A Childish Crush

17:14 - Black Cat Cafe

Ender stepped into the Black Cat Cafe. It's almost closing hour and Emilia is already sweeping the floors. The girl approached Ender and bowed politely. "Welcome back Miss Ender,"

"Thank you Emilia," Ender replied before yawning a little. "Is Marshall awake yet?"

Emilia froze a little after hearing that. "N-no… I don't know, he hasn't left his room," she said.

"That sleepy head," Ender sat down on one of the table and Emilia approached her with her notes. "The usual,"

"Anything to eat?"

Ender shook her head. "No, I just ate," then she chuckled a little. "Well, you can say that I had a little adventure," she said.

"I'm glad you had fun miss," Emilia said before walking back to the bar. Rena is nowhere to be seen, but Ender assumed she's in the kitchen.

After a few minutes, the little girl returned with Ender's drink. "Sorry for the wait, please enjoy," she said.

"Thank you, Emilia," Ender said before taking a sip. "So what have you been up to all day?"

"Serving the customer," Emilia replied.

"All day huh? You should get out more Emilia, play with girls your age," she said.

Emilia looked down a little. "I have to take care of the cafe," she glanced at the kitchen with an annoyed look. "I don't trust leaving Rena alone on her own device," she added.

"What if you have more people helping you?" Ender asked before taking another sip of her coffee. "What if someone, not me, decided to work here?"

"That's…" Emilia looked away for a little. "But I like working here…"

"It's alright Emilia, you can work in shifts instead of full time you know?"

This time, Emilia's look hardens. "That depends on the person, if he or she is as dependable as I am, then I might… take a break."

Ender chuckled a little in response. "I'm glad to hear that, we'll start looking for a new waitress tomorrow," she said.

"We?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you," Ender took out her flip phone and opened the gallery. She showed it at Emilia and her eyes widened. "I met them fishing at the edge of the town," she said.

Even the cat coiling around Emilia's neck couldn't help but look at the phone in surprise. "It was so much fun you know? We roast fish together, eat some crepes at Chris's stand, and even have lunch at Robyn's cousin's restaurant," Ender said.

Emilia slowly took Ender's phone with shaking hands. Her eyes started to water and the cat around her neck glared at Ender.

"They miss you Emilia," Ender said. "They wanted to do these fun things together with you, that's why we agreed to go look for anyone willing to work here tomorrow," she smiled a little. "It's so that they can play with you again Emilia…"

After a moment, Emilia returned the phone before walking towards the bar table without another words.

Ender sighed a little after watching her leave. If only she can tell what her mother is telling her right now. Even if time was reversed, it doesn't change the fact that Alicia hates demons with passion. Should she do something to make her not hate Marshall?

That's very tricky. How is she going to prove that Marshall is nice anyway? Marshall has been acting nothing but nice since he arrived here so it wouldn't be that easy.

Speak of the devil, Marshall walked down the stairs. He waved at Ender before yawning a little. "Evening Ender…" he muttered before sitting next to the secret agent. "How was your day?"

"A lot happened," Ender replied. She looked around and saw that Emilia is already distancing herself from the demon. She then took out her flip phone and started typing.

"Okay, so, the cat around her neck is Emilia's mother. Her soul was somehow transferred into it after her death. Not only that, but she also gets the power of a reality warper after her death. As for the room, it's no big deal, room 3.5 is just Elliot's dimensional armory."

Marshall read the message before sending a reply.

"What about her mother's power before she became a cat?"

Ender sent another reply.

"She was just a natural enchanter, it seems that Emilia inherited both her parent's power that enables her to enchant any items,"

Marshall nodded a little. "Well… I'm glad you had fun Ender," he said.

"So, anything happened while I was gone?"

The demon nodded a little. "Yes, there's something odd about Rena…" he said.

"Rena?"

"Let's talk this in private," Marshall said before the two of them walked upstairs back to their room.

[[UPF]]

Earlier that day - Black Cat Cafe - Right After Ender leave the Cafe

Marshall watched from behind his book as Rena walked down the stairs. She still has a sleepy look on her face as she greeted Emilia cleaning the store. Then she noticed Marshall and she froze a little.

