Kuoh Town

The day 'Eir' sat on Shouki's desk under the light of the sun, the boy sat upon his bed with a simple toy in his hand. It was nothing more than a faceless doll with a crude drawing on its head. It looked as if it had been squeezed ragged over years, and if one looked hard enough, the drawing on the head looked a bit like the devil Takumi had come to call his friend. When asked what he'd done this day, he held the doll with both hands and looked up to the devil. "I... I colored this. I've had it for a few years, but lately I... it lets me pretend you're there when you have to go," he said of the raggedy doll with its stuffing beginning to spew from the stitching in its side. "What did you do? Do you have any more devil stories?"

Eir sat upon this boy's desk looking at the doll he held. It seemed to be well loved and he showed a bit of attachment to it. He claimed he'd had it for years, but today was the day he'd colored it. Upon closer inspection she could see that it looked a bit like her. And if she needed any confirmation of this, the lad's words were ones which seemed to hint that he'd made it to look like her for the times she was away from him. "Sou ka, it looks really cute. I'm glad it keeps you company~ Let me just add in the finishing touches~" she gave a slight moment of pause before a magic circle appeared around the doll causing a minor upgrade. Stitching the side of it closed and adding little bat wings to it. She didn't change it much at all, just added a bit of flare. When asked about Devil stories she thought about what her day had gone before this point. She'd left him the previous night after tucking him into bed.

"Let's see... last night I had a contract. It wasn't really interesting or anything, but... I'll tell you about it if you want," she mentioned. The story was a bit long so she moved, choosing to seat herself behind the lad wrapping her body around him so she could tell him of her night's adventure. "I was summoned to a house, it was said to be haunted. All day and all night they could hear this music, but never figure out where it was coming from. Nothing in the house played the song... and nothing they tried to do would drown it out. It was like the family was cursed to hear this one song, over and over again~" she mused thinking about it now that it was over, the entire thing was just a little funny. "But it turned out, that the house had a secret space, like a play room for the previous owner's kids, covered on the outside by a bookshelf. And they were into the occult, they'd given their kids a music box which played this one song... so they could have it even when they were gone," she stated explaining it. "The music coming out of the box was enchanted with power to make the children sleep, but it wouldn't turn off unless the parents turned it off," she said. "But apparently an impish neighbor found out about the box and went in and turned it on while wearing ear plugs and then just left it there. So, whenever the people were looking for it, they couldn't find it, but it always played over and over again. And since it wasn't enchanted for them, it'd just keep playing forever...." she said. This problem was a rather minor one on the scale of things she encountered but still she enjoyed helping people and would do so no matter what. "So, I found the music box, it was pretty easy after I realized I wasn't crazy and the music wasn't just following me around. And then I drained the magic from it so they could keep the box. It was antique, but they said the didn't want it, and gave it to me... They were nice people," she mused. "Actually that was probably kind of boring for a whole night huh, Shouki?"

Eir delivered a compliment to the young boy on the design he'd given the doll, and he grinned while looking at it. This expression turned to one of surprise as she used her magical abilities to repair the tattered item, and even spruce it up a bit by making it more like the devil she was. He seemed very excited about this, and he even went on to squeeze the doll right then and there. "Sugoi! Your powers are awesome, Eir-san! Arigatou!" he exclaimed.

The female devil did indeed have another story to tell. To do so, she took a position against Shouki which clearly provided him great comfort by the way he immediately sank into it. He listened intently, first staring into the face of the doll, then looking her in the face as his excitement grew more and more. There was much depth to this tale, even though it may not have been very high on most people's lists for its resolution. Takumi had no stories of his own though, and had nothing to use as reference for how great of an experience it was. As such, when Eir claimed it was probably boring, he shook his head with much intensity. "Iie, iie! I tried imagining myself there with you the whole time; I would have enjoyed being there! Everything you do sounds like so much fun," he continued. At this point, the mood of the young male went south rather quickly. He looked at the doll again, squeezing it gently with both hands. "All I do is sit here and be nothing. I want a life like yours, with you there..."

