* 2nd week, 1st day | 3. 03 PM *

You were, again, combing through the night sky for constellations by your window when a sudden thought struck. "I need to pay back Levi!"

"Oh yeah, that." Chara sighed. "I was wondering when you'd start working. What was it Mammon said? Something about JOBS on your D.D.D.?"

You pulled out the device and searched for the app. Before searching for a potential job, you read the extra information it offered, just as a precaution. You're glad you did because the system is quite different from the ones in the human realm.

Instead of regular shifts, you have a one-time shift, and the more you work, the more points you will collect (the minimum is 30, with each shift gaining one point), and that allows you to move into higher-paying jobs.

You opened it and searched through the list from JOBS :) has to offer. You found plenty, but most had a 'No Human' policy, which is in your opinion, quite stupid. Most humans wouldn't even want to live, let alone WORK in hell.

You shared this with Chara, who fully agreed. "What would even be the point? There's even a 'Human Policy' filter!"

"Better safe than sorry." You supposed and used the filter. Due to the sheer amount of luck you have, the filter only showed 2 places of hire: the first one in a cafe, and the second in a convenience store. Both seemed like safe places to work in, judging from the professional pictures, but JUST in case, from Chara's suggestion, you looked the place up online and read the reviews. There were almost equal to positive and negative reviews for the first place, and almost zero for the second.

You zoned in at the points the app offered in both places. You noticed that the second didn't have a point system, but still pays you. Well then, that left you with only one option, doesn't it?

You read the information given on the app again. For this particular one, it tells you that it's open on weekdays and weekdays, which is good for you. You are expected to work for 5 hours, and each hour is 500 Grimm, which gets you 2,500 Grimm/day, whereas your total Grimm at the end has to be approximately 90,000, which must be collected in the second week of next month.

Doing the math, you came upon the conclusion that 36 work shifts must be picked up to work and you only had 34 days. Well, it's a good thing your chatterbox of a mouth didn't say that you'd pay off the whole thing.

...

Did it?

No, no way. There's no way you'd be that idiotic, right? You panicked and decided to do more math to settle your nerves.

Doing MORE math, you found that your next place to pine for is the library, which has pay of 750/hour, and you'd be working 5 hours/day, which meant that 6 extra days of working in the library would give you 22,500 and 30 days of working in the cafe awarded you 75,000. Adding them together, you gained a total of 97,500. A weight seemed to have lifted off your shoulders. If you were that moronic and told Levi that you'd pay off his debt by yourself, you'd have enough to pay him, thank goodness.

"Rubina, shouldn't you enter your application through the app already? I mean, it's already 3.21 PM, and you haven't done anything..." Chara reminded.

You entered your application that you quickly made up on the spot, making it acceptable in your eyes. It requested a picture of you. You wondered if you should lie and post another's demon's picture or just be honest. You decided to go with the latter and took multiple shots before settling on a semi-decent one.

When you pressed the 'OK' button, you hoped it went through and that Levi would be satisfied with the results in the end.

Half an hour later, the app notified that you've been accepted and should come there IMMEDIATELY. A chat opened with the manager, and he quickly asked for some general information about you, like height, age, that sort of thing in a demanding sort of way. He promised you safety (you didn't trust him) and again, told you to get there immediately.

Time to get started, you supposed, and left the House of Lamentation, senses more aware than ever, with no demons to watch your back. You hoped to the Lord (can He hear you?) to keep you safe in your shift. You already texted Lucifer that you'd be away until, or at least until 9 PM. You made the mental note to ask the manager to let you have an earlier shift (if it's even possible).

You did arrive at the place safe and sound, thankfully. It looked like the typical cafe, called The Headless Cafe, but instead of human servers and customers, it's appropriately filled with mostly headless demons. You gulped. Maybe promising help to Mammon isn't the best idea to do in your second week...

You pulled out your D.D.D and texted the manager, asking where he is. A man from the kitchen then strode out, each footstep pounding louder and louder on the tiled floor. He searched the room with his red eyes and landed on you. You assumed, by now, that this is the manager. You took a step towards him.

