Archive of Our Own

'This was it,' Emi thought. Alas Ramus considered Chiho family already, Ashiya nagged about Maou needing to save for the wedding, Suzuno and Rika were always talking about trying to pick dresses for the event; even Lucifer was oddly excited at the idea of the wedding and told Emi that Maou was looking into rings. Not that he needed to do that, the former Demon King himself had asked Emi to confirm Chiho's ring size months back, so she knew this would come sooner rather than later. It would be a lie to say Emi wasn't also excited. The idea of everything changing made Emi queasy, but she wouldn't be so cowardly as to let that stop her from celebrating the happiness. This would be the first wedding she'd go to, and Chiho and Maou were dear friends to her.

Chiho started with the expected small talk, asking about work and Alas Ramus. Emi decided to respond in kind and ask about school and Chiho's friends in London. She sat across from her young friend and prepared for the question she knew would follow.

"Oh well, Lily graduated a year early. She's engaged now, and the wedding is set for next month!"

'Here it is, the perfect lead-in," Emi nodded along and held her breath as Chiho spoke her next words. But it wasn't what she expected at all.

"She asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, and it's nice and all, but it's a lot of work, you know? I can't imagine putting myself through all that stress right after finishing school and in the middle of settling into my career." Chiho laughed it off, but Emi was lost. Isn't that precisely what Chiho was going to do? Move back to Japan and plan her wedding with Maou during her final year of studies and then get married as soon as she graduates?

Emi asked outright, "Chiho, am I right in assuming that you called me here to talk about something specific? Stop beating around the bush then."

Chiho's eyes widened a little, and the bit of confidence she built up while talking seemed to disappear. She bit her lip and ate a few bites into a burger she ordered during their conversation before she finally worked up the nerve to answer.

"I applied for a master's degree and got accepted." Her eyes turned downcast, "You're the first person I'm telling this to, but I'll be in London for another two years or so." Emi raised an eyebrow and cocked her head, gesturing lightly with her hands to encourage Chiho to continue. Chiho did not say anything more, and Emi felt her heart rate pick up as the younger girl continued to avoid looking at her.

"Hold on. I don't see what's the problem here. So you're going to continue your education, that's amazing, Chiho. You're brilliant, and I'm sure you'll do well. Have a bit more confidence, yeah?"

"I'm sorry." Chiho's eyes started watering up visibly. "I know I shouldn't dump this on you, but you're my best friend. And I'm so sorry for being so selfish."

"Wait, wait, calm down, Chiho!" Emi moved to try and pat Chiho from across the table. "Just slow it down and let's take this from the beginning; what is happening?"

Chiho took a few deep breaths and finished her burger before she broke the news. "I'm breaking up with Maou."

Emi felt like the ground dropped out beneath her, but Chiho pushed forward, having found some courage.

"I love him, I really do still love him, but I don't think we have the same idea of life. I want to stay in London, and he wants to live in Japan. I know he wants to get married and settled, but I want more time to explore the world and live life, and I just can't do it. I can't compromise my life even if I love someone. I've tried and prayed, but this relationship cannot work like this, and I don't want him to compromise for me either. I knew I wasn't ever going to be ready in the way he wanted, I knew we were starting this at very different points in life and things wouldn't be simple, but I was selfish and didn't want to let it go. But now I can't do it. I'm sorry, Emi."

Emi took a few sips of a drink to catch her thoughts before asking, "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I know you love Maou-san." Emi's breath stopped, and she choked on the air. "Because you guys have Alas Ramus and I've spent four years selfishly getting in your way. And also because, as I said, you're my best friend, Emi. You've looked out for me through everything and stood aside for my sake. You deserved my first apology."

Chiho's tears slowly started falling, and she wiped them away lightly. "So I'm sorry again. And I know this doesn't make up for anything that's happened, but please know that I care about you and didn't want to hurt you. But I know I did, and for that, I'm sorry."

"Hang on, hang on! Chiho, I think you're mistaken about a lot of things here! You don't owe me any apologies!" Emi looked around frantically for some tissues as Chiho continued to cry. She stood from her chair to grab a few extra napkins and hand them to the younger girl.

"Let's backtrack one more time. So you're not ready for marriage, that's fine! I'm sure if you talk to Maou, he'll agree to take things slower, and if you want to stay in London, maybe you guys can do that. There are options here which are way less extreme, don't you think?"

"But that's not what I want, Emi," Chiho sniffled while holding some napkins lightly against her eyes to catch the tears. "I don't want a long-distance relationship. I don't want any relationship right now, even if I love Maou. I know I'll make too many sacrifices if I stay tied to anyone, and I want to live life freely for now. Maybe it'll be temporary or it won't, but I know it wouldn't be fair of me to ask Maou to wait around just for a maybe."