"Iie, that's what friends are for. I'm glad you like it," she said in response to the thanks she received as well as the praise of her powers. She concluded that if she had a magic that could help the lad, helping him out a bit for these moments wasn't a really big deal. Besides that she enjoyed his company truly and seeing him happy made her happy.

Though she'd thought the story of her previous night boring, it seemed the lad in her company thought it the exact opposite. In getting to know him over an extended period of time she noticed that he didn't really go out much. He didn't hang out with other children his age, he attended school and came home and she wondered if he knew the kinds of things the world really had to offer. The fact that he thought he would have enjoyed the haunted house which though mild was still potentially life threatening led her to wonder what this child's tolerance for such information was. "Really? You would have enjoyed something like that?" she teased the lad just a bit. Her boring nights didn't make for good material, it barely made for okay conversation. Regardless of that point, she heard what this lad thought of himself and how he viewed his own life and she couldn't disagree more. "Iie, Shouki," she started while she gave the lad a gentle squeeze meaning to be a bit more comfort to him. "You aren't nothing, you're my friend," the girl mused. "If you want a life of interesting things... why don't we go out and do some interesting things next time, hm?" she said. She had no adventures to speak of, but she wanted this boy to experience the fun of life. And deep down, the idea that he wanted her as part of his life made her really happy, in a way she couldn't begin to explain or vocalize.

"Ou. It sounded really great, like one of the mysteries in the books!" Shouki asserted. Moments later, Eir was asserting the clause that the boy was not, in fact, the 'nothing' he claimed to be. Instead, she would have him believe he could be something in the form of a friend to her. This alone was a very big deal in the child's mind and heart, and just as great was the idea of the pair doing something interesting when next they met. Shouki's gaze returned to the devil, and there was much light in his eyes. "Hai!" And so, this blossoming friendship persisted. Again and again they met, for just over two full years. Shouki had never enjoyed himself so much as when the devil woman appeared to him each time. Over the course of it all, he became more and more invested in the idea of her appearing more and more.

All things end though, and this relationship with a devil would be no exception. Shouki eventually had to learn this the hard way, and he did so at the worst possible time. He'd come to accept that there was nothing else for him outside of his interactions with the female devil, even when he attempted to branch out and fill his time away from her. So, he sat on his bed one night, as he had done for nearly a week in wait. She was gone for longer than he was used to, and much longer than he would have ever liked... yet he was excited. The longer he waited, the more excited and anxious he became. Each night away this week was no different than the last. He sat at the edge of his bed, holding in his hands not the doll he made two years before, but a wrapped box... a special sort of present for his one and only friend in this world.

As this dream shifted there were years of activities between this pair of people. They saw each other on and off while she cared for a nearby area, while she balanced her life between being a Devil and being friend to this one lonely little boy. But the thing which called her away took her to the Underworld and when she returned she was not happy. It had nothing to do with the boy, but everything to do with what had to happen next and what she had to do. She didn't want this to happen, she'd grown unusually attached to this child over the two years she'd spent with him. He was charming, sweet and exceptionally thoughtful. These were all things, Eir enjoyed in people the selfless sort who thought of others, it was what she strove to be. Knowing this lad had grown up in such a way made her heart warm but after more than a week of waiting when she appeared before him, she'd have to give him news that she wasn't exactly sure he'd handle well. When she showed up in his room this night she wore a black suit jacket rolled up to her elbows fitted to her form with a white dress shirt beneath with a small belt like closure at the neck. To complete this look she wore a plain black mini-skirt and a pair of wedge heeled shoes which were black with gold trim and showed off a single toe on each foot. If one was being honest she looked like she'd skipped out on a party, and in fact she had, but it wasn't the sort of party she enjoyed anyways. Here in this room she felt at ease and she looked to the boy on the bed with a grin. "Konbanwa Shouki, I'm sorry I'm late... how have you been?" she asked the lad opening her arms to greet him with a hug as she always did.