"Mr. Benz?" You hesitantly asked. He nodded, then ushered you to a nearby table. Unlike his underlings, he does have a capitulum (head).

"You must be the human my kids are talking about." He stated, staring at you from head to toe.

"Oi, stop staring at her!" Chara contradicted.

"Now, human, why in hell would you want to start working? You're too tiny for this kinda shit- could be eaten in seconds." He questioned, pulling a cigar out of nowhere. Shit, this is frightening, you realized. It's a bit too late, but now you realized that maybe going out in the Devildom at 4 PM is a bit like throwing a rabbit with a bunch of wolves.

You decided to lie. "I needed some Grimm to settle a bet." He scoffed.

"You just came and are already making bets?! No wonder they say humans are stupid. Guess you just proved it even more." He laughed at this feeble attempt of a joke and huffed his cigar. "Tell you what. If you can prove to be competent, I'll let you work 'till you reached your quota point, but make ONE mistake..." The smoke from the cigar floated through the air, and he blew it onto your face. "and that's the end of you, gotcha?"

You nodded, frightened. "Good. Oh yeah, forgot to mention."

He gave you a rotten grin, teeth yellow. "You won't find any other places that'll hire you except mines, so don't be so much of a disappointment." He laughed cynically again, then headed into the kitchen, dragging you with him. His long fingernails curled into your skin. They hurt.

-1 HP!

"Imps!" He roared. Most of the staff looked up and he pointed at you. "We got a newcomer! She's in the service department."

He pointed towards a headless demon you've seen once in your history class. "Karen (you almost chuckled at the name), teach her the basics. If she does even one wrong, small move, she's yours to eat." She, as you soon identified from her body parts, stared at you like daggers.

Karen, despite her having no head, had two, blinking organs on her stomach, complete with a jarring mouth. She wore a crop-top and a hiked skirt. She's your height, and you're quite petite. This doesn't look like a Karen. What a misleading name, you thought.

Karen dragged you from the manager's side, and like him, looking at you from the top to bottom. "Sure, boss." The manager nodded, puffed one last smoke from his cigar, and left. The smell is different from what you smelt in the human realm, but at the same time familiar.

"Guess you'll be with me." She sighed, then grabbed your wrist, roughly dragging you to a cupboard. As soon as you are unseeable from the others, she roughly pinned you to the door of a cupboard. You struggled but without avail.

"Rubina!" Chara screamed. You gave her a reassuring smile, then asked Karen politely what she's doing.

She grunted. "What are you, stupid? Pining you! You're supposed to be scared, so BE SCARED!" Surprised, you let out an alarming scream. She nodded, satisfied, and released you.

Despite her stature, her grip was quite strong, as it hurt and lead to a red bruise on your wrist. Isn't this work abuse? Well, you guessed it wouldn't matter to the others. You were a prey amongst predators.

-1 HP!

She harshly threw some soft material to you. "Put it on. The bathroom's beside the kitchen." You nodded, then went to go change.

In situations like this, you missed home. You wanted to be back in your kitchen, gulping down mom's butterscotch-cinnamon pie with Sans and Papyrus. Pushing the thoughts (and a slip of a tear) aside, you changed clothes. It's a good thing the material's soft.

You slipped on a long-sleeved checkered shirt, paired with dark-colored pants and a gray apron that covered the entirety of your uniform. You twirled, admiring the simplicity of the outfit.

"It's kind of cute..." You murmured. Remembering that this is a job, you quickly dashed into the kitchen. You took a few seconds to calm yourself, then entered the kitchen doors.

Nobody gave you instructions on what to do, so you quietly walked towards Karen (who was chopping something up) and asked what she needed help with.

She quickly walked you through the basics of being a waitress, such as where to place orders, where the food came out, and how the menu worked. The cafe used code names, such as A3 or B4. You just had to relay that to the chefs, and that'd be it. It sounded surprisingly simple, but you hoped with all your heart that the costumers didn't ask any extra information on the dishes. You hardly had the time to scan the menu yourself!

Then, she pointed at multiple boxes of food. "Unwrap and classify them. After that, give them to me." She turned her attention back to chopping.

