Jashin-chan woke up exceptionally early today. At 3 AM, she was wide awake.

"Ugh… it's no use, I can't sleep!"

This is all my subject's fault!

After tossing and turning in her closet for a while, Jashin-chan rolled over and irritably grabbed her tablet. The screen lit up, illuminating her face. She had contacted her friends in the Demon World at Ryohei's request, and they were coming over today. But now, she was starting to regret it. Thinking about it, her life in the human world was just pathetic.

She gritted her teeth. She couldn't go back. She had tried to kill her summoner to break the contract but was no match for Yurine and was brutally counter-attacked every time. And to top it all off, after she had summoned Ryohei, her status in the household had actually dropped by one.

"My life is so miserable! Waaaaah—!"

A wave of sorrow washed over her. Jashin-chan clutched her blanket, two wide rivers of tears streaming down her face.

"Crash! What the hell are you doing in the middle of the night?!"

Yurine was woken up by the wailing. For a second, she thought the apartment was haunted, but then she realized the noise was coming from Jashin-chan's closet. She shot up, furious, and yanked open the closet door. "Keep it down!" she hissed, but then she saw that Jashin-chan was actually crying. She froze, her tone softening instinctively. "W-What's wrong? What happened?"

"..."

"So… you're crying because you think your life here is pathetic, and you're ashamed that your friends are going to see you like this?"

After hearing the full story, Yurine, who was now sitting on her own futon with her arms crossed, was completely speechless. She leaned back, then looked at Jashin-chan with a strange expression. "Jashin-chan, I never knew you had so much self-respect."

As she spoke, Yurine began to reflect. Maybe I should be nicer to Jashin-chan in the future? But then she remembered all the times Jashin-chan had tried to kill her, and her heart hardened instantly.

"Huh?" Jashin-chan, having stopped her tears, looked at Yurine strangely. "What are you talking about? I don't have any of that 'self-respect' stuff. I'm just pissed off!"

"..."

Yurine stared at Jashin-chan, her lips pressed into a thin line. She was at a complete loss for words. She then stood up, her face darkening.

"W-What are you doing?" Jashin-chan squeaked, starting to panic. She instinctively scrambled backward, her back hitting the closet wall as she watched Yurine nervously.

"If you dare wake me up again, you're dead," Yurine warned, her voice cold. She turned off the light and got back under her covers to try and get some more sleep. This is exhausting, she thought. Thankfully, starting tonight, she wouldn't have to share a room with Jashin-chan anymore. She was going to lock her door every night and never have to worry about being disturbed again.

Tch! Jashin-chan pouted. As she turned to go back into her closet, she paused.

W-Wait a minute! This might be the perfect chance to kill Yurine! She's lying in bed, completely defenseless, and she's not sleeping on that anti-demon mat tonight…

At 3 AM, the Tokyo sky was already beginning to show the first faint hints of dawn. But with the curtains drawn, the room was still pitch-black.

This is a god-sent opportunity!

Jashin-chan's eyes lit up. In the darkness, a wicked grin spread across her face as she looked toward the futon.

"Die, Yurine!" she whisper-shouted, her words tumbling out like machine-gun fire. "It's time to end our feud! Witness my ultimate attack in the darkness! Finishing Move: Jashin-chan Dropkick!"

She leaped high into the air, her thick green snake tail swinging down with ferocious power, aimed right where Yurine lay. This blow would surely smash her to pieces!

But the moment Jashin-chan had spoken, Yurine's eyes had snapped open. Without a second's thought, she rolled out of the way.

BOOM!

The powerful tail kick smashed directly through the tatami mat.

I did it! Jashin-chan's grin widened crazily. I finally—

Click!

The room was flooded with light.

"Huh?"

Jashin-chan, her tail having punched through the floor and now resting on the concrete below, froze. She squinted in the sudden brightness and looked toward the light switch.

Standing there, her face so dark it looked like it was dripping water, was Yurine, staring at her with eyes that held not a single shred of warmth.

Jashin-chan's body went rigid. Sweat poured down her face.

I'm… I'm so screwed!

Asleep in the living room, Ryohei was violently woken by the loud crash. What was that?! What happened?! He sat up, covered in a cold sweat. He noticed the light was on in the bedroom next door.

Then, Yurine's ice-cold voice drifted through the wall.

"Jashin-chan, you really deserve to die."

"Waking me up in the middle of the night, trying to kill me, destroying a tatami mat, and getting my futon dirty…"

Ryohei winced. Case closed. It was Jashin-chan. He was speechless. Why couldn't she just sleep at night? Being woken up like that had seriously scared him, and he was not happy about it. At this rate, he was going to develop a heart condition.

His face dark, Ryohei got up and knocked on the bedroom door. He was going to go in there and give her a piece of his mind.

The noise inside stopped. The door opened, and Yurine stood there, holding a cross-shaped spear, her expression thunderous. She looked back over her shoulder at Jashin-chan, her voice devoid of heat.

"And now you've added another crime to your list: disturbing Ryohei-kun's rest."

"Subject, save me!" Jashin-chan, standing amidst the wreckage and terrified for her life, saw Ryohei and looked at him as if he were her savior. She held out a hand, her expression pitiful and pleading.

"Can't be saved. Beyond hope. Just wait for death," Ryohei said flatly. His eyes took in the scene of destruction in the room, and he couldn't help but look at Yurine with sympathy. "You really have it rough, Yurine."

"Tell me about it!" The words were exactly what Yurine needed to hear. She began to vent. "It's my fault I summoned her and can't send her back, but I've been trying to find the second volume of the grimoire! I told her I'd find the spell, but she just keeps trying to kill me, again and again and again!"

