“Right, right… the septum pellucidum. Nearly forgot about that thing.” You mutter, scribbling along the lines of your workbook.

You had been given a second chance at life. Four months ago, you had expected your mother to pass away and for you to fall into an endless spiral of regret for not being a good son to her. However, a strange girl who called herself a ‘devil’ visited you one day, and saved her from certain death. You considered this as her saving your life too, as without your mother, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to cope with life. You didn’t really have much else to live for.

It was a bit upsetting that it took your mother nearly dying to push yourself to be a better person, but hey, it all ended alright. Almost alright. You hadn’t seen Towa again since that day she ‘took your soul’, and while you were still very curious as to what you had exactly encountered that night, you mostly just wished to thank her. You wanted to see her again. Although Towa had called it a ‘deal’, she had without a doubt done so much more for you than you could possibly imagine doing for her in return. Hence why you wished to thank her from the very bottom of your heart, if you could even get the chance.

You glance out the window and notice that god… or rather Satan seems to have fulfilled your request. In your front yard is a familiar looking shade of purple atop the head of a small girl, as well as a familiar cap. She looks exactly like how you remember her: Cute. As the devil nervously paces back and forth along the lawn’s footpath, you make your way through the house and open the front door.

“Ah!” She quickly raises her head in your direction upon hearing it creak. “No! Y-you’re wrong! I just got here, I-” You swiftly move towards Towa and wrap her up in a hug. “Hwah!? You…!” She chokes on her words before incoherently blabbering and awkwardly waving her arms around, though she doesn’t push you away.

“Towa, thank you so much. I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am.” You murmur over her shoulder as you squeeze your eyes shut. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

She at last begins pushing you away so you let her go. “I-i-i-i-it was p-part of the d-deal!” She cries, quickly covering up her tomato red face with her hands. “I t-took your soul, remember!? You shouldn’t thank a devil, we’re e-evil!”

You shake your head. “I… no, Towa. God himself is more evil than you are. You quite literally might have saved my life. I owe you a debt I doubt I’d ever be able to pay back.”

“Eh?” Her lime green, slightly scared looking eyes peek out from behind her hands. “No you don’t,” she says quietly, “we’re… even.”

“Far from it.” You insist. “You say you took my soul but I feel fine. In fact I feel better than ever… I want to do something in return. I’ll devote my entire life to you if I have to.”

“Gwaaa!” She covers her face up again. “Stop saying such embarrassing things! And don’t suddenly h-hug me out of nowhere! Do all humans do that!?”

You scratch the back of your head, a bit of guilt settling within you as realisation hits. “Oh, uh, sorry. It’s just that… I’ve been really wanting to see you.”

Towa lets out a noise somewhat resembling a squeak as she almost seems to shrink in size. The two of you stand there for a while, neither party knowing what to say to each other. Of course, you would like to say ‘thank you’ a minimum of another 500 times, but with the way Towa was reacting to your gratitude you decide against it.

“So… why have you come to see me again?” You break the silence. “Don’t get me wrong, I'm happy but… curious.”

She slowly brings her hands down to reveal her still very red face and puts them behind her back. “Oh um, well… I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

“Anything.” You don’t even hesitate.

Her eyes flicker to you, then back to the ground. “Ok so…” She produces a small circular vial seemingly out of nowhere, a cloudy white mist swirling within it. “I was able to get your soul, this is it.”

“Huh, so it really is gone after all.” You say, more amused than anything as you observe your ‘soul’ move around the vial. “I don’t feel any different, which kinda makes me wonder if it’s actually important.”

“That’s… why I’m here.” She says, frowning down at the vial. Suddenly she snaps her gaze up to you, her face panicked. “Wait! I didn’t mean it as in your soul isn’t important! I-it’s very precious and-”

You gently karate chop the top of her head, prompting a quiet “ah!” from her. “I get what you mean, stop being so nice. Now what do you need help with?”

She rubs the top of her head before slowly nodding. “So I went back to hell to decide what to do with your soul but I… don’t actually know what I’m supposed to do once I obtain a human’s soul.” She mumbles.

You blink once. Then twice. “Wait… w-what? You’re a devil but you don’t know what to do with my soul?” Your bewilderment is as clear as day. “Then why did you offer me a contract for it?”

She hesitates. “B-because… every other devil was doing it and I wanted to try it as well. It just seemed like a devilish thing to do and I want to become a proper devil so…” She trails off, her hands reaching for a nonexistent cap to cover her eyes. “But when I tried asking the others about what to do with this soul, they all just… laughed at me.” She says sadly.