"What was the point of telling us all that if we're just going to work on the packaging?" Chara asked. Your thoughts exactly.

You wanted to ask what she meant by classifying but lacked the bravery to do it, so you focused on what you understood which was unwrapping. You sat on the floor and opened the box closest to you. A layer of black, wriggling creatures pay at the bottom of the box, Without wasting a second, you closed it back and moved on with the second box, which was less dangerous (or disgusting?). You separated the food based on their distinctive shapes, setting it aside.

The pile shrunk as time passed, your rinse and repeat method getting faster. As you worked, your eyes collectively drew questions to your other colleagues, mainly: How are they supposed to see the things they're chopping?

Just as you thought you were finished and gave it to Karen, a load of boxes came coming in. Chara groaned for your sakes, as you were too afraid to utter a single word. You gave the first batch of items to Karen, who took them with a grunt.

When working with the next pair of boxes, you couldn't help but wonder, while eying the chefs who've been cooking plenty of dishes for the same table number: Who's eating all of this? Logic assumed there was a big party, but you didn't hear any loud chattering outside the kitchen. The kitchen had a big open window so the public could see what the staff did. The ordering system of a fast-food restaurant, but the next orders are taken from their seats.

This rinse and repeat cycle of unwrapping and classifying took up your entire work shift. The grumbles of your stomach didn't help the cycle and your tired eyes didn't help much with imminent details that differed one food to the next (such as one having 3 seeds, and one having four coming from 2 different boxes). Eventually, through determination and work, you made it through your shift. Sweat trickled down your face. The kitchen didn't have an AC, and there's not much you can do to keep cool.

The clock ticked 9, and you finished your last batch of the day. You sighed in relief, glad it's over, and quietly stood up. You noticed the manager from your peripheral vision sitting on a stack of boxes (why are there so many boxes?), still smoking his seemingly never-ending cigar. Speaking of, you didn't see the manager work in the kitchen during your entire shift. Is he working outside the kitchen, serving customers? What do managers of a cafe do?

The other employees stood in front of the manager, filed in a line. You followed. After listening, you had a slight gist of what the manager does: commented on their work today, then asked a question, mostly relating to this place. You wondered if this is how it worked on the surface.

Then it came to your turn. He looked you up and down, then said: "Well, you didn't say a word, did your work without complaining." He stayed silent for a few moments, cigar in between his fingers, he blew out slowly, releasing that same smell from earlier.

Just what is he thinking, smoking in the kitchen? You thought absentmindedly, anxious about his answer. He nodded silently. If you had the energy, you'd cheer in excitement, but you don't. The feeling of alleviation from being able to pay Levi is exhilarating. Now, you had a consistent income of money! YES!

Karen tossed you your clothes. "Put this back on, then leave." You interrupted her before you left.

"But what about my pay?" You asked. She sighed, then handed you your hard-earned cash. You grabbed it with excitement. Your hard-earned cash is in your hand. You counted the money, just in case she duped you. Thankfully, she didn't and you left (with your regular clothes) with a happy heart. Now, just 29 more days of that and you'll be free! Free from this, although it isn't quite as bad as you thought. Maybe if you stayed silent during your whole shift(except talking to customers, of course), you'll come out in one piece.

You changed out of your uniform and put your regular clothes back on. Can I bring this home?

You decided not to ask and handed the uniform back to the manager. He threw the clothes back at you. "Wanted me to smell you or something?" He laughed. You quickly left, your dislike for him growing. You passed Karen, who you greeted goodbye with a short wave.

As soon as you got outside, you threw your head back and pumped your fist in the air. "MONEY!" Chara laughed in victory. You laughed at her outburst and joined in, forgetting about the dangers of the late-night for a few victorious seconds.

Tired, your senses did not become as wary as they have been when you first walked these streets alone. Now that it has gone dark, there's an even higher chance of you getting murdered or kidnapped or some other terrible thing.

You didn't notice the hoard of demons quietly following you. Thank goodness you had a ghost with you.

