Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

'He read it... and just when I thought things were going to be okay...' Esme thought.

"So what did you think of it..."

"What?" Dazod said.

"What's your opinion on me now...? Now that you know I'm just an orphan that can't read and is the daughter of a horrible man." Esme says.

"My opinion on you hasn't changed much." He replies.

"Much?"

"Yeah, I still think you're a rude human girl that needs to work on her social skills." He starts.

'That was nicely put.' She thought sarcastically.

"But you also have a heart, so I know deep down you are more than just 'an orphan that can't read'." He says.

"Eh?" She mutters. "But everyone and even that paper says-"

"Forget about what everyone said. And that paper is just a paper. It's not like it knows you. Esme, you can't listen to what everyone says about you. You need to think for yourself." Esme was surprised by his words.

Yet she laughed a little. "What? What was so funny?"

"It's just... you tell me these things... when really you should tell them to yourself too." She says. "You're more than a 'demon lord' you don't always have to read what is written in the books. You're right. I'm me. But you should tell yourself that you are you. You're not some lord that came before you." She continued to have a small laugh and he was still so surprised.

Her laugh, this was the first time he's seen her so happy. And she was right... he's always felt that he wasn't just some 'demon lord' he never really wanted to follow what was set in stone for him... but he always had too... yet, he was him... he is more than a demon lord.

He smirked a little. "Yeah, you're right... Hey, Esme, I have an idea."

"Hm?" She stopped laughing and looked at him, a smile still on her face.

"You work tomorrow too, right?" He asked. She nodded her reply. "How about after that I can teach you how to read and write a bit."

Her golden eyes widened. "Eh... really?" She says, surprised. "Wait. What's in it for you?"

He smirked. "The satisfaction of feeling superior." He jokes. There was really nothing, he doesn't know why... but he will help her...

"Haha, very funny." Esme said, sarcastically. "Anyways, I have to go to bed. Tomorrow will be busy too."

"Right... see you in the morning." He said, heading over to the wall he usually leaned on for support while he slept.

~

'Damn it Dazod! Where are you?! It's been more than a day! But if I leave I'll be caught... they now have security on the portal!' A blue horned demon thought.

Lothren was pacing in the demon world. His friend had been gone for a while, but now he can't go search for him. The portal had widened and now there is security on it.

"Second-in-command!" A loud and strict voice had said, summoning Lothren.

The dark skinned demon turned to see the captain of the guards, Anaxor. Anaxor was an older male, with white hairs starting to show and brown horns and eyes.

"Sir, what is the news?" Lothren asked.

"There has been a report on another escape through the portal to the human world." The older male said.

"Really? What now?"  The blue horned demon asked.

"More monsters have broken out of their prisons and have gone through the portal." The captain said.

"More...?"

'Someone is breaking them out... and I fear it may be someone after Dazod... and I should be the only one who knows about Dazod entering the portal...'

"Captain. I have an idea. It's not the smartest one, but it might just do."

"Anything will do at this point. The heir is gone and some of the guards were wiped out from trying to fend off the monsters." Anaxor said.

"Alright... then... send me to the other world."

~

"Okay. So these are the books your 'landlord' keeps in the storage." The next day had went by quickly, and now it was time for Esme to learn something about reading and writing.

"Yeah... let's see there's this..." She mumbles, taking a thin magazine out of an old, dusty box.

Dazod took a look at a few pages and quickly put the magazine back in the box, his face completely red. "Let's not look at that."

"Okay?" Esme says, slightly confused. "Why not?"

"You don't need to know." He says, before searching again.

'Weird...' Esme thought. 'Wait, maybe I can play around with this...' She internally smirked to herself.

"Hey Day."

"Yes?"

"That magazine you saw. Did it have some human woman in revealing clothes?" She asked, trying to have the most innocent tone of voice she could.

Dazod blushed a dark red. "I-I thought I said you didn't need to know."

"Have you ever seen a human woman in revealing clothes before?" She asked.

"You're just playing with me, aren't you?" He asked, glaring at her, his face still a very dark shade of red.

"Yep." Was all she replied with.

"Do you want to learn or not?"

"I'm sorry, I'll be quiet." She quickly replied.

"Good." He says while he continues to look. He then smiled a bit when he found something. "Here should be a good start."