Your face scrunches into an expression of pure, unfiltered pity upon hearing this. Something just made you feel so sorry for her. You were still a bit confused as to why she didn’t know what to do with a soul but that did not matter at all right now. “I’m… sorry to hear that.” You say, placing a hand on her head. “So have you just been roaming around hell these past four months trying to figure out what to do with it?”

She shakes her head, her silky hair brushing against the palm of your hand. “No… time works differently in hell. For me it’s only been a few hours.”

“Woah, a few hours there is the equivalent to four months here? Damn…” You lower your hand, trying to wrap your head around how that would work. “...So how do I fit into all this?”

“Well it’s your soul,” she lifts the vial up to your face, “so I thought maybe you would have an idea of… what to… do with it.” Her words slow down as if she was just realising how dumb of an idea that is.

“Towa… I’m not a devil and I’ve never been to hell. I have no clue what devils are meant to do with souls.” You tell her matter-of-factly with a small chuckle.

“Uh, yeah!” She laughs, her small fangs revealing themselves as she smiles. “Of course you don’t! What was I thinking?”

“Buut…” You bring your hand up to your chin in contemplation. “If your hell is anything like the ones a lot of us humans believe in, then we might find some clues in the books and stories about devils and the underworld that we made up.”

“Oooooh!” Towa’s eyes seem to sparkle in excitement. “Where can we find those?”

You shrug. “The library, I guess.”

***

The food court of the mall is quieter than usual, only a few people milling about the place. You would have preferred to stay in the library, but Towa kept getting too excited and raising her voice whenever she found something devil related that she knew in the books, so you decided instead to borrow whatever relevant material you could find and relocate elsewhere.

Towa tugs on your sleeve “Oh! Anon! Anon!” Like so. “Look here!”

“Hm? What’s up?” You lean over to look at the book she’s reading, your shoulder touching against hers.

“Here! I recognise this circle! It’s what our portals look like whenever we leave hell!” She excitedly points at an image in the book with a painted nail.

You observe her face for a moment before bringing your attention to the image. “Hmm… well it says here that’s what satanists of old used when attempting to summon devils.” You pause, then snort. “You know I used to think satanists were crazy and also generally terrible people, but if Satan has more people like you under his command, maybe they’re on the right track.”

Towa turns her head to look at you only to realise how close you were. Her eyes widen a bit in surprise but she doesn’t move away. “W-what do you mean ‘people like me’?”

“Well, you remind me more of an angel than a devil.” You shrug.

Her eyes flicker away from yours as she pouts. “Towa’s not an angel… she’s a devil.”

“Sure.” You sigh, a defeated smile finding purchase on your face.

“U-um, anyway! What are you reading?” Towa blurts out in an attempt to change the subject.

“Hm? Oh…” You look down at the open book in front of you. “It’s a story about this guy called Johann Faust. Apparently he made a deal with a… no, the devil where he traded his soul for the devil’s magic powers to use for a period of time. But uh,” you flip through a few pages, “once that period of time ran out Faust became enslaved by the devil for all eternity.” You look to Towa, who’s embarrassment from before had completely disappeared and was replaced with intense focus on the book. “Ring any bells?”

She tilts her head. “Well I mean, devils have been making deals with mortals for as long as anyone can remember. This story is probably just one of those deals, you know?”

You hum in consideration before nodding. “Right. Anyway, what intrigues me about this story is the enslaving part. Faust sold his soul to a devil and ended up getting enslaved after a certain time frame.” You look at her. “Did you… set anything like that on our contract? Am I even enslaved to you now that you have my soul?”

Her brow furrows as she shakes her head. “No, I never set anything like that. It was just a cure for your mother in exchange for your soul. I wonder if I was supposed to…?” She looks uncertain, and you begin to wonder just how much these devils are taught. It clearly wasn’t enough.

“Alright!” You turn your body to her and she seems to unconsciously mirror you. “Let’s test it out. Give me an order, Towa.”

“Oh, I see.” She looks around the shopping mall for a bit before frowning and looking back at you. “Um, are you sure it’s ok? I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to by accident…”

“Towa…” You sigh, bringing your palm to your face. “You worry about my well-being one more time and you’re going to grow a halo.”

“Fine! Um!” She crosses her arms and looks around, the flickering of her eyes slowing down as they reach the gelato stall smack bang in the middle of the food court. “What’s that over there?”

“That’s a gelato stand.”

