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The next morning, the sun shone with an almost mocking intensity over the city of Kuoh.
Yugo Hano stood in front of the glass door of the "Saturn" minimarket, holding the "OPEN" sign in his hand. Outside, a couple of passersby were already eyeing the shop curiously, ready to buy their morning coffee.
Yugo looked at the sign. Then he looked inside the store.
In aisle three, Kalawarner was asleep standing up, leaning against a stack of instant noodle boxes. At the checkout, Raynare had her forehead pressed against the barcode scanner, drooling slightly in her lethargy. Upstairs on the second floor, I knew Asia was still asleep after the emotional exhaustion of the last few days, and Mittelt... well, Mittelt was probably still in bed, hidden under the covers out of sheer inertia.
They had survived massacres, suicidal training, and the madness of a cosmic parasite. Yugo himself felt that his brain needed a system reboot.
The professor sighed. He turned the sign to display the word "CLOSED" in giant red letters, locked the door, and lowered the blinds. Capitalism would have to wait another day.
He walked to the counter and tapped the metal surface with his knuckles.
Bang, bang, bang!
Raynare jumped, knocking over a display of chewing gum, and Kalawarner slipped and fell on his bottom, waking up with a start.
"M-Master! The floor is clean! I swear!" Kalawarner stammered, trying to stand up straight despite his wrinkled green apron.
"Relax," Yugo said, in his new tone, still monotonous but lacking the murderous intent that used to suffocate them. "The reopening is postponed until tomorrow. Today, the store will be closed."
The two women blinked, not daring to believe it. "Closed?"
"Go upstairs and wake the other two. You have thirty minutes to shower and put on decent civilian clothes," Yugo ordered, pulling out his wallet and checking the thick wads of yen he still had from his years of survival. "You three smell like warehouse dust and existential defeat, and Asia needs a wardrobe that doesn't consist of the same old sweater and my spare clothes. We're going out."
Raynare frowned, her pride trying to peek out shyly. "Go out? Where to?"
Yugo's sarcastic half-smile appeared. "Exposure therapy. Let's go shopping. Consider it your survival bonus for not dying this week."
...
An hour later, Kuoh's largest shopping mall witnessed one of the strangest and most visually striking processions in its history.
Yugo walked with his usual rigid and stoic posture, dressed in dark trousers and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, displaying the imposing black plate of the recalibrated Omnitrix on his left wrist.
To her right, Asia Argento skipped along with excitement, her eyes sparkling like stars as she gazed at the shop windows. To her left, Kalawarner and Raynare drew the drooling stares of absolutely every man (and some women) in the mall. Both had dusted off clothes that were practically pocket-sized: Kalawarner in a neckline so plunging it defied gravity, and Raynare in a form-fitting dress that accentuated every curve of her Fallen Angel figure.
And to top it all off, clinging to the back of Yugo's shirt as if it were a life preserver, was Mittelt, sporting a new gothic lolita dress and looking around with paranoia.
"Alright, listen," Yugo said, pausing in the central atrium and pulling out a thick black credit card (courtesy of the Sitri clan's fortune as an advance for "operating expenses") and a wad of yen. "You have a limit, but it's high. Asia, choose whatever you like. You three... buy decent uniforms or casual clothes. I don't want to see those green aprons outside of work hours."
Kalawarner looked at the money and then at Yugo. In all her years serving Azazel or Kokabiel, she had never received a "bonus." They treated her like a expendable soldier. And this human, the one she was going to kill, was taking them shopping.
"Yugo-san, look at that shop! They have beautiful dresses!" Asia exclaimed, taking the professor's hand and dragging him towards a boutique of young women's clothing.
Yugo let himself go, letting out a soft, almost imperceptible sigh of surrender. "At least they're not firing light spears," he thought, feeling the tension in his shoulders ease a little more.
What followed was a total assault on the fitting rooms.
Yugo sat down in one of the boutique's waiting room chairs, with his legs crossed and his arms on his chest, assuming his role as an impartial judge.
Asia came out first. She was wearing a peach-colored summer dress with a wide-brimmed straw hat. She twirled around, blushing.
