I blinked one. Twice. Raised a finger in an attempt to ask a question. No. Nope. If I don’t engage then it didn’t happen…right?

Stare. Stare. Stare.

The plainly dressed child stared at me as if he was waiting for something.

“Chuu found him in the forest. Can Chuu keep him?”

“No, put him back….wait.”

If that child wondered back to town and I didn’t help then that could hurt my budding heroic image. Also, what would happen if someone saw me with this kid and assumed I kidnapped him. It wasn’t like I could tell them the truth.

Oh no, the idiotic adorable blue creature you see here. Yeah it lured this child….

I’d be locked away without a second thought. My eyes narrowed on the little boy and his scruffy hair.

“Hmm, okay good you’re not the kind of cute where people would be looking for you immediately. That’s good for me…errr I mean let’s go take you back. Do you know the way home?”

He nodded slowly. “….yeah.”

Alright. Apparently, I was babysitting now. He couldn’t possibly be worse than Chuu. So, it couldn’t be that bad. Right?

“Okay ground rules if you annoy me I’m gonna leave you in the forest. Wait. Can I say that to you? How does one talk to a human child?”

“Mir.”

“Fine. How does one talk to a human Mir?”

The little boy shook his head. Chuu floated a few inches in the air then plopped down on the kid’s head.

“He’s name is Mir.”

If you knew what his name was, why did you say you wanted to name him cinnamon sticks.

“You may call me Mao, I’m…”

“Mao’s a baker from the underworld. The despicable Devil Muffin. Or he’s a hero in training or some such like that. Honestly he just says a bunch of stuff and Chuu pretends to listen.”

First off, WHAT?! Secondly what was with Chuu’s imagination?

The little boy laughed. Seeing that made me grumbled. This little pipsqueak was laughing at me, Mao, the demon lord of Astaroth, the flame demon feared amongst…Chuu giggled along with the child.

“Which. Way. Is. Your. Home?” I said the words through gritted teeth.

The little boy pointed passed the trees and bush behind him.

“Alright let’s go.”

The journey to Mir’s home wasn’t as annoying as I’d assumed it would be. Luckily, I had the fortifications and sight to navigate any scenario.

“Mao.”

“Hmm.”

“How old are you?”

“Over six hundred years old.”

“You look like your seventeen.”

“Yeah. Fine. I’m seventeen.”

“Are you a really good baker?”

“Hahahaha. A good baker. Fool. I was trained by master Jiro.”

Mir looked at me like he had no idea what that meant. Feeling as if he had challenged my integrity as a baker and the honor of my master. I pulled a roll and handed it to the boy.

*Snap* “Chuu, jam.”

“Blaaaah. This one chuu?”

“Gross. No, the one with the skull on it.”

Chuu blinked twice. “I didn’t make that one, you did.”

“Yeah.”

“I threw it away.”

“Oh okay.” I handed the roll and jam to Mir. “Don’t over do it on the jam. Chuu likes it sweet, so you’ll get a stomachache if eat too much. Chuu come here for a moment.”

“What does Mao need with Chuu, chuu?”

Instinctively I cringed. Chuu floated by my side as Mir began eating the roll.

“Wow. Mr. Devil muffin this is really good.”

He called me Mao earlier.

Mir looked around curiously as he topped his roll with jam. “Where did little Chuu go?”

“I threw him into the sun.”

Mir laughed. “You can’t throw that far.”

Really?!

“Mao, you jerk. Why’d chuu go and throw Chuu like that.”

“So how far are we from you’re town brat?”

Mir gave me an odd look. “Not far and my names not brat it’s Mir.”

And I’m not devil muffin. But here we are.

“Hey Mr. Dev…Mao, is it okay if we become friends?”

Mir looked nervous barely making eye contact when he spoke.

“No. I don’t have friends.”

Mir looked dejected a fact that didn’t really bother me since I didn’t really understand the concept of friendship. Did he mean like a companion that fought alongside you or a servant maybe? Either way, Mir seemed too scrawny to serve either purpose so there didn’t really seem to be any reason to bother with the idea.

“Mao that’s mean. I’m your friend, chuu.”

That stopped me in my tracks, Chuu was less capable than the boy. Besides other than a nuisance that wasn’t what I considered Chuu.

“I thought Chuu was your pet.”

I smirked at Mir’s comment.

“No. Chuu is Mao’s truest companion. Chuu.”

“Emergency Food.”

Chuu blinked a few times before freaking out and pulling the side of my cheek in a fit of childlike rage.

“Mao…chuu jerk. Imma teach chuu a lesson.”

Ignoring Chuu for a moment I noticed something odd about the boy. Well possibly odd. I’ve never interacted with children before so it was entirely possible that this was normal. But for some reason when he walked this close I could feel a faint energy coming off of him. It was magical in origin.

But it wasn’t magic, more like the residue of magic.

“Hey Mao? Where do babies come from?”

“A sadistic deity reincarnates you from a past life to complete a desire with no instructions or idea how to complete that goal.”

Mir laughed at my answer. I guess something like that might sound like a joke to a child. The rest of the journey was quiet not that I minded that. Up ahead I could see Mir’s hometown. As we entered I had the faint feeling something or someone was watching us.

Stare.

Oh. It was probably just an angry Chuu. Nothing to worry about.