Two weeks had passed since the horrid incident at the newly opened Ramen shop.
Himawari and Asuka were putting in their hardest efforts to win back the customers they lost. Finally, this evening bore the fruit of their hard work and patience.
"That's the last bowl," said Asuka to Akira as she took a bowl of Ramen from the counter.
Akira was too engrossed in his cooking to pay attention.
Toru, grabbing hold of Akira, said, "Oye, we're closing. Stop making more ramen, you mad lad."
"Oh! It's already closing time. I didn't realize," Akira acknowledged.
Asuka and Akuma were cleaning the tables, and Himawari was seeing the last customer out.
"Lilly hasn't shown up yet," Asuka said.
"Oh dear, how could you worry about her? She almost made me cry," Akuma said, remembering the Dora ordeal.
Asuka sighed to herself. "She's never been away from the mansion for more than a few days. It's been two weeks now."
Akuma could sense a sort of sorrow in Asuka, akin to someone who lost a little sister.
"Hey, we'll go look for her tomorrow," he said as he looked firmly into her eyes.
Asuka, hypnotized for a moment, blushed all over. "Uhm yeah, that would be great actually," she said and left in a hurry.
"Humans are quite fascinating. Especially the women," he thought to himself, smiling.
"Why are you staring at him?" Toru asked Akira.
Akira jumped to his feet like a robber who'd just been caught red-handed.
"I am, uhh... well, I am keeping an eye on him is what I am doing. Why wouldn't I be staring at the demon that came out of me?" Akira exasperated.
Toru was convinced beyond a doubt.
Late at night, Himawari was shutting the lights outside. There was quiet winter all around.
"We haven't had this much peace in a long time," Akuma said.
"You literally showed up a month ago," Himawari raised her eyebrows and arched her back.
Akuma ignored her.
"I'm going to bed," Himawari said. "You lock up the rest of the mansion," she said to Akuma.
Akuma was too serene to react.
It was midnight now, and everyone was almost in bed.
Toru was now also living in the mansion as he couldn't muster up the energy to go back and open his shop again in the morning.
He took up a guest room downstairs beside the three consecutive rooms that the girls occupied.
Meanwhile, Akira was getting ready to take a hot bath. Perfectly warm water, soft to the touch and heavenly, thought Akira as he lowered his aching body into the bathtub.
His muffled breathing in the misty bathroom filled his lungs with moist warm air.
He dipped his head into the water with his eyes closed and hands on his chest as he lay on his back. All the ache gathered in his muscles from all the intense cooking was coming undone.
After a while, Akira decided it was time to go to bed. He put each hand on either side of the bathtub to lift up his body from the water.
One of his hands slipped midway, and the back of his head hit against the bathtub's edge. In a fraction of a second, his eyes were under the water, and his body went limp.
He couldn't move. It was like sleep paralysis; he was awake but couldn't move his body no matter how hard he tried.
As time passed, Akira was running out of breath. "Is this the end?" He thought as tears streamed down his face. He slowly fell into a state of unconsciousness.
He could see himself cooking ramen in the shop's kitchen. No one was there except for Akuma. Akuma stood there and smiled back at Akira.
The image was everlasting. All of Akira's fear and panic were now gone. He was smiling back at Akuma too.
Suddenly, Akira felt a gush of air enter his lungs. His body was lifted out of the bathtub, and he was in the tattooed arms of a tall man.
Akira was taken out of the bathroom and gently placed on the bed. He could now see clearly the face of the person who saved him when he couldn't even cry for help.
"Akuma?" He tried to say the words, but his vocal cords didn't cooperate. Akuma knelt at Akira's bedside and ran his fingers through Akira's hair and placed his hand under the back of his head.
"This is some seriously rare injury to have," Akuma said, as he gently smiled at Akira. Akira didn't break eye contact.
Akira then parted his lips and said, "I slipped, I think... but how."
Akira was surprised at his own voice; it was working now. He could move. Akuma handed a towel to Akira, "You should dry yourself, or you'll catch a cold. Best to change those bedsheets too."
Akira snatched the towel from Akuma's hand, realizing he was stark naked; he blushed all over. Akuma had gotten up and turned around by now, anticipating this response from Akira. He smirked.
"How did you know I needed help?" Akira asked. "Or did you just come by.."
"Don't flatter yourself. I can sense these things. You know, the fading of life energy," Akuma insisted and tried to play it cool. "I have things to attend to," Akuma added and rushed out of the room.
Akira was left confused but too tired to keep his eyes from shutting. "I must be dreaming," he said to himself as he fell asleep, looking at the tall shirtless man walk out of his room.
"Why is he shirtless?" He wondered as he fell asleep.
The next morning, Akira had forgotten all about last night, and it seemed he was all too convinced that it was just a dream.
Sneezing, coughing, he pulled himself out of bed and noticed a bowl of hot chicken soup on his bedside table.
"I knew you would forget to dry yourself," read a note on the food tray. Akira began eating the soup.
"These flavors are so warm," he felt a lot of relief from the cold. He accidentally spilled some soup onto himself. While wiping the soup off his shirt, he realized this wasn't his shirt.
"Wait, this... this isn't my shirt?" He said to himself. He soon realized that he didn't dream about Akuma leaving shirtless from his bedroom last night.
"Want more soup?" Himawari asked as she knocked on Akira's bedroom door.
Akira startled and tried to cover himself up with the blanket to hide his shirt.
"No! No thank you! I'm okay!" He blushed all over like a red plum as he remembered being in Akuma's arms last night.