"Rubina... there's a bunch of demons following us, and I don't think they want to be friends." Chara's warning tempted you to glance back, and you did. The demons jumped, and just like that scampered towards you. Before you could react, your soul jumped out of your body.

"SHIT-" Chara screamed in fright. You swallowed nervously and proceeded to check their stats (3 in total, attack as a group). Due to poor lighting, it seemed like your chances of fighting is even lower.

Little Derro. It just wants to look cool in front of everyone.
ATK- 9 DEF- 8

Its attack was rather difficult to dodge, using circles that explode into cloud hazes as its main, and shadow-like creatures that fluttered from left to right as its side, keeping its gaze on your red soul as it fought, but you managed. In between attacks, you kindly tell it to stop attacking you and that it looked cool already.

-4 HP!

A crowd surrounded the fighting scene, and the jeering and cheering from the crowd are not doing you good.

DEFENSE DECREASED!

Unlike monsters, it refused to stop at that, attacking relentlessly.

-2 HP!

Considering there are cheers of encouragement from the other demons, you resorted to begging for mercy. Perhaps a human begging for their life looked cool for demons. And just like that, it released you, giving you a menacing look.

You checked for scars. Thankfully, it wasn't bad, only a few bruises here and there, but they do hurt. Oh no.

"It doesn't look too bad, so I think you'll be fine," Chara exclaimed, examining your wounds. There was a gash on your right foot, and it's making your walk from a two-footed fast walk to a lamented one-foot dragged walk, which is depleting your progress. You forced the leg to walk even faster, decreasing your HP by -1.

TOTAL HP: 13/20

With bruises tainting your skin, you arrived at the House of Lamentation, its warm and nice aura giving you peace of mind from the embarrassing fiasco that is you cosplaying as a maid. Exhausted and needing to be heal from your fight, you head into the kitchen to rake through the cabinets, trying to find the first aid kit. As you'd expect, you found Beel munching away in front of the fridge.

"Hey, Beelzebub." He looked up, saw the state your body is in, and asked: "What happened?"

"I was attacked, but I could dodge them okay." You explained. "Do you know where the first aid box is? I don't want to bother Lucifer, he's probably tired."

"In the communal bathroom. There's a first-aid kit for anyone who needs it. I don't know if it works for humans though..." Beelzebub trailed off, eating some salamander skin, from the looks of it.

"Thanks." You walked to the communal bathroom, hoping no one is taking a shower. Lucky for you, no one is. There's a first aid kit box in one of the cabinet drawers. You brought it to your room and locked the door.

Carefully, you checked the contents of the box. Some things, like a flower that's supposed to be sucking out acid, is definitely off the charts, but most of the innards were usable. Of course, your leg is the first thing to take care of.

You took a brand-name ointment and applied it to the gash. It stung, but you braved through it. 

HEALING PROCESS...

HEALING PROCESS COMPLETE!

The growl of your stomach surprised you. "Oh yeah, I haven't eaten." You mumbled, hissing as you stood up. 

"You walk okay?" Chara asked. You nodded and headed into the kitchen. Along the way, you bumped into Mammon.

"Yo-" His eyes trailed to your patches. "What happened?"

"Lil' Derro and the gang beat me up. It's okay, I escaped." Your stomach growled for the second time, leaving you red. 

"You haven't eaten?" He asked. You shook your head. He sighed. "Well, can't have the human hungry, can I? There should be some leftovers if Beel hasn't gone to them."

"He has. I saw him when I came in." You reported sadly. As a response, your stomach grumbled for the third time. Mammon chuckled at that. You pouted. 

"What, seriously? Oh yeah, there's some groceries for tomorrow that I just bought. I hid them so Beel can't find 'em. Come on." You followed him, and after taking a good look around the room, pulled out groceries from an unsuspecting cabinet.

"Got it. You don't mind eggs, right?" You nodded, then scurried to take a pan from the arched room.

HEALING PROCESS COMPLETE.

*

The late dinner was very enjoyable, as Mammon has begun talking to you in a more lax manner. You sighed in bliss as you fell into your bed, tucking into the covers. Unlike yesterday, sleep took over almost immediately.

...

"OH SHIT MY HOMEWORK!"