Misfit Together

Chapter 13

(Back to the trashbird's friendship struggles~ I didn't get to do much in terms of planning future chapters during the hiatus but I have a lot of free time now so I hopefully should get something figured out soon. I do have next week's chapter properly planned out at least. Btw, my obsession with Devil has pretty much passed but that in no way means I'm not gonna keep being active in the fandom. I'll finish this fic, I'm still reading the light novels and manga (and Urushihara x Reader fics cuz I'm trash) and I still like to blog about it on Tumblr a little so don't worry. I might have another Devil fic idea, probably a simple slice-of-life sort of thing for my Demon Family AU. And even if I don't fic it, I still like building the AU anyway. If anyone's curious my current obsessions are the musical 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Codename: Kids Next Door (I rewatched the whole series over the last week and I'm feeling so nostalgic...) Ok, shut up, Ly, you've got a fic to write...)

(Also, one more note I'm adding after I've already written a bit of this, I just noticed how similar Momoko and Suzuno's last names are...! That was not intentional but I like it for some reason. And this chapter is ending up fitting really well with my latest Opinions one-shot)

Suzuno's first instinct upon entering SFC was to locate Sariel. From just within the front entrance, she quickly spotted him behind the counter. Thankfully, he was distracted by his customers and didn't notice her. Nor had he noticed Momoko, who was nervously stood a few feet in front of Suzuno, clearly looking at him. It seemed like she was trying to mentally prepare herself to approach him. Her brow was furrowed, her shoulders slumped and she bounced uneasily on her heels. She was twisting an orange wristband around her arm.

Just as the girl was about to take a step closer, Suzuno came over to stand at her side with what she hoped was a friendly and reassuring expression on her face.

"Excuse me...?" she gently touched Momoko's arm to get her attention, "Miss Hamasaki, is it? Momoko Hamasaki? I am Suzuno Kamazuki."

Momoko's eyes widened in familiarity and Suzuno felt her heart sink. She knew what that meant.

"You were outside... W-with the..."

Suzuno closed her eyes and her voice softened so as not to be heard by the people around them.

"With the demons, yes."

Her eyes opened again and she gave Momoko a solemn look. Momoko bit her lip and her eyes fell to the floor. She still wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing, or who she should listen to.

"But..."

Momoko lifted her head suddenly when Suzuno spoke again.

"I am not exactly 'with' the demons. Not in the way that you are thinking. Or, I suppose, in most ways."

"You're not making any sense. Just... j-just tell me what you want..."

Her eyes flickered over to Sariel once more then back to the floor. She shuffled her feet anxiously. Suzuno felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. She was scared and lost, and only wanted something or someone she could be completely sure of.

"I apologise. Let me explain - at this point, I would consider myself to be a more neutral party in this whole ordeal, although I was formerly on the side of the Church and the enemy of the demons. That is, I still am on the side of the Church, but I have rejected a few of their... methods."

Momoko was momentarily distracted by her words. Taking the opportunity, Suzuno carefully turned them both away from the counter and led Momoko closer to the door. She had to limit the chances of Sariel seeing either of them and keep out of earshot of the surrounding customers.

"You see, I have reached a... an agreement, we shall say, with the demons. While I would have no complaints in doing away with them in an instant should I need to, at this time they are living quite peacefully in this world," she brought them both to a halt and her gaze met Momoko's, "And I have found that since meeting you and Good Shizuka, Good Hanzo has shown signs that he could change for the better. To put it bluntly, he likes the two of you. He cares about you. I haven't seen this side of him before. And I want to see it grow."

She was now stood facing Momoko, subtly looking past her at Sariel. He still hadn't seen them.

Momoko tugged on her wristband.

"I-I... I don't know..." she said shakily.

"It must be hard to take all of this in at once. I understand your uncertainty, Good Momoko," she gripped Momoko's shoulders, firm yet also protective, and gave a small nod in Sariel's direction, "But I must insist that you refrain from contacting him any longer. He can't be trusted. I trusted him once. Please don't let yourself fall into that trap after me."

"But... is Hanzo really any better? Can I trust him?"

Suzuno opened her mouth then closed it again, hesitating. Could she trust him?

"... I can't say for sure. His past would suggest he can't be trusted, but then again... I'm still getting to know him myself. And I keep learning things about him I never expected. He almost seems like a different person entirely now. At least compared to the stories I used to hear back home. Maybe you can."

"I want to..."

Momoko was averting her eyes again, apparently talking more to herself than to Suzuno.

"What's most important right now is that you stay away from Sariel. That you stay safe. How you feel towards Good Hanzo can wait, if needs be."

That was the first step.

"... I guess..."

She looked back up and Suzuno finally let a small smile grace her lips. She nodded, not noticing the light blush that was now dusting Momoko's cheeks.

Suddenly, she stepped back and frowned.

"But... I don't think I could talk to him yet. Hanzo, I mean. I wanna think things over first. You're not gonna make me see him, right?"

"Of course not," Suzuno said gently, "I won't pressure you. As long as you don't go back to Sariel again, I am satisfied. But, please, do speak with Good Hanzo eventually. He is worried about you."

Momoko took a shaky breath and nodded, then followed Suzuno out of the restaurant.