Emi's head spun as she tried desperately to right things. Clearly Chiho was freaking out, and soon enough, she would stop and think and realize that she didn't really want what she was saying. She had spent all the years Emi knew her dreaming about being with Maou forever, and it made no sense for that to change in just a few months. Maybe it was nerves; maybe she was scared of how things would change the way Emi was.

Chiho continued before Emi could find the words to comfort the younger girl. "In the meantime, you can have Maou! I won't be so selfish to keep you guys from happiness while I run around. So if you decide you care for each other the same way, then I'll be fine and step aside for you."

Emi blinked and thought about things for a moment. Try as she might, it looked like it would be impossible to avoid talking about this. Chiho was hung up on this idea of Emi loving Maou and Emi… Well, Emi needed to set things straight to avoid any more confusion for the young girl.

"Look, Chiho, I appreciate your concern about my feelings, but I promise you're mistaken. Maou and I will always have a complicated relationship, and we're on much better terms, but it isn't what you're thinking. And besides..." Emi trailed off for a second, glancing to the side as she felt her checks flush, "I'm seeing someone right now."

Chiho stared at the great hero of Ente Isla, who sat there twirling her hair like some school girl with a crush.

And suddenly, it was like something in Chiho's mind just clicked. Emi's recent interest in current fashion trends, the phone calls overseas at odd hours to ask for recommendations on romance movies, the fact that she cut her hair shorter for the first time in forever.

Chiho's eyes lit up suddenly, sparkling at the thought of her oldest friend finally making some moves in her personal life.

"Oh my god, Emi! I didn't even realize you were dating at all!"

Emi's cheeks only seemed to get darker at that comment, and she waved her hands frantically, desperate to clarify things, "No, it's not like that! I'm not going around and dating any random yahoo. I just, I sort of realized I had more in common with this one person than I thought."

Chiho seemed even more excited by that idea, "Oh, so it's someone you've known for a while? That's so romantic, Emi!" She practically jumped across the table to grab Emi's hand between her own, "Who is the guy? Do I know him?"

'Of course,' Emi thought, 'I should have seen that question coming.'

Emi swallowed, and her flush faded as her eyes stared everywhere but at Chiho.

"Well, you see… It's a bit complicated?" Emi's voice squeaked in reply, sounding more like a question than a statement. Chiho's scrunched her eyebrows together and sat back in her seat.

"What does 'complicated' mean exactly?"

"Um, I sort of, that is to say, uh," Emi stumbled on her words. She swallowed her nerves and cleared her throat before trying again. "I can't tell you his name. Or anything about him."

"What?" Chiho blinked in confusion.

"Yeah, it's a funny story," Emi laughed nervously, "The whole thing is sort of new, right? And we don't want all the attention, so we both agreed that we actually wouldn't talk about it. Like to anyone, at all. Not even friends."

Chiho sipped her Pepsi in silence, eyes narrowing at Emi.

"It's not like I don't want to tell you!" Emi continued in panic. "It's still too new to say how this will go, that's all! And we're just being cautious because it would be a bit embarrassing to have my first real relationship fail, you know?"

"Who else knows you're dating? If I asked Rika or Suzuno would they know? What about Alas Ramus?"

"Uh… You're the only person so far."

Chiho nodded slowly, "So you're in a secret relationship that you haven't even told your daughter about. And that's why you aren't interested in Maou anymore."

"Hey, I never said I was interested in him in the first place!"

"Emi, you know this all sounds like either you've already been cheating with Maou, or you're lying? And I know you and Maou well enough to say neither of you would be able to keep up lying long enough to cheat."

"I would never be involved with that moronic devil!"

"And that's the problem!" yelled Chiho, standing up from her seat and slamming her hands on the table. Her actions, unfortunately, brought far too much attention to the two ladies, and they both apologized for the disturbance before sitting down to continue the conversation.

"You've got a problem with just letting your pride go, Emi."

"Ex-excuse me?!"

"You heard me! Your stupid ego and pride have stopped you from just admitting what everyone can see. You love Maou. And you keep sabotaging your chances because you won't let go of a petty grudge."

"Well, first of all, I'd be a pretty rotten friend if I tried to go after your man."

"But I'm giving you permission! I am here, telling you that I won't be sad or angry if you finally give it a shot with him, and instead, you make up a flimsy lie about a fake boyfriend! You could accept this but no! You insist and dragging up your past and never moving on!"

"Screw you, Chiho!" Emi yelled while standing and gathering her stuff. "I never asked for your permission, and I don't want it! I am trying to move on, and I am happy, even if that's hard for you to understand. I'm sorry for not accepting your problems and solving them for you, but if you want to be a coward who breaks up with Maou, don't drag me into it and act like I'm part of this mess."

And with that, Emi stomped out of the MgRonald's, munching the remainder of her burger and tossing the wrapper, leaving a distraught and crying Chiho behind.