"I'm tired of it! Let's just destroy everything!" Yurine let out a chilling, morbid laugh. The tip of her spear flashed, and with a single, merciless thrust, she impaled Jashin-chan through the chest. In the midst of a pained scream, she lifted the demon into the air. Hot, red blood gushed down the cold steel of the spear, dripping onto the tatami and staining Yurine's small, pale hands.

Yikes. Ryohei thought. If it were me, I'd have gone crazy too. Looking at the brutal scene, he winced but completely understood.

"Um, try not to make the room too bloody," he said lamely. "It'll be hard to explain when we move out."

"You have no conscience, Subject!" Jashin-chan shrieked, clutching the spear shaft, tears and snot streaming down her face.

You're blaming me now?! Ryohei was speechless. "The fact that I'm not in there helping her is all the conscience you get!" he shot back. "You're the one making trouble in the middle of the night! You totally deserve this!"

"Would you like to join, Ryohei-kun? I have other weapons," Yurine offered with a cheerful, chilling smile.

"That's okay," Ryohei said, sweating slightly and waving his hands. He was annoyed, but not enough to actively participate in her torture.

Yurine nodded, pulled the spear out, and looked down coldly at Jashin-chan, who had crumpled to the floor. An invisible, dark aura surged around her, making her look like a demon lord.

"Waaaaah… I'm sorry! Yurine, I was wrong, please forgive me! I'll never do it again…" Jashin-chan cried, clutching the hole in her chest, looking completely repentant.

"You say that every time," Yurine said, her morbid smile never faltering. "You're not sorry, you're just scared. And since you did something wrong, you have to be punished! Hehe…" She then began to stab at Jashin-chan relentlessly with the spear. The scene was incredibly bloody and brutal, definitely deserving of a mosaic censor.

Even Ryohei, a chef used to the sight of blood and meat, was starting to feel uncomfortable, especially with Jashin-chan's piercing screams. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "I'm still a little tired," he said to Yurine. "I think I'll go back and try to get some more sleep."

"Okay. Do you need my earphones to listen to music while you sleep?" Yurine paused her punishment to ask thoughtfully.

"Yes, please!" Ryohei's new phone hadn't come with any.

"They're in the top right drawer of my desk," she said, gesturing with her head.

Ryohei grabbed the earphones and left. But he couldn't get back to sleep. Maybe it was the bloody image seared into his brain, or maybe the music was too loud, but he just lay there, feeling more and more awake. What a mess, he thought. He got up, went to the toilet, put his shoes on, and went outside.

Have you ever seen Tokyo at 4 AM? He had now, thanks to Jashin-chan.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, the city's buildings still blurry silhouettes in the dim light. A deep stillness hung in the air. This was probably the quietest time in Tokyo.

"Can't sleep, Ryohei-kun?" Yurine's gentle voice came from behind him. He turned to see her standing there, back to normal. Her pajamas were still clean; the long spear had kept her out of the splash zone. She was, as always, a refined and beautiful girl.

"Yeah. Do you want to sleep in my spot for a bit?" he offered with a smile. Her room was probably unusable right now.

"No, thank you. I'm not sleepy anymore," she said, a fragrant breeze following her as she came to stand beside him. She sighed. "Jashin-chan is such a headache. She won't even let a person sleep in peace."

"That's for sure," Ryohei agreed. "Once we move to the new house and you can lock your door at night, you probably won't have to worry about being attacked anymore."

"Mhm."

"How long will it take for her to recover this time?"

"It might be a while. I was a little rough," Yurine said with a sweet smile.

"..." Ryohei felt her use of the phrase "a little rough" was a massive understatement, but he didn't say anything. As for Jashin-chan's friends coming later… it would be fine. Knowing their personalities, they wouldn't say much once they knew the full story. It wasn't like Jashin-chan could die. Minos would probably just look down on her and say something like, "You bring shame to all demons, getting counter-attacked like that."

Thinking of Minos, Ryohei began to plan how to win her over at lunch. Minos is from the Minotaur tribe, but she seems to like beef, right? Still, serving her beef on our first meeting might seem like a provocation.

He looked at Yurine. "Would you be willing to go with me to the Uogashi Fish Market? I was thinking of making a big seafood feast for lunch." It was true; he hadn't had a chance to properly enjoy the seafood here yet. Japan was an island nation, and while everything else was expensive, the seafood was fresh and relatively cheap. He had read about the famous Uogashi market between Nihonbashi and Edobashi.

"The fish market? Sure," Yurine said, surprised but pleased. "Let me go change."

"Me too," Ryohei said, following her back inside.

Ten minutes later, Yurine emerged, having changed and done her makeup, carrying a small, stylish bag.

"What kind of seafood do you like, Yurine?" Ryohei asked as they walked down the stairs.

"Me? Lots of things. Eel, squid, crab, shrimp, sea urchin… I'm not a picky eater."

"That's great," he said, like he was praising a child.

"...Are you treating me like a kid, Ryohei-kun?" Yurine asked, puffing out her cheeks slightly.

"Not at all. It's just your imagination."

As they chatted and walked away from the apartment, Jashin-chan was in the midst of a painful regeneration. Even with her immortality, her sense of pain was the same as a human's. Every time this happened, it was a living hell. "It hurts, it hurts so much!" she whimpered. She deeply regretted attacking Yurine. All the previous lessons flashed before her eyes.

But she was only regretting it now. Once she healed, the regret would vanish. She was the classic example of a demon who never learned her lesson.