—What do you think, Yugo-san?
Yugo nodded gently. "It's practical. It fits you well. Buy two in different colors."
Asia smiled so widely that Yugo felt the room light up.
But then, the curtain of the adjoining fitting room suddenly flew open.
Kalawarner stepped out, and half the male customers in the store held their breath. She was wearing a burgundy evening gown, fitted like a second skin, with a side slit that reached dangerously high on her thigh and a neckline that threatened an epic wardrobe malfunction with every step she took.
The blue-haired woman approached Yugo, resting her hands on her thighs and leaning slightly forward, offering him a privileged view. A tactic she had used for centuries to manipulate weak men.
"Well, Master?" purred Kalawarner, using that title with a highly suggestive tone. "Do you like how your employee looks?"
Yugo didn't blink. His expression didn't change one iota. His gray wells assessed the outfit with the same excitement he would use to assess a topographical map.
"It violates the store's dress code and basic thermal decency," Yugo replied, his tone completely dead. "If you bend down to pick up a juice box wearing that, you're going to traumatize some kid or rip the fabric. Go put on some jeans."
Kalawarner blinked, completely bewildered. Her alien sex appeal had just crashed against a wall of reinforced concrete. She puffed out her cheeks, offended, and stomped back into the fitting room.
Raynare was the next to leave. And, not wanting to be left behind in the absurd, silent competition that had just sprung up amidst the falls, she had opted for pure provocation.
Raynare didn't come out of a casual clothing fitting room. They had crossed into the adjacent lingerie section. She was wearing a black lace set, complete with garters and a design so absurdly intricate it looked more like a weapon of seduction than underwear. She crossed her arms, looking away with a furious blush, channeling her tsundere attitude to the fullest.
—D-Don't get me wrong, human... I'm only trying it on because the other clothes were too restrictive for my wings. It's not to impress you.
Yugo tilted his head, resting his chin on his hand. Inside, the twenty-one-year-old who had been asleep for a decade objectively acknowledged that the leader of the Fallen Angels was a spectacular sight. But the veteran assassin and the strict professor who now ruled his psyche weren't going to give him that satisfaction.
"Raynare," Yugo said, dragging out the words with lethal patience. "You know you work at a convenience store, right? Not some Underworld nightclub. Unless you plan on using your charm to get paid for the gum, go back there and put on some cotton."
Raynare's face turned a red so intense it rivaled Rias Gremory's hair. Ashamed, humiliated, and strangely frustrated that her charms hadn't affected him, she covered herself with a curtain.
"Damn ice monster!" he shrieked from inside.
Mittelt peeked her head out from behind the third curtain. She was wearing a black gothic dress with purple ruffles, clutching a giant teddy bear that Yugo had bought her five minutes ago just to stop her trembling.
"Master? Is this one okay?" Mittelt asked, looking at him with large, watery eyes.
Yugo nodded slowly. "Yes, Mittelt. That's fine."
The little blonde girl smiled for the first time since she was captured, hugging the teddy bear tightly.
...
Three hours later, the shopping bags threatened to create their own gravitational field.
Kalawarner and Raynare were each carrying at least eight bags. Asia was carrying a couple of dresses and books that Yugo had bought her, and Mittelt was riding on Yugo's back again, this time using the giant teddy bear as a shield between herself and the back of the professor's neck.
They arrived at the mall's food court. Yugo ordered food for everyone. Hamburgers, fries, milkshakes, and salads filled the table.
Kalawarner took a potato chip and put it in his mouth, watching Yugo, who was drinking black coffee while listening to Asia tell him the plot of the book he had just bought.
The blue-haired woman exchanged a glance with Raynare.
They had been warriors. They had been treated as weapons by Grigori's generals. If they failed, they were tortured. If they succeeded, they were sent on the next suicide mission.
And this man, this monster who could turn into hellfire or a blind, brutal predator, had humiliated them... but he hadn't beaten them, he hadn't tortured them. He gave them a bed (even if it was in the warehouse), new clothes, food, and a Sunday off.