“Gelato?”

You make meaningless gestures with your hands as you attempt to explain a human snack to a devil. “Think of something sweet… and cold. Soft with many different flavours.”

Her eyes glisten as a bright smile appears on her face. “I want to try one!”

You smile. “Awaiting your orders.”

She clears her throat and puffs her chest out as she closes her eyes. “I o-order you to get me some gelato!”

You sit there and blink, wondering if some sort of force would compel you to open your wallet and buy this girl a gelato. You would certainly be happy to do so because it seemed like she wanted one, but then that would ruin the point of this test.

You glance around, but remain seated. “...Something tells me I’m not enslaved to you.”

Towa hangs her head and lets her shoulders drop. “Yeah…”

“Come on, cheer up.” You smile as you stand up. “It’s not like that was our only chance, there’s probably a lot of research we can do.”

Towa nods and stands up as well. “Yeah…”

“Want me to get you some gelato?” You soften your voice as if talking to a child.

“Yeah!”

***

//Sunset scene

“Nobody has ever called me cute”

“What the fuck?”

You and Towa turn back towards the fading amber light and you sigh. “You’re probably sick of hearing this, Towa, but I really want you to know that… I’m really grateful. For saving my mother’s life, and for… well, coming into my life too. So tha-“

Something hits your shoulder and you look down, only to see Towa resting her head against you. Your eyes widen, then widen further when she begins to fall and you realise she probably isn’t making a move on you. Your arm finds her opposing shoulder and quickly catches her, prompting a small “humm” from her as you begin supporting her to stay upright.

“Towa? You alright?” You ask gently.

“Mm…” She tiredly rubs her eyes but keeps the side of her head against your shoulder. “Yeah… it’s just, devils aren’t supposed to stay in the world of humans for too long. Being here drains our energy. These past two days,” she briefly yawns, “I’ve spent a lot of time with you here so… I need to go back to hell and get my energy back.”

“Oh shit, you should’ve said so sooner, I could've shown you around some more. Anyways, you’re welcome to come back at any time, whether it’s for research or…” You scratch the back of your head with your free hand and look away. “Other reasons, you know.”

Towa closes her eyes and slowly nods. “Yeah… I wanna come back here. I’ll go back to hell to do some more research but… I’ll return.” She brings her hands up and gives your arm a small squeeze as she tiredly meets your gaze. “Wait for me, ok?”

“Of course.”

She weakly smiles up at you and steps away, a familiar red pentagram appearing beneath her feet. You briefly look around, wondering if it’s alright to be doing something like this in public, but shrug.

“I’ll see you soon, ok?” Towa gives you a wave.

You return the gesture. “I’d love that. See you later, Towa.”

There’s a flash and she’s gone, no trace of her left at all along the wooden planks of the esplanade. You begin to wonder when next you’ll be able to see Towa. She said something about time working differently in hell… like, one day there being four months here or something? You couldn’t remember for sure, but either way seeing her again was most definitely something to look forward to… for many reasons. You were willing to wait, though you pray she wouldn’t be too long.

...Does Satan take prayers?

***

“Man, hard to believe you’re gonna be out of here soon. We’ll miss you man.”

You blink, your deep dive into treasured memories quickly fading as your daydream ends. “Sorry what?” You lazily turn to your roommate.

“You’re graduating at the end of this year, right?” Shien gives you a sad smile. “You won’t be able to stay in the dorms once you do, which sucks.”

You blink some more and sit up from your bed at the bottom of the bunk. “Right, yeah.” Your head lightly hits the bed above, the many years of living in the same room doing nothing to remind you to be careful. “That’s if I can graduate.” You mutter, rubbing your head.

“Of course you will.” He laughs. “You never hang out with us because you’re always too busy studying or working on reports.”

“Well, med school does that to you.” You stand up and stretch as Astel smirks at you.

“I still haven’t given up on bringing you to one of my mixer parties, Anon.” The blue haired boy says. “Surely just attend one before you graduate.”

“Well, you’re better off giving up.” You smile back as you move for the door. “Not interested.”

“Come on dude, you’ve gone 26 years of your entire life without a girlfriend. What’s the deal with that?” He sighs.

“There’s even this girl with a really nice ass attending! Come on Anon, just one?” Shien almost begs you.

You reach the exit and turn around. “Look guys, I appreciate the offer, really. But… I’m not looking for a girlfriend right now.”

“Come on man, you’ve nearly graduated, you don’t gotta worry about studying anymore.”

