𝐈𝐊𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐈 | 𝐀𝐊𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐖𝐀

𝟎𝟎𝟔.

WHY AM I EVEN HERE? I COULD HAVE BEEN SPENDING MY QUALITY TIME LAZING ABOUT AT HOME INSTEAD OF SITTING HERE, WATCHING PEOPLE GET DRUNK...

Kanako sighed, resting her cheek on her left palm. She takes in the chaotic scene before her with an utter look of boredom. The girl received an unwanted visitor a few days after their long-winded mission with the Eternity Devil. She was dressed inappropriately to accept guests: an oversized shirt and a pair of shorts that could barely be seen with how long the shirt was. Thankfully, it was only Himeo instead of a man. When she asked how the other knew where she lived, Himeno mentioned she begged Aki to tell her. Kanako made a mental note to give him a good scolding, tucking it in the back of her mind.

Himeno pleaded for her to attend the celebration party. It consists of the people she was with during their mission along with Makima, for some unknown reason. Kanako prefers to spend her free time alone rather than hanging out with her colleagues. But Himeno was persistent and would not take no for an answer. To prevent her neighbors from launching a noise complaint, Kanako ended up surrendering and agreed to attend the party. This made it a good chance for her to return the washed and ironed uniform to Aki, killing two birds with one stone.

Himeno had sent her the address of the restaurant everyone agreed to meet up in, with her punching in her phone number the moment Kanako said yes. The girl didn't bother changing out of the uniform, for she had finished a few missions on her own, under the instruction of Makima, and headed to the restaurant. The faster they meet, the sooner she can go home. Kanako arrived and noticed she was the second last to arrive. The others have made themselves comfortable, digging into their food and drinking to their heart's content.

"Oh, Kanako! There you are! What are you waiting for, come here and sit with us!" Himeno excitedly waved her over.

Since the only vacant seat was beside Denji, she sat down and grabbed a small piece of fried chicken for herself. She placed the bag holding Aki's uniform on her lap, intending to return it to him sometime later, before they parted ways. Kanako remained silent throughout the entire time, speaking when necessary. It seems Himeno noticed her silence and decided to do something. With the way her words were beginning to slur, everyone could tell the eye-patched devil hunter was slowly getting drunk.

"All right, since this is a party for the newbies, introduce yourself! Say something interesting and tell us what contracts you have" She giggled like a maniac.

I don't think it's a good idea to say those kinds of things in public.

Kanako sighed, listening as the others began introducing themselves. The first person was the man with short spiky hair and a scar on his left cheek.

"I'm Hirokazu Arai. My hobby is writing haikus and I have a contract with the Fox Devil," he introduced himself with a grin.

"Huh? Hayakawa has a contract with the Fox Devil too," Denji pointed out when the realization hits him.

Himeno laughed, throwing an arm around the poor boy. "The Fox Devil is one of the friendly devils, and it only forms contracts with attractive people!"

Kanako moved a few inches away from them, not wanting her uniform to get stained with either vomit or beer. She took a small sip of her cup of beer, which was still her first cup. Unlike the others, she doesn't have any interest in drinking or anything else. She's also scared to test her tolerance for alcohol and doesn't want to embarrass herself. Her thoughts got interrupted when a rather timid but firm voice spoke up next.

It was the girl who tried to attack Denji before. "I'm Kobeni Higashiyama. The contract with my devil is a secret."

Kanako placed her chopsticks down when everyone's eyes were on her, waiting for her to introduce herself even though she had done it once. She sighed and cleared her throat. "You all knew my name by now, so I'll skip that. I like to read and as for the contracts formed, is the Lightning and Fox Devil."