It was nightfall. (Your Name) was walking through town on the way to the dorms. She stopped briefly to watch Gon and Koban discussing whatever the cat's latest story would be. The girl wanted to throw her club at them, but alas, she didn't want the property damage coming out of her paycheck.

That was when she noticed an extremely out-of-place white head bobbing in the crowd. As it drew closer, (Y/N) heard a familiar voice singing an odd song.

"Nasubi!" she called, waving a hand.

It took the small oni only a moment to notice her. His face lit up, and he ran over.

"(Y/N)!"

He grabbed her hands, and swung them back and forth, causing her to drop her club. (Y/N) chuckled, indulging in his little ritual.

"Are you done with work?" she asked, prying one of her hands out of his grip to pick up her belongings. "Do you want to walk home together?"

"Yeah! That sounds good!"

So she let him tag along. To her surprise, he didn't run off or get distracted. In fact, he had that look on his face he always got when he was about to say something either brilliant or stupid.

"What're you thinking about?" (Y/N) asked, leaning over to get a better look at him.

He jolted awake. "Ah, (Y/N), you knew Mr. Hozuki as a kid, right?"

(Y/N) blinked. "Yes, I did. What brought that up?"

"Well, Karauri and I have been wondering what he was like, but when we ask, he always says 'I wasn't very different from how I am now.'"

(Y/N) put a finger to her lips. "Let's see...Hozuki as a child...actually, he wasn't very different from the way he is now."

"Aw, really?"

"Yep. He was a bit more impulsive, I guess. He often had these hair-brained schemes. They always worked out, but I was still terrified we'd get in trouble. The only reason I went along was because I was afraid to say 'no.'" She sighed. "Yeah, I was a big scaredy-cat back then...always hiding behind Hozuki, but not anymore!" she hoisted her club onto her shoulder.

Beside her, Nasubi was staring at the sky. She could almost see him imagining her with a tail and ears.

She was about to whack him over the head when she remembered something.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. Why are you here, anyway? This isn't on your way back from work."

He gasped. "Oh, that's right! King Enma wants to see you!"

(Y/N) blinked. "King Enma? Why?"

"Why...um...let's see...we were talking about trying to get Mr. Hozuki married, and all of a sudden he yelled 'fetch (Y/N) immediately,' and I was like 'okay,' and now we're here."

(Y/N) groaned. This wasn't going to be good.

"What do you mean you want me to seduce Hozuki?"

Several passing oni jumped at her voice, and scrambled to pick up any dropped scrolls before someone threw a club or sharp object at them. Nasubi was clapping happily, as if they were already getting married.

"But, (Y/N), don't you like him?"

(Y/N) stared at King Enma, taking a moment to process his words before stumbling backwards, waving her hands in front of her face.

"W-what are you talking about? Me? Like Hozuki? He's just a friend!"

Enma tilted his head to the side. "Really? But you're always talking about him, and I see you together all the time!"

"Exactly. We're friends, and he's such a pain in the ass, who wouldn't talk about him?" She froze, expecting to feel Hozuki's malicious aura behind her. "Oh, no! What if he comes in? King Enma, what have you done?"

"He won't come in here," Karauri piped up as he walked into the throne room with an armful of papers. "He's outside watering the goldfish plants. It's gonna take him a while."

(Y/N) flinched. Dang it! There goes my chance to escape.

She turned back to Enma. Well, might as well be direct.

"No. I'm not going to have any part in this scheme of yours. If you're going to do this, find someone else."

She turned, and strode to the door.

"Wait, (Y/N)!" King Enma called after her. "At least consider it!"

"Fine, fine."

She ran into the hallway, heart racing. Even after all these thousands of years, telling someone off in any way that didn't involve a weapon was still difficult—even if it was King Enma, the biggest pushover in Jigoku.

Sighing, she decided to take a walk around the outside of the mansion before returning to the dorms.

Why me? I'm not a seductress. I worked in the Engineering Department before women were allowed to torture. Heck, I work in the Hell of Undying Suffering right now! No, it can't be that I'm a seductress...

Do I really look that in love with him?

As she turned a corner, she came face-to-face with the origin of her problems, watering his goldfish plants as promised.

"Good evening, Hozuki," she greeted him, putting on as good an air of nonchalance as was possible.

"Ah, Ms. (Y/N), good evening."

"You don't have to be so formal," she reminded him, coming to stand beside her friend on the steps.

"Right, I apologize. (Y/N)."

She pinched his cheek—something she was fairly certain she would have done under normal circumstances—and he swatted her hand away. She chuckled, glad for the sense of normalcy.

"Your crop's looking good this year," she observed, taking a step into the garden.

Hozuki nodded, setting his watering device on the ground. "Yes, though I have to say this one here is by far the best." He gestured to the one in front of him.

(Y/N) scurried over, and gasped.

"Wow! It's such a pretty shade of orange! You know, I always wished I could keep these things, but we aren't allowed to have gardens at the dormitory, and they won't exactly fit in my room, you know?"

"Is that so?" he muttered, wandering to the other side of the garden.

(Y/N) nodded, examining each plant individually.

"They're so big already!" she exclaimed. "I wonder if I could ride them...I could make a saddle. The only problem is whether the stem would hold my weight."

She bent over, prodding the stem until she felt someone tap her shoulder.

Letting out a squeak, she turned around, reaching for her club, but it was only Hozuki, holding a plucked goldfish in his hand.

"H-hozuki, what—"

"You said you wanted to keep them," he said in his usual grim voice, "so I picked one for you."

"A-ah," she stammered, taking the flower, "thank you..."

She didn't have the courage to tell him the plucked ones actually scared her with the way they gasped for air. However, despite her apprehension, her heart was beating even faster now, her face flushing a bright red.

What...what's wrong with me?

"Are you all right?" Hozuki asked, raising a hand to her forehead. "You look like you have a fever."

"I'm fine!" she insisted, standing so fast, she almost hit her head on his horn. "I probably just worked myself too hard today. I'll go back to the dorms right now and rest!"

Hozuki nodded, getting to his feet. "Very well. Please take care of yourself."

She backed away from him. "I will. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, (Y/N)."

She turned and ran, still clutching the goldfish flower in her hand.

Yes, that has to be it. I'm just overworked. That's it.

I am not falling in love with Hozuki!

Author's note: Hi! This is my first fanfiction, so if you have any advice, please leave it in the comments down below. Thanks!