There was something deliciously terrifying about the moonless night sky. Without its watchful gaze, the world became shrouded in an unsettling blanket of darkness, and this caused Koutarou to feel vulnerable. The moon always served as a form of comfort for the young man, as it constantly watched over him and ensured that he was safe. It whispered reassuring words in his all too eager ears, and bathed his pale skin in its bluish-white glow. The celestial being warded off those who wished to harm him and kept the creatures that dwelled within the shadows at bay. But without the moon he was powerless, useless, and exposed to the horrid creature that patiently waited for him in the shadows.

Under its watchful eye, Koutarou was rendered powerless and defenseless. It was an entity older than humanity itself and it took pride in toying with his inherent human nature. He hated the power that it held over him and desperately wished that he contained the strength to shy away from its sinister touch, but he couldn't. It just wasn't possible for him to get away from it, not now, not ever.

Its insidious nature enticed Koutarou in a way that disgusted him. It made him want to crawl out of his skin and ascend to some higher plane of existence that was completely out of its reach, but this was just wishful thinking. Such a thing would never happen and he was foolish for hopelessly clinging on to such a belief. But what more did he have? Hope was the only thing he could hold on to while trapped in that room, and so long as he had hope, there was some sort of opportunity for his escape; at least, this is what he thought anyway.

His hypersensitive ears picked up the faint creak of floorboards from the other side of the room, and that one singular sound was enough to evoke a strong adverse reaction. His heart rate quickened and he could all but feel the color drain from his face. It was only a matter of time until the thing had found its way back to him, and though he knew this would happen, he couldn't help but feel terrified.

"Your breath has become quite uneven Bokuto-san, I wonder why that is?"

The voice sent sharp tingles down his spine and he so desperately willed his ears to ignore the discordant noise. He shifted and attempted to stand up despite the cold restraints he wore around his ankles. The sound of his struggling seemed to amuse the dark figure in the shadows, and he heard its voice cackle in some sort of attempt at laughter. Koutarou slowly fell back down to the ground and clenched his shaking hands into small fists.

"Each and every time I visit you, we go through this same scenario, as if something had miraculously changed. You will always be stuck to that same spot and I will always return to you, willing to share the secrets I've learned during my time on this earth. You flinch away from me as if I wish to hurt you Koutarou. I don't want to hurt you, I just want to touch you, is that so wrong?"

Defiant tears prickled the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall and give that thing such a satisfaction. He watched as the figure emerged from the shadows, and looked away as it cordially flashed its teeth towards him. He didn't want to look, but he felt himself incapable of looking away. Looking into its eyes only served to unsettle him even further, and he felt his stomach churn with a nervous and uneasy bubbling.

There was something so human about the entity, so normal, and oh so beautiful; but this was how it tricked you. Taking on the appearance of something aesthetically pleasing allowed it to lure you into its lair where it would promptly proceed to ruin everything you once held close to you, including yourself.

"I smell the stench of fear radiating off your skin Bokuto-san, you know how much I hate it when you do that. It ruins the ambiance and irritates me greatly." It continued its slow gait until it reached him. "But I suppose you humans can't help it. It's a defense mechanism of sorts, and that isn't anything you can be blamed for, so I do apologize."

With great difficulty he managed to tear his eyes away from the being in front of him, opting to stare at the ground instead. His uneasiness was still ever so present, but he still found some solace in the dark ground he was sitting on. His mouth felt dry and his lips cracked whenever he even attempted to make a sound, which in part accounted for the silence that he offered the being that stood before him. He had no real desire to converse with it, hell, he had no real desire to be within a few feet of it, but there were just some things he couldn't control.

"Remember how things used to be Bokuto-san? You've come quite a long way since then, and I'm not too sure if I should be pleased or worried. There was a vibrancy to you, a strong defiant will to live that both amused me and annoyed me; but now there's nothing. You've become quiet since our first encounter and that honestly worries me a bit." From the corner of his eye, he saw the creature crouch down to his level. "Sometimes I miss the way you used fight against me, now you're just…" He felt a cold hand caress the length of his face and he instinctively flinched away. "..dull."

There was no reason that he should pay any mind to its words, but Koutarou couldn't help but feel that it had made some valid points. Compared to how things used to be, he had completely yielded to the dark entity. He still clung desperately to the tattered remnants of that version of himself that longed to escape, but in reality, all he had become was a hollowed out shell of the man he once was. It was pathetic, and as he sat there in that room staring back into the entities dark eyes, he came to realize that there was no real hope for him anymore.

"I wish you would go back to how you were before Bokuto-san, and part of me feels sorry for breaking you like this. But I couldn't help it." It had now lowered its hand and leaned in dangerously close to his ear. "You were and you always will be my favorite plaything, and I can't ever throw you away. Ever since the dawn of humanity, never have I ever stumbled upon someone as beautiful as you."

Koutarou flinched and clenched his fists as he felt the creature trace over the thin veins in his neck. He wanted to break away and fight against its touch. He wanted to protest and scream and kick and bite until it hissed and retreated back to the shadows where it belong, but he did none of those things. "Pl…Please let me go…Akaashi please…"

"My dear you can beg and plead all you want, but it won't cause me to change my mind. Where you belong is here with me, so here with me is where you're going to stay."

He still flinched whenever he felt its sharp teeth sink into the soft skin that covered his neck, but it was a lot less painful this time around. Koutarou knew that those few fleeting moments of pain would soon fade and he would be greeted to a painless sleep. His life had become this, it was shaped around this vicious and unforgiving cycle and there was no real end in sight for him. Slowly he felt his eyes grow heavy, and as his consciousness faded from him, he desperately glanced out the window hoping to steal one last glance at the moonless sky before he fell into another deep slumber.

AN: I don't know what this is exactly but...BAM A ONESHOT! I've been thinking about making an HQ oneshot collection but idk yet because college is a thing and it sucks. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story thingy and your feedback would be greatly appreciated~! Until next time (ﾉ･ｪ･)ﾉ