Heaven is a Place on Earth

What You Didn't Know

(I'm sorry this is late, I was at a mini convention thing yesterday and I'd been focusing on getting my cosplay together)

(Headcanon: Urushihara feels very unappreciated and all his acting up is a cry for attention)

"I have had enough of this!"

"Yeah?" Urushihara mumbled, not prepared to give Ashiya the satisfaction of turning to look at him, "You said that, like, two days ago already. And a week ago. And pretty much every single time I've done... anything."

His face remained expressionless, but inside he was smirking.

"Exactly! You have made absolutely no effort to change your ways, no contribution to this household whatsoever! What exactly are you hoping to achieve here? Because you certainly can't go very far if this is how you plan on living."

The smirk was slowly fading into a frown, but he still didn't let it show.

"Whatever, Mom..."

"Why you-"

Luckily, at that moment, the door opened and Maou entered the room. Unluckily, he seemed just as mad as Ashiya, who didn't even get a chance to welcome to his master home before Maou marched over to Urushihara and jabbed an accusing finger in his face.

"Did you seriously call Emi at work again today?"

Urushihara glanced aside, the frown behind his calm façade faltering into something more vulnerable, "I was bored..." he muttered.

"I don't care if you were bored, when you start messing with her, I'm the one who's gotta deal with it!"

It was always like this, day in and day out. He couldn't do anything right and everything he did was wrong. Everything he had achieved in the time he'd lived in the apartment was always soon swept aside when he managed to screw up again.

But hey, at least the fact that they were reprimanding him showed that they were acknowledging his existence. That was something, right? He groaned inwardly.

Eventually, he had to get it out.

"You have got to start pulling your own weight around here, Urushihara," Maou said as he dressed for work the following morning, "You could at least help Ashiya out more. And what's the point in having Suzuno teaching you how to cook and clean if you never actually do it?"

"... What is the point?"

Maou paused, looking up. Urushihara sighed and turned around, leaning on his desk with his head in his hand.

"I'm no good at anything. Right, Maou?" his tone was getting more and more agitated as he went on, "I'm pretty much useless. The only thing I'm good at is computers. That's the whole reason you even let me stay here in the first place. Without my magic and my wings, there's nothing else I can do!"

Now Urushihara may have often talked back and whined and complained when Maou and Ashiya pushed him around, but neither of them had expected something like that. Something so self-deprecating.  And maybe, if he hadn't been so shocked, Maou would have responded differently. But he was shocked, and he responded with anger.

"You should be grateful that I let you come crawling back to me after what you did!"

"You should be grateful that I got you your magic back when you were fighting Sariel!"

He was standing now, glaring up at Maou, but Maou just scoffed and finished getting ready.

"I don't have time for your little temper tantrum right now, I gotta get going."

And in only a couple of hours, Ashiya was gone as well and Urushihara was home alone again, left to his thoughts.

Might as well do something halfway productive.

It took some time, but he managed to remember what Suzuno had taught him about making udon. He returned to his laptop with the bowl and sat down again, but as he ate, his mind began to wander.

Ashiya was right. He really couldn't keep going on like this. But he really couldn't do anything more useful than research and 'hack'.

He could work up to something, couldn't he? He didn't know what exactly, but something. If they'd just let him go at his own pace.