After so many nights of waiting, the moment had arrived. Eir appeared before the boy who'd now become a teen. Her ensemble was something quite new to him, and the sight of it alone brought a tint to his face to accompany the widening of his eyes. "Sugoi," he muttered in a near-silent appraisal. In this moment, he held the box closer to himself in a simple act of reflex. It took the boy a few moments to speak, but in response to the question of how he'd been, he had only one thing in mind to say. When he spoke, he did so in a somewhat nervous manner while hopping forward to tightly wrap his arms around the woman. "Ano... I've been the same as always. I was really excited to see you again though. You... look nice. Are we doing something special today?"

Though his appraisal of her appearance had been nearly silent Eir still heard him and managed to shrug it off just a bit. She couldn't help but wonder what went on in this lad's head. But he greeted her the way she chose with a hug wrapping himself around her and questioning her attire properly and asking about their potential activities for the day. He even commented that she looked nice and this made her chuckle. "Really? I was kinda going for underwhelming with this..." she said of her most recent fashion choices. Whenever she went to the Underworld she chose the most underwhelming outfit she could, mostly on purpose as a minor act of rebellion. She didn't think it actually helped much but it made it stand out when she was trying to impress. "I didn't have anything special in mind but I am happy to see you too~ I do have something I need to talk to you about, but is there anything you had planned for today?" she said, her words at this moment were careful and measured and she squeezed the lad a bit tighter than the norm before gently beginning to release her hold on him.

"Iie. It looks better than anything I've ever seen a person wear!" he concluded. Here in this devil's embrace, the boy called Shouki felt most at ease. As such, her tighter than normal grip to match his own was well beyond satisfying. She made a strange note that she had nothing special in mind for their day, but wondered if he did. This was initially something very strange due to how well-dressed she was the moment of her appearance; Shouki had hoped for something exciting on this day in particular. When she released her hold of him, he seemed abashed and even more nerve-wracked than before. "Well... no, no plans really. I wanted to talk to you too, though. What did you want to talk about?"

Eir's eyes widened at this lad's compliment. And for the first time in a really long time, she managed to look a tiny bit abashed. "Ara, well... arigatou gozaimasu~ It's really nice of you to say something like that..." she mentioned to the lad. She got compliments on her looks all the time, it was almost as if people couldn't stop themselves from constantly looking at her and liking her looks. Even so, something about the comment from this young boy, who was her friend first made something warm well up in her chest. It was almost as if this warmth could burst from within her person it became so large so quickly. Strangely this lad said that he had nothing in particular planned except that he wanted to talk too, this brought the light of curiosity to Eir's eyes but she didn't know if she'd be better off saying what she needed to say now or later. Strangely she felt suddenly indecisive so she decided to tell the lad a story as she often did when she was gone for extended periods of time.

She moved to sit down on the bed and motioned for him to join her and while he did that she began to speak. "So, I've been gone for a week, and I went to the Underworld..." she mentioned with a small smile. "A lot of humans get the wrong idea about the underworld, it isn't always this dark scary place full of dead people or anything like that, it's just the realm were Devils live. Each Devil Clan has a large estate with all kinds of stuff in them, and everyone of them specializes in something different. They don't really live very differently from humans. Some are bureaucrats who sit in offices and give orders. And some are soldiers who fight in wars, just like regular armies... Some are parents who have and raise kids. It's pretty normal aside from the wings and long life spans..." she mentioned. "While I was there, they gathered a bunch of the young Devils ones in my age range and showed us all some things. Like our potential based on deeds, whose lands are in better condition, and who's been doing a good job with their assigned tasks. If I had to liken it to something I'd say it was like a review at an internship or something like that..." she mused. "And then they gave us all new orders and they threw us a going away party. More like an all grown up party, it's why I'm dressed like this. I kind of skipped out on the party, I kind of hate those, they can be really annoying," she mentioned, she knew the lad didn't socialize very much so she didn't go into many details on it. But the part she hated about parties like that was when random other Devils approached her based on her last name alone and wanted to talk with her. In moments like that, even in a room full of people, she felt absolutely alone. But her loneliness didn't matter in a moment like this, not with what she had to say, teetering right at the edge of her speech.