Pay my handsome Demon and get your Ramen!

The hustle and bustle inside the ramen shop was frenetic. Himawari was meticulously crafting plans for licenses, advertisements, and copyrighting an appropriate label for their ramen shop. Meanwhile, Lilly darted around the neighbourhood, tirelessly posting flyers about the grand opening.

Asuka was on the verge of completing the procurement of furniture, cookware, and decorations for the shop. Akira and Toru, on the other hand, were already hard at work in the kitchen, preparing ramen broth, noodles, and marinating various meats.

Himawari harbored grand aspirations for Akuma.

"Try this one on," Himawari instructed.

"Can I at least catch my breath for five minutes? We've been at this for hours," Akuma protested.

"You complain a lot for someone who used to dwell in hell," she retorted.

"I was doling out torture, not enduring it," Akuma quipped as he emerged from the dressing room in the fifty-seventh outfit Himawari had presented him with.

Draped in a black kimono, adorned with dragon tattoos, Akuma exuded an air of Yakuza authority. Himawari couldn't help but feel a newfound admiration.

Her gaze wandered over Akuma's form, taking in his long face, sharp jawline, captivating eyes, and unexpectedly, a kitten tattoo on his chest.

"What's with the kitten tattoo?" Himawari exclaimed, arching her back comically in mock offense.

Blushing, Akuma hastily covered his chest. "What? Can't a man admire some kittens?" he retorted, attempting to deflect the conversation.

Himawari paused, considering. "Actually, that could attract customers," she mused, moving closer to inspect the tattoo.

As Akuma recoiled, protesting vehemently, the bustling continued. Within forty-eight hours of relentless labor, decoration, and culinary preparation, the shop finally opened its doors.

Akuma stationed himself at the entrance, fielding orders and payments, inadvertently drawing a throng of admirers with his charismatic presence.

Himawari wasted no time in capitalizing on Akuma's appeal, using his image to promote the restaurant.

Akira and Toru found themselves overwhelmed by the influx of customers, prompting Asuka to step in and expedite proceedings.

Bowls of piping hot ramen flowed in and out of the kitchen, while Lilly filled in as a temporary waiter.

As the night wore on, Toru remarked, "I never realized there were so many people in this neighborhood."

Meanwhile, Akira entered a state of culinary transcendence, churning out bowls of ramen like a madman with unparalleled fervor.

"Geez if you're so hardworking and good at making ramen why were you so damn poor?" Toru asked as he stood with his hands on his hips. We don't know either why he was so poor.

But all of that was changing now. Akira, it seemed, had no memory of who he was anymore.

 Everyone who looked at him was in awe.

When the closing time neared, Akuma decided to come in and have some food for himself too.

He entered the garden where everyone was seated, sipping on hot ramen. And then his eyes fell upon Akira at the kitchen counter.

Hot steam covering his face, only revealing his rather boyish charm once or twice. Akuma moved ahead to get a better look.

He now saw Akira, flipping out ramen like a mad man, with his sleeves folded upto his elbows, lips red from the blood running into his face, his shirt buttons coming undone with the force he was working with.

"So this is who you are. Funny, I've never known you, even though we have been together for eternities." Akuma said to himself as he loosened his necktie and folded his sleeves up.

"Why are you staring at Akira?" Asuka creeped up on Akuma.

Akuma was borken out of his stance and jumped to his feet from the table "To kill him, I want to kill everybody, that's all there is!" He defended himself.

Now, Asuka and a few of the guests were staring at Akuma who had gathered some terrifying attention to himself.

Taking this opportunity, the sustitute waiter, Lilly, took the opportunity to shine.

She zeroed in on Akuma, running towards him, somehow also placing ramen bowls on her way and within seconds Akuma and Lilly were both out of sight.

Poor Akuma not only missed his chance to eat some good ramen, he also found himself detained by his newly acquired fear, Lilly. 

"Hey, what's wrong, you look quite red?" Toru asked Akira, he thought Akira is building up a fever. "Umm.. haha (nervous laughter) I'm not sure" Akira said, he felt someone's powerful gaze on him. 

The time had come to close the shop.

The last guests were greeted out by a tearful Akuma (freshly tortured by Dora the Explora) while Asuna and Lilly were on dish cleaning duty today and Himawari was drawing up the proift sheets from today's sales.

Akira and Toru were lying in the garden somewhere, unable to move after eating four bowls of ramen after the most exhausting day of their lives.

"In 10 years of running my dad's cafe, I haven't seen half as many people come to eat at a place. Especially a new one" Toru said in a grunting whisper of a voice.

"Arigato, Toru." Akira said, as he looked at the stars in the sky on a cold winter day.

His warm tears sparkled in the faint fairylights they were under.

Akuma watched him from the kitchen, as he helped Lilly clean the dishes. "What fools" he said, as he smiled to himself.