THE DEVIL GOES ON A DATE IN SHINJUKU WITH THIS GIRL FROM WORK 5 page

??Wow. I hear you.?

?So it really makes me mad, how insensitive some people are. They?re just like ?Oh, how was the earthquake?? It pretty much flattened my granddad?s workshop, and there were aftershocks the whole time we were at the rescue center. I was scared for days!?

Rika?s voice was detached and calm as she spoke. She had clearly come to terms with it in her mind by this point.

?But the moment I take a step away from where I grew up, people treat it like some long-forgotten event. No matter where I go, no matter how much time has passed, when I mention that my family?s from Kobe, they ask about The Earthquake first. It?s like, can?t they picture anything else about the place? Those sort of people, I really didn?t want to be friends with them.?

As Rika explained, she had to give up her hardline stance over time.

?That was, like, pretty much everyone I met, so I thought I?d never let myself talk to anybody if I kept dwelling on it. So I changed my accent so I could hide where I came from. Sorry I tricked you like that!?

?Oh, you didn?t trick me??

?But you?re the first one, Emi. The first one who heard the word Kobe and didn?t ask about the quake.?

Rika finally separated from Emi, taking the glasses back to the kitchen for another round of mineral water from the fridge.

?Whenever you find that your life?s gone completely upside down like that? There?s just no telling how people will react afterward, you know??

Emi could feel her heart pound for an instant at the nuance behind the observation.

?Some people out there, they try to take advantage of the chaos to do real bad stuff. Then there are people who really work hard to help out others, even though they have no idea what?s gonna happen tomorrow. And it makes you think, you know? It?s kind of like those old cartoons, where whenever you?re pondering something, this little angel and devil appear on your shoulders.?

Rika crossed her index fingers in swordlike fashion to illustrate her point.

?It made me think that, like, people really can be angels; they really can be devils. It all depends on what they choose to do.?

?Angel, or devil???

Rika?s offhand remarks triggered something. Emi pondered it for a moment.

?So anyway, that photo shows what my pop and granddad devoted themselves to for the next ten years after. They rebuilt their workshop from scratch, just a constant, never-ending effort. And even now, with the recession and so on, they still have enough old business connections to keep chugging along.?

She put the glass down in front of her.

?But I?m telling you, today spooked me. I come all the way to Tokyo, only to see an accident like that?and another friend was there, too! I never even wanted to think about it.?

Another friend. The words snapped Emi back to attention. Rika must have been close to the classmates she lost.

If things had worked out otherwise, it might have been Rika herself. She was a mature adult because she had learned, at a deeply personal level, the terrors that disaster could bring. And now she was coming to Emi?s rescue as well, doing her level best to help her out.

?Emi??

??Huh??

?You okay? Sorry if I?m making you think about kind of weird stuff.?

Rika chuckled to herself, then emptied the remaining mineral water into her mouth, as if drinking up the dark emotions locked in her memories.

?But, hey, we?re all okay now, right? And you?ve really been a huge help to me, Rika. I appreciate it so much.?

?Oh, stop. What kind of friends would we be if we didn?t help each other out? No need to feel all weird about it.?

At that instant, that feeling struck Emi again. That soft light in her heart. The warm?feeling. The comfort of knowing she was protected, head to toe.

?So, you know, that?s why I don?t really want to ask about you or anything.?

?Oh??

?I mean, where you lived, where you come from? I don?t really care about that, Emi. To me, as long as you?re a friend I can talk a bunch of BS with, and have lunch with, and go out on the town with sometimes, that?s all I need.?

?Rika??

?Oh, and speaking of??

Suddenly, Rika brought his face closer to Emi?s, a sneering smile on her face.

?Who was that guy??

?Eh??

?The guy you were talking to out by the accident site.?

?Huh? Uh? Oh. That guy.?

She meant Maou. Of course she did.

?You know him? You sure acted like you did. He looked like a pretty decent fellow, so I couldn?t help but wonder??

?Hey! You just said you wouldn?t ask me anything, Rika! That, and he?s really not anyone like??

?Romance is different, Emi! I won?t let any of those wolves get near you, my little angel!?

?Oh, stop sounding like some weird, overprotective dad! He?s just an acquaintance of mine?actually, less than that, even. He?s a demon, not a wolf. Total demon.?

It was no lie. He was certainly nothing more than an acquaintance. And he was a demon.

?A demon??

?Emi??

?An angel?and a demon.?

At the site of that frightful accident, Maou had regained his demon form.

?What?s up, Emi??

She looked at Rika?s face, the face of a woman who called her a friend.

She had felt a sense of warmth in the shower, and then at the dining table, when her friend hugged her; like her heart was within an angel?s wings.

And the cause of it:

?The heart?of a human being??

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 185