“Mmmhhh, Mhhhmm, so good. Mmmmh.”

My temples twitched as Chuu chewed loudly.

“Furball. Stop chewing like that.”

“MMMHmmmhh… like what? Chuu.”

Sigh.

“How about not eating right by my ears. There’s all this space, yet for some reason you keep grabbing food from my pack, and eating right here.”

Chuu stared at me for a few seconds as if he couldn’t quite understand the problem.

“Mao doesn’t want Chuu chewing right by Mao, chuu?”

“Correct.”

“Then how will Mao know that Chuu is eating delicious food and Mao’s not…”

“You little…”

Chuu floated around avoiding me swatting at him. Little gnat. Who did he think he was? And why did he think it was okay to eat all the food Granny Hana and Old man Jiro gave us.

The journey to the next town was another half days walk. We should have plenty of food to make the trip, but thanks to the fact Chuu seemed to spend every moment he wasn’t being an inane furry disaster eating we were running low.

“This scarf is so soft. Granny did a good job.”

It took me a moment to notice the tug on my neck, Chuu was rubbing himself against the scarf Granny Hana made for me. I guess he must have missed her. Why wouldn’t he, she babied and fed him all the time. The two of us spend three months with Old man Jiro and Granny Hana so it wasn’t a surprise that he got attached to her.

The scarf she made was black with the last third gradient into the same red as my hair. I wore it simply out of respect for my former master and for the strange old lady. It held no special value or anything like that.

I mean the old man and that old women clearly had been suffering from some sort of sickness that impaired their ability to understand that I was a former demon lord now reincarnated into a human body. The way they reacted made it seem like either they didn’t understand what I was saying or if their poor senile brains just couldn’t comprehend the sheer terror that should cause.

No, this scarf didn’t mean much after all, if I was cold I could simple use my flame magic….Chuu was still tugging on the scarf honestly it was starting to get a little weird….

“Hey! You little bastard. This scarf isn’t a napkin.”

Chuu had a firm grip on the scarf so when I grabbed him I inadvertently pulled the scarf tighter.

“Ough…ough. Little…if you ever do that again.”

I brought a hand to Chuu’s face, if the blue furball had a mouth I’d assume it would be quivering in terror. Fire emanated from my palm as I grinned menacingly.

“I’ll burn you until there’s nothing left. You useless bug eyed flying rat.”

Stare. Stare. Stare.

And now Chuu was just staring at me.

Stare.

Is he just gonna….Tears burst forth from Chuu’s eyes like little water spouts.

“Mao! Big meanie. I hope chuu get eaten by a stinky bear!”

Chuu flew away crying as he left.

“No. Wait. Chuu. What. Will I ever. Do without you.”

I playfully reached out in the direction Chuu flew off in. Yes. He’s gone, finally. Finally. It took a bit longer than I’d imagined it would but he’s finally…huh?

“Mao!!!”

Chuu barreled into my chest which surprisingly hurt a little. He rubbed his face in my chest still crying.

“I heard what you said. I knew chuu cared. Ahahaha…”

I could only stare at Chuu as he cried, I was being sarcastic. Also, he was crying much louder than I had spoken so how did he hear me say anything? There were two options. One Chuu had really good hearing. The other option Chuu just blatantly assumed that I was going to breakdown about how much I needed him.

For some reason both options seemed annoying to me.

Pppprrrrfffff. “Oh, Mao it was awful there was this strange witch with purple eyes.” Pppprrrfffff.

You were gonna for three seconds and wait…what’s that sound. No. No! No!

“Chuu stop blowing your nose on me. Eeeeewww, how? Why? Why is there so much snot? Oh god, it so slimy.”

PPPPPPrrrrrfffff.

“Nooooo!!! Stop it, just stop. Okay. I’m…I’m…”

Even faced with this torment I couldn’t make out the words. Every fiber of my being as a demon, former demon refused to say it.

PPPPPRRRFFFFFF!!!!

Okay. Okay. Okay.

“Chuu. I’m sorry. You’re not useless or bug eyed. Or whatever else I said. Just stop. Wait, why are you crying even more. Stop, stop, NNNNNOOOOO!!!!”

PPPPPPRRFFFFFF!!!!

“Chuu.”

“Mhhm, Mao.”

“I hate you.”

Sometime after Chuu stopped soaking my shirt with an excessive amount of tears and snot I found a stream which I was currently using to clean my clothes. Chuu decided it was best to give me some space and was busy exploring the nearby forest.

In reality I chased him away with a number of fireballs. He was laughing the whole time which only made me want to hit him that much more. Thankfully with Chuu gone I had some peace and quiet.

It had occurred to me instead of simply waiting for my shirt to dry so Chuu had time to return, I could just use the heat from my flames and make my leave. If I was lucky it would be hours before Chuu realized that I had left him.

The thought brought a smile to my face if only for a moment. I took a second to examine my scarf it appeared to be stretched just a little.

“Great.”

SNAP.

My head perked up as I heard the sound of a twig snapping behind me. Chuu was mumbling something but I couldn’t be sure what. Was he talking to himself now? I wouldn’t put it passed him.

Wait, Chuu doesn’t have feet and he flies, why would a twig snap be caused by…

I didn’t expect to see a small child with Chuu perched on his head.

“Mao, this is my pet. Imma call him cinnamonsticks.”

I looked at the child who looked uncomfortable and at Chuu who looked way too pleased about whatever was happening.

Did Chuu…did Chuu just kidnap a child?