"Is it another magazine?"

"Nope. A kid's book." Dazod replied.

'That's weird, the old man usually likes looking through magazines for 'interesting' things... then again I think he did have a kid, until his wife left him because he spent money on whatever the hell old pervs do...' Esme thought with an internal sigh.

"But don't those have hard to read words?" Esme asked.

"Which is why we're going to start with the easy ones first." He says. "Do you have a pencil and paper?"

"Yeah, there should be some around here somewhere..." She says, looking around for some.

Day started to look around too, until he found some in one of the most simplest places. "What about the ones on the table?" He says.

"Wait- No!" Yet, Esme couldn't stop him in time because he was already looking at the writing on the back.

'There's writing on here... it's barely legible...' Dazod thought, squinting.

"Esme, have you tried writing before?" Day asked the girl. He turned to her only to see her head down, her face bright red in embarrassment. "Based on that expression I'm going to assume you have..."

"Shut up..." She mumbles. "I have tried, but no one can read it, my hand writing is awful... and I don't even know the letters I write."

"I can tell." Day says.

'Way to put it lightly...' She thought.

"How about this... I'll write down some letters and you tell me which ones you know." He says.

"Okay..." She mutters. 'I only know a few...'

After a few minutes Day had finished and now Esme had to tell him the ones she knew.

"A-A..." She stuttered out. "B-B...C..." She said slowly.

"Do you know the ones in your name?" He asked.

"I-I only know E... which takes up half my name..." She says.

"Well that's a start." He says. "Can you try writing down some letters?"

"I can try..."

"Okay... and write slowly... it will come out neater."

~

"I can't do it." She says, laying her head on the table.

"You only wrote down A." He says.

"Still... it doesn't look good." She replied.

"It doesn't have to 'look good' it just has to look legible. And it does to me." He says.

Esme mumbled something under her breath and Day sighed. "C'mon, pick your head up, you're never going to learn if you don't even try." He says.

He grabbed the hood of her sweatshirt and pulled it upwards. Which caused her to cough and sit up.

"What the hell?! Are you trying to choke me?!" She yelled.

Day laughed a bit. "No, but that was fun to watch." He continued to laugh.

Meanwhile she just looked at him, it wasn't a glare or anything, just a look.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh... it's nothing... it's just... thank you..." She says.

"Huh?"

"You're the first person to actually encourage me and to actually have faith in me... so thanks..." She says with a small smile.

He was very surprised. "I-It's no problem..." He says.

"Anyways I'll keep trying." She says.

~

"It's finally done." She says happily.

"Yeah, the first part."

"What?!"

He laughed a bit. "Don't worry we can work on it some other day."

She sighed a little bit. "Okay..."

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask you..." he starts, and she looked at him.

"That hair pin of your's... where'd you get it?" He asked.

Esme was surprised by that question and touched the pink hair clip. "This...? I found it on the streets after I escaped the orphanage..."

"Escaped?"

"...Yeah..."

He looked at her very seriously. 'I can't believe I'm about to ask this, but I'm curious.'

"Esme... can you tell me about your past?" He asked.

"My past...?" She mutters. "Why do you want to know something as useless as that?"

"I'm curious."

She looked him in the eyes. Those red eyes she looked into when they first met. And he looked into those golden ones like he did when he first met her...

They both thought they were useless people when they first met... but now... they realize... they are more then what they seem.

"Alright... but first, come with me." She says, grabbing his hand and walking to the window. "There's something I want to show you."

"You're just gonna push me out aren't you?" He says.

"No. I'm not that mean." She says.

She opened the window and climbed up the ladder, and he followed her.

They both were now on the rooftop of the apartment complex and they looked out on to the city.

"Woah..." He said surprised. 'I didn't realize how nice the human world looked... especially at night...' He looked at Esme who was also looking at the view, smiling to herself. 'And this girl was the one who showed me it...'

"Nice, isn't it?" She says. "I come up here a lot when I get stressed or just want to get a nice look of the city. And the best time to do it is at night when the moon is full and the store lights are on."

Day smiled a bit. "I didn't realize the human world was... this amazing..."

"Yeah..." Esme muttered. "You want to know more about me right? Well now would be a good time..."