You shake your head. “It’s not about studying. I just… have my reasons.” You open the door and step out, giving them a quick wave. “Have fun, I’m going for a walk.”

A disappointed groan sounds out from the other end of the door as you close it and begin strolling through the hallways of your dorm building at a leisurely pace. You eventually find the exit and step out onto central campus, the cool night air enveloping you within its ghostly embrace. The gentle trickle of water from the small fountain makes a constant, calming noise in the otherwise silent university surroundings. A puff of mist leaving your mouth, you crane your head to look up at the distant stars that were made fewer by the bright lights of the surrounding city. Shien and Astel’s words stir memories.

“Ten years.” You whisper into the darkness. “Ten whole years.”

High school graduation. New friends. Getting a licence. Moving out. University. A countless number of other new experiences. So much time has passed since that day when you last saw her, and any normal person would have given up on seeing her again. Moved on with their lives. But you… not you. A small part of you still misses her, and wants to see her again. Was that creepy? Obsessive? Probably, but something was stopping you from letting go, no matter how much time passed or how many other women were introduced to you. Every day you still wished she would randomly appear at your door one day, without warning.

“Soulless, huh?” You shut your eyes. “I wonder if she was able to find out what to do with it. I hope she did.”

I’ll return.

Wait for me, ok?

Yeah, no. Not happening. With a sigh you open your eyes.

It’s Towa.

Your heart skips a beat. Then two. You rub your eyes in a desperate attempt to clear the hallucination you’re seeing as they begin to tear up. There was no way. Why now, after all this time?

She’s still there, in the darkness a few metres away. It’s Towa. Towa is here. Her hair is down and she’s wearing something different, but you would never in a hundred years mistake that purple hair and glowing green eyes for anyone else. Several chills run through your body as your jaw drops and you stand in place, staring at her in awe and unable to do anything else. She’s looking to your right, her eyes flickering across the dark campus as if looking for something.

“Towa…?” Your voice is coarse, shaky.

She swivels her head to you and her face brightens. “Konyappi! Hi Anon!” She gives you a warm smile and waves before walking towards you. “I told you I’d-” She gets closer and her eyes widen in horror as her steps slow down. “Wh…”

Realisation dawns on her face as she takes in the details of your face. Far more aged than she remembers, a rough beard outlining your sharpened jawline.

“No… No, NO!” Without warning the devil rushes into you, hands grabbing at your shirt as she plants her head into your chest. You step back from the impact, still in shock. It had been so long, and now out of nowhere she just appears again, not looking a day older. Slowly raising your arms, you bring them around her shoulder to wrap her into a hug. In the dark, quiet courtyard you could swear you heard a sniffle.

***

“...How long?” She asks.

You turn your head to Towa who sits next to you, having calmed down after what seemed like hours. One of her hands is still tightly gripping your sleeve, though she refuses to look at your face. “Ten years.”

She draws a sharp breath and bites her lip. “...It-it hasn’t even been a week for me. I knew about the time flow difference but I just didn't think that…” She doesn’t finish her sentence.

You let out a bitter snort. “Funny how that works, huh?”

There’s a pregnant pause between the two of you for a few moments before she grips your sleeve even tighter. “Stop… stop getting older all of a sudden.”

“I can’t do that, Towa. You should just come visit more often.” You sigh.

She looks at you, her eyes still watery. “I… I tried! I came as soon as I could but… devils can’t constantly go to the human world, it drains our energy, remember?”

“Right… I think I recall you saying something like that ten years ago.” You quickly find yourself regretting putting that much venom in your voice.

Her face scrunches in sadness as she lets go of your sleeve and brings her feet up onto the bench, planting her face in her knees and curling up into a ball. “I’m sorry…” She whimpers.

Guilt stabs through your heart. “Ah, fuck. No, nononono. I’m sorry Towa, I didn’t mean to say it like that.” You move closer to her and place a hand on her shoulder. “It’s just, I had almost given up on seeing you again. Ten years is such a damn long time and I… missed you. I should be happy that you’re here but instead I feel… frustrated.”

“...I’m sad too.” She raises her head to meet your eyes, her face only a few inches from yours. “Just a few days ago, you were 16 years old. That’s the Anon I remember, but all of a sudden I’m supposed to accept the fact that you’re now 26 and that I missed out on ten years of your life.” She takes a shaky breath and averts her gaze. “It’s not fair.”

//Add longer introduction

Meet with doctor, introduce mother

//Hard to separate

//Kiss before ending of third meeting