Raynare looked down at her strawberry milkshake. The resentment and pride that had driven her life were beginning to crumble, giving way to a deeply confusing Stockholm syndrome and a loyalty she didn't want to acknowledge.
"Hey, Yugo-san..." Raynare whispered, almost without realizing that she had used the honorific suffix instead of "human" or "manager."
Yugo lowered his coffee cup and looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What's wrong, cashier?" he replied, with that dry humor he was beginning to master.
Raynare blushed, frowning and looking away.
—Nothing. Just... the milkshake isn't that bad. And... thanks. For the dresses.
Yugo didn't smile openly, but the corner of his lips lifted a fraction of a millimeter. The small, warm light in his gray eyes, the same one that had caused Sona Sitri to lose her composure the night before, shone softly as he gazed at his bizarre and chaotic makeshift family.
"Don't get used to it, Raynare," Yugo muttered, resting his elbows on the table. "I want the floors sparkling clean by six o'clock tomorrow morning."
—Yes, boss—the three Fallen Angels answered in unison, and for the first time, there was no fear in their voices, only an almost domestic resignation.
Yugo gazed out the mall window. The sun was beginning its descent. Life was still chaotic, Riser Phenex was about to reach Kuoh, and the Underworld would still be a minefield. But as long as he saw Asia smiling and her slaves devouring hamburgers, he felt that, perhaps, being alive wasn't so miserable after all.
...
On Wednesday morning, at exactly six o'clock, the cheerful jingle of the door of the "Saturn" minimarket announced the beginning of a new era in Kuoh City.
Yugo Hano stood behind the main counter, a cup of black coffee in his hand, his usual expression of chronic boredom on his face. However, the atmosphere inside the café was far from peaceful. It was, rather, a battleground of capitalist stress.
"W-Welcome to Saturn Minimarket..." Raynare grumbled from register number two. Her voice was so strained it sounded like she was chewing glass. She wore her green apron and visor perfectly in place, but a vein throbbed dangerously on her forehead as she scanned a carton of milk for a sleepy office worker.
"Smile, Raynare. You're scaring the customer," Yugo muttered flatly, without taking his eyes off his newspaper. "If the gentleman doesn't come back tomorrow because of you, I'll deduct a thousand yen from your non-existent paycheck."
Raynare gritted her teeth, forced the corners of her lips upward in a grimace that looked more like a death threat than a smile, and handed the change to the clerk.
"T-Thank you so much for your purchase! Come back soon!" squealed the former leader of the Fallen Angels, her voice barely audible and strained. The clerk, terrified by the girl's intensity, grabbed his coins and ran out of the store.
In aisle three, the situation wasn't much better. Kalawarner, trying to reach the top shelf to restock the bottles of green tea, let out a frustrated huff. By pure ancient instinct, a pair of black feathers began to materialize on his back, giving him a magical boost.
"Kalawarner," Yugo's icy voice cut through the air from the other side of the tent. "If I see a single feather, I'll turn you into compost. Use the stool."
The feathers vanished instantly. The voluptuous warrior sighed heavily, dragged a small plastic stool over, and climbed onto it, her dignity completely shattered, muttering curses in dead languages.
Meanwhile, Mittelt was mopping the candy aisle with a speed and precision that would make any professional cleaning crew envious. The little blonde goth hadn't forgotten Ghostfreak's hologram, nor the fact that the Professor had used her as a pillow. She was determined to be employee of the month so she wouldn't get eaten.
The real contrast in the store was Asia Argento.
The petite, gilded ex-nun moved through the store with the grace of a fairy. She helped the elderly find their items, smiled with a genuine warmth that melted customers' hearts, and packed purchases with cheerful efficiency. She was the perfect antidote to the subliminal terror emanating from the three shadowy cashiers.
By noon, the Saturn was packed. News that the dusty old place had reopened with a staff of incredibly beautiful women (and a manager scarier than the mafia) spread like wildfire among the Kuoh Academy students and local office workers.
Yugo watched his small empire from the corner. He no longer felt the bitterness of misery rising in his throat. Seeing Grigori's three assassins suffering under the yoke of customer service gave him a dark and profound satisfaction. Honest work was the best exorcism.