'Aww man, is everyone in this town hyper sensitive to demons?' Marshall thought to himself. 'I really need to get one of those veils…'

Then, Rena seemingly steeled herself and walked towards him. She looked at him in the eyes and took out her notepad. "A-Ano…" she gulped a little. "May I have your orders?"

Marshall gave her a patient smile. "I'll have some fish spaghetti, is that alright?" he asked. Since he's nocturnal, breakfast is his equivalent of dinner and pasta is one of his guilty pleasures.

"O-Of course!" Rena said before writing something on her note. "Anything else, Mr…"

"It's Marshall, just call me Marshall,"

"R-right, Marshall…" she suddenly shook her head. She cleared her throat a little and took a deep breath. "Okay, what else can I get you, Marshall?"

Marshall looked at the menu in front of him for a bit. "Blue Mountain, unsweetened," he replied.

Rena nodded a little and wrote some more stuff on her notes. "I'll be right back Marshall," she said. "Also, is there anything you prefer about your pasta? Do you like them firm or with extra sauce or meat or…"

"Just do your best," Marshall said simply.

The girl's face reddens a little and Marshall started to feel like he just offended her in someway. Before the demon could say anything, the girl already bowed down.

"I-I'll be back, Marshall," she said before hurriedly walking into the kitchen.

Marshall just sighed a little and picked up the book he's been reading. 'I must've made this mission harder for her,' he thought to himself. 'If only she just leave me alone, she wouldn't have to deal with all these suspicions…'

A few minutes later, Emilia walked towards him with a cup of coffee. "Sorry for the wait," she said before hurriedly putting the cup on the table. "We're still making your next order, please enjoy your coffee…"

Marshall simply nodded at her before looking back at his books.

After around twenty minutes later, Rena walked out of the kitchen with a large tray covered with iron dome cover. She put the tray on the bar table before tidying up her uniform a little. Emilia was about to serve the food but Rena stopped her.

"No, Emilia, let me handle this," she said.

Rena walked towards Marshall with a confident look on herself. She put down a large plate, still covered with the dome. "Here is your order Marshall," she took a deep breath as if to brace herself before opening it.

At that point, Marshall was already whispering defensive spells on himself. He half expected her to reveal something like Medusa's head to assassinate him.

After what felt like hours, Rena finally opened the dome, revealing a spaghetti. Not just any spaghetti, it is plated in such way that it resembles a nested heart. There's a little bit of dressing on top with slices of what seems to be tuna making a pattern on top of it.

Then there's the sauce pattern that formed the word 'Marshall' written like a caligraphy. Below it are a string of characters resembling a code that the demon, in all his immortal days, cannot even begin to decipher.

"Thank you," Marshall said automatically. Then he realized that this is probably the standard of serving food in this town. "This looks spectacular miss, thank you for the food,"

Rena nodded a little. "It's nothing, it's nothing, please enjoy…"

A quick spell tells Marshall that this food is not poisoned. Still, a poison dangerous enough to slip past his detection 'might' be harmful to him. 'Well, it's not like I can die anyway,' Marshall thought to himself before taking a mouthful with a fork.

It was simply, delicious. Marshall isn't a food connoisseur but he can tell that a lot were went into making this spaghetti. There were so many different flavour he couldn't describe blended in such way that creates harmony unlike anything he has ever tasted before.

If there's anything he can compare to this spaghetti, it will be Lucifer's cocktail. A drink made from the fruit of wisdom and knowledge and the blood of thirteen years old virgins. It was simply divine.

A smile belonging more to a child than to the prince of hell formed on Marshall's face. "Uwaa… It's so good…" his traitorous mouth slipped out. Then he realized what he just said and saw Rena looking like the happiest girl in the world.

The girl pressed her hand together with a cheerful smile on her face. "Yeay!" she said hopping a little as she did so. Then her eyes widened and her face reddens once again. "I mean, I'm glad you like it…" she said.

Then Marshall took a look at the code written below his name. He took out his note and the girl started pumping her fist victoriously. It was only until Emilia drags her away by the skirt before she give Marshall some personal space.