It was a nice change of pace to enjoy a bit of a vacation, Juuto thought. Sure, it was more of a day trip, but maybe his outlook on things had been wrong lately, so he was willing to try having a good time with everyone. At the worst, he could just hang out with Asaga mainly.

“All right, where are they?” He wondered out loud as he waited at the train stop for the others to meet him there. They’d be leaving town for the day to make this trip, and it was honestly a bit exciting for the man. It had been a while since he had left the town he grew up in, so it’d be nice to do so now that he was a grown adult. “We’re going to be late at this rate.”

“Ah, there’s Juuto.” Then, he heard the voice of Asaga telling everyone to come over. “Well, looks like we’ve got everyone now.”

“Yeah, it looks…” His voice trailed of as his eyes met with the eyes of the girl he didn’t expect to see. Rame was along with the group, with Mifuru of course, as she also saw him. Her mouth slightly agape from the shock in hearing the farmer calling out his name. “I… I guess she’s here too.”

“I hope ya ain’t mad at me.” He whispered over as they joined up together. “But, I wanted to make it a nice surprise for the two of ya.”

“It’s less that I’m mad, and more that I wished you at least warned me.” He replied. While it would’ve made him hesitant, Juuto would still be willing to join along even if he was aware that girl would be here. “It fine though, I get what you want me to do.” Hopefully, he’d have the chance to make things right between the two of them as everyone boarded the train.

His hopes were already off to a bad start as they ended up in separate cabins from one another. The demons and Asaga took one, while he was stuck with the former heroes. Then again, that did present another opportunity.

“So uh…” He started off as their ride went on. It was awkward talking to them seeing as he wasn’t particularly close to them. In fact, the only reason they ever came along on things with him was the excuse of keeping on eye on the demons. Interestingly enough, they weren’t doing that this time. “How are you two?”

“I’m doing well.” Marie answered first. She seemed displeased with something, but it wasn’t targeted towards the man at least.

“Say, what happened to Migane?” Asked Akitomo. Upon asking his question, it seemed to irritate his friend more. “I was hoping you’d bring her along for this trip.”

“Well, it’s not like Asaga invited her.” He replied. “But uh…” It was hard to describe that moment. From the way she seemed to have disappeared, the man was certain he wasn’t going to be seeing her again. “Things didn’t work out between us, so we’re not going to be seeing each other again.”

“Ahh, I wish I was able to get her contact then… Ow!” The boy expressed his regret, even if he had no chance in the first place. This earned him the stomping of Marie’s foot on his. “What was that for?”

“Just for being an immature brat.” She responded. For most of the week, he had been gushing over that woman and how beautiful she was. That had gotten on her nerves and the woman’s emotions were boiling over.

“H-hey there now, I’m sure everything’s fine.” Juuto attempted to calm things down. He didn’t want to be stuck in the cabin if these two decided to battle each other. Sure, they had lost their magic, but it was entirely possibly they were strong physically. At least Marie looked like she was, and he wasn’t about to want to sit and watch a child get beaten.

“Don’t worry about her, she’s just jealous because Migane’s way prettier than her.” Akitomo laughed, then ate those words as the woman took him and arm locked his neck.

“What was that about her being prettier than me?” She asked in a slightly angry tone. Just quiet enough so that people in other cabins wouldn’t hear her abusing a child.

“You’re really not helping your case here, Akitomo.” Juuto commented. Somehow the world of Enatis really needed to rely on people like them to save the day? Right now, the man was worried if he would need saving from them. “Like I said, Migane’s not going to be around anymore, and I’d rather not talk about her considering… Well considering how we separated.” The way he said it made the thing sound like a bad break up, but Juuto really had no clue on how else to describe it.

“At least she won’t be a threat to corrupting him.” Finally, Marie let go of the boy to allow him to breathe. “But I guess if she just left, then she wasn’t targeting us for our secret.”

“Yeah, it definitely proves that.” Akitomo said, rubbing his throat as he caught his breath. “Besides, what’s wrong with me liking her? Just because she’s a little older than me?”

“Well, you complain when I tease you.” She responded. It was true that Marie seemed to like to toy with the boy. Sometimes, even Juuto wondered if it was okay to continue to allow that to happen.

“Because it’s weird when you do it…” He answered, turning his face out to the window to try and avoid looking at them. Though in the reflection, it was easy to see his face growing redder on the thought of it.

“Anyway…” Said Juuto, unsure of how to bring this conversation back to any semblance of sanity. “I’m not one to try and make everything about me, but can I ask something?”

“What do you want to know?” They both asked in unison.

“Just that, well, do you guys like me?” He had finally asked the question on his mind.

“I don’t dislike you.” Marie answered first, to which Akitomo agreed. “But were it not for your relationship to the demon lord, we wouldn’t care a single bit about you either.”

“I see.” He responded. “It’s just that… Well during the times you were trying to kill her, you put my life in danger.” Not to mention a ton of other people’s lives when it came to Akitomo’s attempt at the restaurant.

“I can’t blame you if you hold a grudge against us for that.” Said Akitomo. “But it’s just that-”

“Because you wanted to kill her at any cost, right?” Juuto had read enough novels to understand their motivations, even if he didn’t know anything about their backstories. “That after everything she’s apparently done, that it doesn’t matter what it took to end the demon lord.”

“Look, I know you don’t care much for her past.” Marie followed up. “Because you’ve only seen her like this, but the two of us have been impacted by her demon reign. Akitomo’s parents were killed by demons when he was really young.”

“Don’t tell him that!” The young boy yelled at her, though his face made it seem like he was somehow embarrassed about it rather than sad.

“It is a pretty personal thing.” Juuto admitted, feeling a bit guilty for learning of that tragedy.

“I just don’t want you to treat me like a child because of it.” Akitomo sat back into his seat, crossing his arms. “Whenever people hear that, they always treat me with pity and feel sorry for me. It sucks, but I’m not the only kid who lost their family.”

“It makes a lot more sense to me now though.” Juuto replied. “So you really want revenge?”

“I used to.” Was the answer he received.

“Though I suppose I get your point for bringing this up.” Said Marie, changing the subject. “We didn’t really get off on the right foot, but perhaps the demon lord was correct that I should try to get to know you better.” The man may present himself a bit naive to her, but he was well meaning and tried to make things right. In a sense, it reminded her of herself when she first became a hero. Something that was lost over time due to the constant war, which eventually brought her to being a member of the league of assassins.

“I would like being friends with the two of you.” Juuto responded with a smile. While it may seem a stretch after what had transpired among them. If there was one thing he had learned from befriending the former demon lord, is that perhaps everyone, no matter who they were, are capable of turning things right.