The hours passed. Dusk gave way to night, and finally, at ten o'clock sharp, Yugo turned the sign on the door to "CLOSED" and lowered the metal shutters.
The sound of the lock was like a starting gun for the falls.
Raynare collapsed onto the counter, groaning. Kalawarner sank to the floor of aisle two, oblivious to the fact that the linoleum had just been mopped by Mittelt, who simply threw himself onto his back, clutching his broom.
"My feet... I can't feel my feet," Kalawarner groaned, his voice choked with emotion. "I faced armies in the Great War... this is worse. How do humans do this every day without going crazy?"
"I did it for ten years," Yugo replied curtly, counting the bills in the cash register. "Now you know why I have such a bad temper. Get up. Go to the storeroom and have dinner. We open at the same time tomorrow."
The three women crawled to the back room like zombies, too weak even to insult him.
The store fell into a peaceful silence. Yugo finished balancing the till and walked to the warehouse door to turn off the main lights.
Peeking in, she saw the three fallen women already fast asleep on their makeshift mattresses in a corner. But at the other end of the back room, illuminated by a small desk lamp, was Asia.
The girl sat on a wooden box, carefully folding spare aprons. Her eyes blinked heavily, fighting off sleep, but she continued working with that unwavering devotion that characterized her.
Yugo felt a warm pressure in his demonic chest. He was no longer that intractable block of ice. He entered the warehouse with silent steps and stopped in front of her.
"Asia," he said gently, making the girl look up with a sleepy smile. "Your shift ended an hour ago. Stop it."
"Just a little longer, Yugo-san. I want everything to be perfect tomorrow..." she murmured, stifling a small yawn.
Yugo shook his head slowly. He sat down on an empty box right next to her. Without saying a word, he took the apron she was folding and placed it aside.
Then, with a gentleness that would have astonished Sona Sitri, Yugo raised his right hand—the same hand that had atomized demons and destroyed exorcists—and gently placed it on the golden nun's head.
Asia was surprised at first, but almost immediately, her shoulders relaxed. Yugo began to scratch and stroke her blond hair with slow, rhythmic, and protective movements. It was the gesture of an older brother, of a father, of someone who had found his anchor in the world.
The girl closed her eyes, letting out a soft sigh of comfort, instinctively leaning towards the warmth of his hand.
Yugo's mind traveled back in time. Not with the sharp pain and fury that usually accompanied his memories, but with a sweet melancholy, a final acceptance. He remembered the rainy nights in his other universe, when his mother would sit on the edge of his younger brother's bed to comfort him after a nightmare. He remembered the song she always sang.
Almost without realizing it, driven by the peace of the back room and the weight of the girl falling asleep against his arm, the Kuoh monster began to hum.
His voice, normally raspy and monotonous, took on a deep, resonant, and strangely melodic tone. Amid the cardboard boxes and the dim light of the lamp, Yugo began to sing in his native language, Spanish, a language Asia didn't understand, but whose feeling transcended any barrier.
"My dear child, stop crying now..." Yugo sang in a whisper, as his fingers caressed the girl's golden locks of hair. "I will be by your side, and no one will ever hurt you again..."
Asia didn't open her eyes. A peaceful smile played on her lips. Yugo's tone of voice was an impenetrable shield against nightmares.
"Your bright eyes, tears must not cloud them..." the professor continued, feeling that with each word, an old wound in his soul was finally healing. "Come, my love, no one will ever separate us..."
Asia's breathing became deep and rhythmic. She had fallen completely asleep, resting her head on the professor's shoulder.
Yugo stopped singing. He sat there in the silence of the back room, listening to the girl of light breathing and the soft snoring of the falls in the other corner. He looked at the Omnitrix on his wrist, the mark of his power, and then at Asia's serene face.
For the first time in his life in the DxD universe, Yugo Hano wasn't planning a massacre, calculating the canon's butterfly effect, or waiting for an enemy faction to strike. He simply closed his eyes, rested his head lightly against Asia's, and allowed the peace of the night to envelop him.
She had lost a family, yes. But the one she had just built, right here, amidst aisles of instant noodles and demonic magic, was going to last forever.