Emi returned to her apartment after the very long conversation with Chiho. She felt bad about ditching the younger girl the way she did, but it wasn't Emi's place to get involved further. She was done being a hero; she'd earned the right to be a little selfish.

She hooked her keychain by the entryway and stepped further into the lush apartment, only to scream as she saw another person lying across her couch, tapping away at a mobile game.

"Yo," was all the greeting and explanation Urushihara gave. "How was the meeting with Sasaki?"

Emi shook her head and decided to skip her usual accusations about breaking and entering. Those lectures never stopped him, and he assumed he had full rights to her place just because she gave him an extra key for Acies.

"It was horrid," she answered honestly. She shoved his legs aside and plopped on the couch with him. Urushihara paused his game and put away the phone to sit up and listen to her rant about the disastrous meeting.

"So Chiho is being really stupid about the whole marriage thing, you know? I mean, she's the one who has always wanted to be married, and heck, even a few months ago, she was convinced that marrying that moron was what she wanted in life. But suddenly, today, she came to dump her insecurities all on me! She had one excuse after another, she wants to continue school, and so she thinks she can't get married. And again, she brought all this to me as if I would somehow absolve her of her guilt. And I'm tired, you know? I want just for once for people to look at me as more than just Emilia the Hero who always does the right thing!"

"Emi, just calm down and breathe!" Urushihara grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her until her breathing calmed down, and then he gently wiped away her tears. Emi hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

"So, what is this really about?"

"Uh, wha-"

"Yeah, don't try that Emi. We both know that you wouldn't just break down crying like that out of nowhere. So spill it, what did Chiho say that set you off so bad?"

Emi wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse to be read as easily as a book by the former archangel.

"Chiho said that she knew I was in love with Maou."

Urushihara raised an eyebrow but gave no other comment. Emi was thankful that he kept all judgment to himself.

"And she's right, sort of. I mean, a lot went on, and it was stupid, and I planned to take that secret to the grave with me, but she saw right through it. And I don't know, it hurts a bit. She knew for years that I was going to give him up for her, and she just... God, it's so stupid to blame her for my decision."

Urushihara gently patted her head and pulled her into his lap. It was comforting, and she couldn't help but let some more tears fall. They sat in silence for some time, her crying out her feeling quietly and him tapping away at his mobile game while keeping his free hand on her head.

"It's not dumb, by the way," he replied. "And it's a jerk move of her to force you at Maou like some cheap rebound just because she is afraid of marriage suddenly."

Emi sniffled a bit, "She's not forcing me on him. And she's actually been really respectful over the years. She's never asked me for relationship advice, never divulged too many uncomfortable details about them. In hindsight she's been doing a lot to spare my feelings."

He nodded, "Okay then."

And then they were back to the silence. Emi finally gathered her strength and pushed off his lap. She walked into the bathroom to splash her face and then came back to sit on the sofa, laying her head on his shoulder while she mindlessly watched the bubble popping game on the screen.

"I should probably apologize for brushing off Chiho's worries, yeah? Maybe I should set up another meeting to help ease her worries some more."

Urushihara hummed in vague agreement, "If that's what you want, then go for it."

And they sat together comfortably while Urushihara continued to tap away at the game. Emi kept replaying the foolish argument in her head, making mental notes about what she should have done or said instead. Finally, Urushihara put away his phone and grabbed Emi's face instead.

"You have that look on your face again. The one that says you're overthinking."

"I have a look that says that?" she snorted.

"Yeah. And it usually helps if you talk about whatever it is."

Emi licked her lips, watching as the fallen angel's eyes traced the movement. Their faces were close enough that she could feel his breath, and she placed her right hand against his neck, feeling for that pulse that she had memorized.

"I told Chiho I was seeing someone."

"Oh," he raised an eyebrow, lightly pushing her back onto the couch and leaning over her. "That could give people the wrong idea if word gets out."

Emi just rolled her eyes and shoved at his shoulder playfully. "It was just an exaggeration of the truth. Not like a lied."

"Right," he chuckled, "The great hero would be incapable of lying, I bet." And then he dropped a light kiss on the corner of her mouth before she could reply. Emi's mind blanked for a second, and Urushihara moved further down to her neck, mumbling against her sensitive skin. "Did she ask who the lucky guy was?"

Emi nodded, "She asked. I refused to give a name." He lifted his head to look in her eyes then, his visible eye sparkling with mischief.

"That must have gone over well," he commented sarcastically.

"Not at all," Emi snorted. "She didn't believe me and said I was lying." Emi tilted her head to give him some more space along her neck, and he took the chance to lean in and drop several light kisses from her ear to just under her jaw.

"She wouldn't have believed you if you told her the truth. This is probably better."

Emi moaned as his kisses moved lower, pulling the sleeve of her blouse down her shoulder to bite lightly.

"Shut up already and take me to my room."

"As the hero commands."