim her and make her the Hero, Emi had just been a tool. A puppet. The thought shook her to her very core. The she saw Maou, prone underneath her, dripping blood onto her carpet, tears still running from the corners of his eyes. His hand's shook and he looked pale compared to the black hair of his head. Emi pulled the knife from the floor and held it to Maou's collar.

"I want to know. The Church, what else have they done? What else are they responsible for?"

"Everything."

Hey all, if your actually took the time to read through this, you're awesome! Or maybe just really, really patient. Anyway, this was inspired after I watched the Devil is a Part Timer and I felt compelled to write, which is something I don't often do anymore. Also, it was written about a year or two ago, so yeah, I hope my writing has improved. It's a romance, and it takes up right where the anime left off, so if you feel that Emi and Maou's relationship needed to really move it's ass, here you go, keep reading.

ALSO! A huge thank you too Kokoyoromi of DeviantArt for allowing me to use her art as the cover image! Her art is amazing and her skill with anime styling and anatomy in general is to die for, I only wish I could draw half as well as her. Please check out some of her other stuff at: