Part I~ That Night
There was blood that night. Lots of it. Screams too. Begging and crying, and the sounds of flesh being torn. He was forced to watch. Tied to a chair and his head held high so that he couldn't look away, and beaten when he shut his eyes. Tears flowed from those big brown eyes as his mother's throat was slit and then her corpse raped. Where was his father? In the corner with a blade sticking out of his chest.
His eyes widened with hope as the sirens blared, but his heart grew cold when the men in his house looked at him. Was he next? He hoped they'd make it quick. He barely made a sound when the leader walked forward and hit him with the handle of his knife.
When he awakened he was cold and it was dark. He moved and heard the sound of metal links clinking against each other; his ankle had been shackled. He sat up and a door opened. One of the men who killed his parents stood there, he smiled and came into the tiny room. The boy screamed as he was held down and his ruined bloodied clothes were cut off with a knife. The remnants of his shirt were shoved into his mouth, silencing him. He gagged at the foul taste, and fought back when he flipped him onto his stomach.
"We were going to use your mommy for this, but Frankie over there got a bit too happy with his knife, so we had to change the plan."
He whimpered as the man placed a heavy hand on his butt and something probed at him.
It hurt. His muffled screams couldn't be heard over the uproarious laughter of the man and some of the others' who'd stopped to watch. Moving made it worse so he laid as still as possible though his brain told him to get away from what was hurting him. The man finished and the other four took their turns with him. Satisfying their urges before leaving, closing the door and locking him in the dark. He pulled the dirty cloth from his mouth before crying himself to sleep.
It happened every day after that, and after a while he grew used to the intrusions, though he still cried every time. Not from the physical pain, but from the mental and emotional. The only time he ever got a break was when they went out and looked for their next victim or victims to kill for sport and rape for fun.
Their parties scared him the most. In their drunken frenzies they'd beat him mercilessly, or even hit him as they had their way with him. A few would finish and then throw up on his back before passing out on top of him. In the mornings they'd drag him to the garage and clean him with a hose, then feed him and shove him back in the dark filthy closet- which usually smelled of mildew and dampness since they used the hose to clean that out too.
This party was the same as all the others. Loud were the sounds of laughter and whatever the TV had on. The lights blinded him as the door opened and he prepared for the worst. One of the men entered and grabbed his leg.
"C'mere, kid. Come out 'ere an' play wiv us!" He pulled out a key and moved to unlock his shackle, but another guy grabbed him.
"Leave the kid alone, an' get out here, Marv! I'm winning!"
Marv dropped the key as he was yanked away, and the door was slammed closed.
The boy stared at where he'd seen the key fall. He scooted forward and with a shaky hand groped around in the darkness for it. When he found it he quickly hid it the best he could and waited.
It grew quiet hours later and the boy pulled the key from its hiding place. His hands shook as he unlocked his shackle. He stood and carefully opened the door to look around. All around were silhouettes of sleeping bodies, he counted as best as he could and saw all five men out there. He snuck out of the closet on quiet feet, and headed for a window.
A storm raged outside, and lightning briefly lit up the room, startling him. He carefully climbed onto the table underneath the window and struggled to open it for a bit, but it seemed to have gone unused for a long time. He put too much strength into it, and when it finally flew open, it flew open with a bang.
"Ay!"
He didn't look back. With a shriek he threw himself out the window and landed on a leafless bush right outside. A hand grabbed him, but the rain saw to it that the boy could slip away. He hopped up and headed for the trees surrounding the lonely house.
The rain was like a double-edged knife: providing cover from his pursuers but making it hard for him to see. After a while, he could no longer hear the men, but he continued to run anyway.
Something caught his foot and he fell hard. With a small whimper he lifted his head and looked around. He recognized nothing, and there was nothing to see but the silhouettes of trees and bushes. Maybe when the rain let up he'd be able to listen for cars or something, but for now he could hear no more than the patter of rain, and it was too dark to see anything. He tried to get up, but his legs turned into jelly beneath him and he fell again. Fatigue was setting in.
He really wanted to keep running but his body wouldn't let him. With what little energy he had left, he crawled into a nearby log, and worried himself to sleep.
The chase had been fun. Those five human men were excellent toys, but sadly four got away and I was left with only one to torment. I filled his head with demons and nightmares and watched with glee as he ran from them. Perhaps I'd hunt the other four down tomorrow night, but for now the sun was coming up and I preferred to be in my dilapidated home during the day. Ultimately, there was no need for me to hide from the sun, but nonetheless I preferred the cover of darkness when hunting.
I summoned a portal, but paused when the delightful scent of taint and sorrow teased my senses. I followed it to the source a few meters away. It seemed to be coming from within a dead hollow tree trunk. I straddled it and leaned forward to peer inside. I could only see feet. With a small huff I reached my long arms within and pulled the feet's owner out.
It was human, as I'd suspected. I wasn't good with the passage of time of mortals but the boy seemed between 10 and 13 years of age. He was filthy, pale and naked. His hair was matted and tangled with leaves and twigs sticking out of the dark nest of hair. An evil black aura surrounded him which was what the tainted smell came from; the sorrow came from the boy himself. The aura was not something that naturally occurred in this world, the Mortal Realm, and it was very out-of-place on a human. I held him in the crook of my arm.
He suddenly reached up and wrapped his arms around my neck and mumbled something I couldn't quite hear.
If I could, I'd have smiled. I summoned another portal and headed home.
I settled him easily in one of the less damaged rooms of my house with a couple of blankets and a stained mattress I'd found lying about in the other rooms. The boy had slept peacefully through it all, and when I finished I briefly perused his brain for his name and why he'd ended up in my forest in the middle of nowhere.
Yuuki Momozono was his name and he was in actuality 12-years-old, so my approximation had been close. His mother and father were dead, killed by the very men I'd played with last night. They'd chased him into the forest after he'd escaped, so it turned out that I had inadvertently saved Yuuki from being captured again. He seemed to have no idea that he was engulfed in a cloud of darkness, and from what I could tell, it had been there since his birth.
I kneeled over him and gently cupped his face with my long pale hands. I felt my flesh rend as my jagged mouth opened and my black tongue slithered out and gave the aura surrounding him a little lick. I shuddered in ecstasy at the unreal mouth-watering taste.
I came to my senses when he moaned weakly, and squirmed beneath me. I retracted my tongue and sealed my mouth as I stood and backed into the shadows I'd called upon. I watched as Yuuki stretched and sat up slowly. I heard his little heart quicken as he looked around in confusion and fear. He threw off the covers and stood but his knees gave out and he fell face first into the rotting wood floor. I raised a nonexistent eyebrow at how the aura had fluctuated right before he'd fallen. Perhaps instead of a mere "cloud of darkness" this aura was instead a "cloud of misfortune?"
Yuuki fought back a sob as he carefully moved to his hands and knees and crawled over to the window. He stood and peered out of it, wiping at the grime coating it when he couldn't see outside. After struggling for a few more seconds he went towards the door which I had covered in my darkness. As he grew nearer, I made it darker to the point where it was completely black and Yuuki paused in hesitation. He stared at it for a long time before slowly backing away, and I lessened the darkness with each step he took.
He ended up back at the mattress and sat back down. He sniffled quietly as he wrapped the moth-eaten blanket around his shoulders. He moved more onto the mattress and covered his head with the blanket. Sobs came from the small lump on the bed.
I stared for a while then left. Crying was a human thing, I'd leave him to it, after all some humans seemed to feel better after a long cry, as boring as it was to watch. I also didn't want to let the boy see me just yet. I hadn't yet decided whether or not I'd keep him or eat him, so it was better not to get too close.
Yuuki had ended up in yet another unfamiliar place, and yet again there seemed to be no escape. The window was painted shut and so grimy that he couldn't see outside, though it let in a nice amount of sunlight, and the door was just... scary. With nothing else better to do, he hid himself under the holey blanket and contemplated his fate as well as pondered who had captured him now.
He flinched when he heard a sudden clang nearby and cautiously lifted the blanket from his head. There was a steaming bowl on the floor right next to the mattress. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up and moved towards it. It was full of a thick red chowder with chunks of potatoes, carrots, and meat in it. A spoon and a glass of water rested next to it and he tentatively grabbed the utensil. Yuuki folded a bit of the blanket on his lap, and set the hot bowl in the protective nest. He murmured a low "thank you" to whoever had brought him the meal and tucked into it.
It was good, flavorful and spicy and best of all filling. That first bite reminded him of just how hungry he was and soon he was eating with gusto. When he finished, scraping up as much of the soup from the bowl with his finger as he could, he set the bowl back on the floor with a sigh.
He said thank you again, though this time he said it loud and happily. He took a sip of water and got to his feet. He wandered around the room, staying clear of the shadowed part with the door of course. It was still small, but it was definitely more spacious than that closet, and smelled better too. He walked back to the window and swiped at it more before looking to the bed.
There were three blankets there, so surely he wouldn't miss one. He grabbed the most tattered one and poured some water on it. He scrubbed at the window for a while until he could see through it, smiling when he was successful. He scrunched his nose at the brownish-green stain the grime left on the cloth and threw it into a far corner for later. He went back to the window and looked around. He was still in the forest, that he could tell, but other than that he could tell no more than that he was in an old house. Why a house was in the middle of a forest, Yuuki didn't know, but there wasn't much he could do about it right now.
He stared out the window for a while longer, wanting to go outside. It'd been a while since he'd been outside. He didn't quite count the night before. That was a stressful ordeal, and you can't really enjoy the outdoors when you're running for your life.
He flinched and turned around at the sound of clinking and rustling. The bowl was gone and instead there was a ratty white gown in its place. Yuuki looked around nervously as he approached it. He set the glass down and picked up the gown. He looked around again before pulling it on. It smelled clean despite its condition and he found himself rubbing the softened cloth on his face. It'd been weeks since he'd worn clothes too; it was a nice change.
There was something very weird about this place, but who or whatever was here seemed to be taking care of him. For now, anyway.
"Um... excuse me? C-Could I go outside?"
Nothing happened for a while but suddenly darkness surrounded him. He whimpered in fear as it grew closer, pushing him towards the door. The darkness around the door disappeared and it swung open by itself. The darkness vanished except for against the wall the door was placed. Yuuki hurried out of it.
There seemed to darkness everywhere except in a three-foot wide path Yuuki made sure to stay in the middle of. Through the darkness he could barely see into other rooms. There was a room that seemed to have a gigantic hole where the floor had fallen, and then a bathroom with a missing sink and a broken porcelain tub. He reached a set of stairs and the darkness curved so that he'd be against the wall. He mounted the stairs and suddenly the darkness closed in on him again. He panicked and tried to go back up but darkness closed off his escape. The ebony curtain closed in more and more until his back was pressed up against the wall and he was nearly hugging it. He stood still and tried to control his breathing. He calmed after a bit and started crab walking down the stairs. Soon he saw why the darkness had pressed him against the wall. There was a large chunk of the stairs missing in the very center mere inches from where he stood.
Yuuki made it down the stairs and hurried out of the open front door at the bottom. He hopped off the porch onto the ground below. The air was fresh, the sky was a clear blue and the ground was wet from the previous night's rain. He wiggled his toes, collecting the mire between them and smiling at the familiar feeling. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked around, happily taking in the sights of nature. He wanted to wander into the woods. He unclasped his hands and hurried towards the trees.
Darkness formed in front of him, and he ran into it. It felt like gelatin, extremely cold gelatin. It held him there, chilling his soul, freezing his bones, and making every hair on his body stand tall. He screamed and fought to get away. It finally let go and he fell into the mud. He rolled to his feet and hugged himself before looking to the dissipating black wall and walking back towards the house; he didn't want to be outside anymore. The back of his head and the gown were completely covered in mud, and the terrifying darkness had left him cold and miserable. He shivered and headed back to the room.
Or at least he tried to. The darkness had formed a wall making it so the only room he could enter was the bathroom. His eyes widened when he peered in the bathroom. Most of it still looked the same as earlier, the missing sink was still missing, the broken tiles were still broken, and the door was still gone, but the tub was fixed and filled with warm water. A rag hung over the edge of the tub and a towel rested on the toilet. He looked around suspiciously before removing his gown. He took the towel off the toilet lid and opened. He flushed the toilet, surprised that it worked, before relieving himself and turning back around.
The gown was missing.
Yuuki rushed to the door and peeked out. There seemed to be no movement around and he couldn't see anyone for the darkness.
"Hello? Are you there? Helloo-oo?!" he called. He received no sort of answer. He went back inside and hopped into the bath. He rubbed soap into his hair and on his body. The water turned into a disgusting dark brown color, and he got out, saddened that he hadn't gotten to soak. He dried himself with the towel before wrapping it around his shoulders and heading to the bedroom.
The gown was back, but this time it was clean. Yuuki went over and tugged it on. "How are you doing this?" he asked. "Who are you? Where are you?" He still received no answer. He sighed and rubbed the towel on his head, drying the damp locks a little more. He kneeled on the mattress and sat down. "Hey, I know. You should play with me."
There was a thump near the door and a box was slid towards him. He looked inside and there were some wooden blocks of different sizes and shapes, a couple of books with wrinkled yellow pages, and a teddy bear with a missing button eye, and a ripped ribbon around his neck. He pulled the bear out and set it in his lap. "This is really nice, and all, but I want to see you. Come on! Let me see you," he coaxed.
There was suddenly the sound of static in his head. He cringed and covered his ears as it grew louder and louder. With a wail he fell over and curled up tightly around the bear. "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry, please stop!" The static let up and he opened his eyes. Tears flooded out of them as he panted and uncurled. Yuuki kept his hands on his ears for a little longer before peeling them away and looking at them and seeing that they were covered with blood; his ears were bleeding. He went to the dirty blanket still in the corner and used it to clean off his hands and ears the best he could. Dizzy from the weird punishment he laid down with the stuffed animal clutched to his chest. A nap would do him good for now.
Part II~ New Morning
"Please!"
I looked down at the human, groveling at my feet. His clothes were shredded and his shoes were missing, leaving his feet bare and covered with lacerations from hours of running frantically through the trees. His head was missing chunks of hair, and he looked as if he'd been clawing at his face and arms. I chuckled at him. Pathetic. He hadn't even lasted a full day, and he'd already succumbed to his demons. Humans were so weak nowadays.
"Please...end it! I c- I can't- I..." he shook his head wildly and grasped my trouser leg. "No more! PLEASE! NO MOR-"
I grew tired of his begging and grabbed him around his neck with one of my inky black tentacles. I tossed him into a tree a few meters away, and sent more shadow demons at him. I would feast on him when he was so broken that he could no longer process reality.
I watched him run off into the darkness before summoning a portal and going back to the house to my human charge. There were various candles strewn about to fight off the natural darkness, but did nothing to break the darkness I'd purposely placed. Yuuki was awake and playing, albeit grumpily, with the block's I'd found him. He erected a small tower and perched his stuffed bear on top as if it were a makeshift throne. He made a low roar and knocked the tower and the bear over. He laughed ruefully at himself and put the blocks back in the cardboard box and put the bear in his lap. He pet it and murmured to it softly; too softly for me to hear him.
"Um..." Yuuki murmured aloud, looking around the room searchingly. "Um, Yurei-san? Are you there? I'm really thirsty; can I have some more water? If you're there..."
So he believes me to be a ghost it seems, I thought with an amused chuckle. I summoned my shadows and left a glass of cold water on the windowsill. The clink drew his attention and he went to get it. I dared say that even to my demonic mind, the sight of the small boy, clad in a white nightgown, with a bear clutched to his chest, was cute.
Yuuki sipped at his water before turning around to go back to the mattress. I saw the aura around him fluctuate suddenly and he slipped on a block he'd missed. He fell back and the glass flew in the air. He covered his face preparing to be soaked and hit with the heavy cup, but I zipped forward, grabbed it out of the air and returned it to the windowsill before returning to my shadowed corner.
A moment passed before Yuuki dared to uncover his face. He looked around until he saw that the glass had been replaced in its previous spot. He sighed with relief and quickly chucked the guilty block in the box with the others.
"That magic you do - to make things disappear and reappear better than it was before - is really really cool. The shadows freak me out though. But it's not your fault. I was trapped in a dark closet for who knows how long. Wouldn't anyone develop a fear of darkness?" He shrugged. "Maybe it's just me... It's nice now, though; being with you instead of... " he shuddered, "them. They were horrible... I-I don't want to think about that anymore, I'd rather talk to you, but you'll probably get mad again if I bug you about it, right?"
I considered the wayward request for a moment. I still didn't want him to see me, but talking to him couldn't hurt... I "stared" intently as I began the process.
Yuuki felt a bit silly talking out loud like he was. For all he knew, he was being ignored by his mysterious protector? Savior? Ghost nanny? Nevertheless, he kept talking. He felt better talking to someone he believed was there versus the teddy bear, anyway.
He was cut off when suddenly everything grew hazy and the static started up again, louder and more painful this time. He didn't understand! Had he made the ghost mad again? Was he being punished for some reason?
Yuuki clutched his head and fell back on the floor boards. He writhed and rolled on the floor screaming, "Agh, I'm sorry! Please stop! I'm sorry! Stop! STOP! AAHH! NOO!" His stomach lurched and he turned over and voided it. Nothing but murky water came out of him, but it left him in a hurry. The static ended and he dry heaved a few more times as he moved onto his knees, into a kneeling position. He shook as a sobbed ripped out of his burning throat. "Wha... What was that for? What'd I do?"
"Here..."
Yuuki gasped at the sound of the even, cool, yet sophisticated toned voice and opened his eyes to see a towel floating before him. He shakily took it leaving only a column of darkness behind, which sank into the floor and disappeared.
"Your nose and ears are bleeding again."
Yuuki pressed the clean, dampened towel to his face and cleaned off his face and ears. He stifled another sob and began to clean up his mess.
"Don't bother yourself with that. Take off your gown." When Yuuki didn't move fast enough, he felt his gown get tugged upwards sharply. It was off of his body and being pulled into the darkness before he could yelp. More tendrils of darkness wrapped around him and dragged him over to the mattress where they covered him with a blanket and retrieved his water for him, and others worked to clean up the sickly puddle he'd made. "Drink." Yuuki nodded and took a sip to clear his mouth of bile, and then gulped down the rest of the water to relieve the burn in his throat. "Are you alright now?"
Yuuki wiped his face and nodded. The voice was soothing, but the reverberating echo and hiss that followed each word put him on edge. It sounded like the voice of a cold-hearted predator, like a hungry predator. "Why'd you do that?" he croaked the question out.
"Well you wanted me to talk to you. You had to endure some pain for you to be able to communicate with me."
"Really? Why?"
The voice sighed impatiently. "Your human mind is not made to receive telepathic messages, I had to make it so that it could. You're lucky your brain hasn't fully developed or it would've hurt much more." There was another sigh. "I had considered leaving you little notes, but I only do that with... others... but you're special, so you get certain privileges."
"Me? Special?" Yuuki blushed and toyed with the bear's ear nervously. "No, no, I'm not special at all."
"How uncharacteristically modest for a child."
He hugged the bear tightly and buried his face into i's belly. Yuuki could barely contain his excitement. He was finally speaking to someone, a disembodied voice of someone, sure, but someone nonetheless. He lifted his head and smiled brightly. "Others? So you've taken care of other people?"
There was a low tsk. "No, you are the first human I've ever brought into my home to care for. I've never had a reason to bring others here other than to..." He paused for a second. "Hm, we'll dwell on that later, shall we?"
"Aw, but now I'm curious!" Yuuki laughed, but dropped the matter when static came to his head again. It didn't hurt this time, but the warning was as clear as day. "What's your name? A-And what are you? Are you a ghost?"
"I am called many things, but I have long since forgotten my birth name. And no, I'm not a ghost."
A tendril grew out of the floor, offering the cleaned nightgown to the young boy. "Then what are you?" he asked as he stood and pulled the garment on.
"You'll be afraid of me if I were to tell you. I wouldn't like that."
"I don't think I'd be afraid of you..."
"Why's that? How could you possibly be so sure?"
"Well... how could I just suddenly be afraid of someone who is taking care of me?" He shrugged. "I don't know, that just seems so wrong... and hypocritical I guess. 'I liked him until I found out what he was.'" He laughed. "I've probably used that word wrong... mom always said not to use words I don't understand."
There was a long string of silence. "I am a demon."
Yuuki perked up at that. "Really? Cool~! Are you a scary demon or one of those pretty 'Venus flytrap' demons?" The boy seemed to sense his confusion. "I mean Venus flytrap like... you lure 'em in with something nice and then trap 'em."
"In that case, I believe I am scary."
"Good, I think I'd have to be afraid for my life if you were the other one. Oh!" He worried his lip as he thought. "That means I'll have to call you Akuma-san instead of Yurei-san."
"You appear to be taking this much better than I had expected."
Yuuki scratched his head. "Well... I don't like humans, so anything but that is fine by me!"
"I find you stranger and more intriguing the more we talk. Perhaps I should have begun talking to you sooner? How can you possibly not like your own pathetic species?"
"I've never liked other humans. Well, my-my mom and my dad were exceptions no matter how much they hurt me. B-By accident of course! They never hurt me on purpose, and it wasn't all that bad! Something would make them trip, and they'd either fall on me or spill whatever they were carrying on me, but it was okay. I didn't like anyone else. The kids at school or on the street picked on me, the teachers didn't care when I told them that this person hit me or this person stole something important from me, and sometimes I spent entire class periods in my locker. And that was just in school, outside other horrible things happened to me." He shook his head sadly. "Everyone hated me, so I just started hating them..."
"I... can relate to that... I used to be a protector of sorts but I was forgotten and left alone, and when I was rediscovered I became a monster to be feared though I did nothing to deserve it. After a while I fell into the role, tormenting those who dared enter my forest and feeding off their fear."
"What do you do to the people who come in your forest?"
"I terrorize their minds and then devour their souls." He chuckled sending a chill up Yuuki's spine. "Afraid of me yet?"
"Uh uh," he grunted and shook his head. "What do souls taste like?" He smiled when he received a stunned silence. "I really wanna see you now. Wait!" He clutched his head. "You don't have to rewire my brain for me to see you, do you?!"
Shadows creeped out of the floor around him and made him lie face down on the mattress. He struggled until he felt hands on the back of his head. "Akuma-san?"
I couldn't take anymore, I needed to touch him. I'd never met such an intriguing human in all of my years. A tormented kindred soul, and here he was. In my clutches. Could it be that he was a gift destined for me? Yes, mine. This human child was mine.
"Akuma-san?" Yuuki's voice was muffled by the blankets. "Are you going to eat my soul now? I wanted to talk to you more..." His voice was full of sadness but there was no fear.
"No... no... you've just riled me, and I wanted to touch you," I told him and gently gripped his arms to keep him still when he tried to move. I pressed my featureless face against his neck and just took in his presence as well as the aura's scent for a moment. I slipped my hand under his head and covered his eyes before lifting him onto my lap. I settled him onto my thigh and my mouth opened to let out my tongue and took a few long licks of the delectable aura surrounding him.
"So you do have a physical form, but you don't want me to see you."
It wasn't a question, but I answered it anyway. "Yes. I want to remain hidden from you for now."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid you would recognize me." I suppressed a shudder and a hiss as I stopped licking at the tainted aura and my tongue slipped back into my mouth which sealed itself. I was glad I had placed him on my thigh, for the aura's taste had an intoxicating effect on me, and stirred my loins. Perhaps I was becoming addicted to the unfathomable taste.
"I don't think I would recognize you. I mean I've never even seen a demon before, and technically I still haven't." He grasped the arm that I had around his waist. "If I promise to keep my eyes closed, can I have a hug?"
I pondered it for a moment, but after a while I turned him to me and wrapped my arms around him. I ran my long white fingers through his hair as he snuggled into my chest.
"You're so cold... and I can't hear a heartbeat. No, there it is. Wow it's so slow; a beat a minute I'd say." His hands rubbed my sides. "Are you wearing a suit? Isn't it uncomfortable?"
"I don't notice it if it is uncomfortable, and I get warm after I've eaten properly."
"Souls right? How long has it been since you've eaten?"
"Almost a month actually. I have a soul stored away for now." The edges of my face lifted to form a cruel smile. "You know this soul actually. It's one of the men who kept you captive and raped you."
I felt his body temperature drop and his heart skip a beat. "Really...?"
"Yes, I'll be eating him soon, but he isn't saturated in fear yet, so I'll torment him a little longer."
Yuuki's voice shook as he spoke. "W-Where is he? He isn't here- in the house- is he?"
I almost found it odd how his voice shook when he merely spoke of this human, but sounded calm, and even happy, when he spoke to me; a terrifying soul-eating demon. "No, he's deep in the forest far from here, running from the demons I put in his head."
Yuuki hugged me tighter in efforts to end his shaking. "G-Good..." His stomach grumbled, reminding me that humans had to eat more than once a day. I offered to make him a meal, but he denied me. "I'm tired again actually. The brain rewiring must've taken a lot out of me... but I'd love breakfast when I wake up, Akuma-san."
I turned him and laid him back down on his stomach. "Is there anything in particular that you want?" He shook his head and murmured that the soup I had prepared earlier would be "nice." I moved to get up.
"Wait... could you stay for a while? Until I fall asleep?"
I resettled behind him. "I don't see why not..." I placed a hand on his thigh and watched him as he got comfortable. Eventually his breathing grew even, but I continued to stare for a while longer before finally standing. I placed a hand over my belly. It seemed that just a few licks of that aura had curbed my hunger though it did not fill me. I enjoyed the feeling as I slipped back into the shadows and slipped into a faux rest.
Part III~ Solid
A week had come and gone and Yuuki was still happy under my care despite having still not seen me and my inhuman form. I wanted to finally change that.
He sat with his back to the door one day as he carefully and slowly erected a tall tower from his blocks. He'd almost placed the last block on top of the tower when the evil aura clinging to him - which appeared to be duller - flickered signaling something unfortunate was about to happen to the boy...
Yuuki just sneezed and knocked the tower down.
I cocked my head at the relatively tame punishment the aura had dished out. It was usually more malicious than that, causing some sort of minor injury to the boy, but lately it'd been lax. I thought nothing of it and stepped out of the darkness, allowing my feet to make sound as they hit the floor.
The teen flinched at the sudden noise and turned around to look at me. His eyes widened as they traveled up my legs and ended at my featureless face. He let out a shrill scream and scrambled backwards away from me.
I felt a long forgotten emotion tug at my heart as I watched him do that: pain. A part of me was expecting this reaction but even so it hurt. Yuuki's rejection hurt me. It would seem that I would have to devour him...
Yuuki scrambled under his blankets and hid. "Akuma-san! Akuma-san! Help, there's someone in my room!"
If I breathed I would've exhaled with relief. Of course the young boy would react in such a way; he'd never seen me before. I approached the mattress he huddled on. "Yuuki... it's me..."
His screams ended on a gasp and he pulled the blanket off of his head slightly, still somewhat afraid. "A-Akuma-san?
I nodded.
Tears came to his eyes and he got up and hugged me around my waist, the highest part of me that he could reach. "That was really mean, scaring me like that!" he sniffled. I apologized as I picked him up and held him in my arms. His tears slowed and he cupped my cheeks with his small hands. Yuuki stared into where my eyes would be curiously. "Can you really see me?" he sniffled the question.
"Yes."
"Then are your eyes under the skin?"
"I have no eyes," I told him, "but I can see just as well as you. Better even."
"That's weird!" he declared with a smile and went back to studying me, his tears completely gone. "Do you have a mouth or a nose?"
"No nose, but I do have a mouth."
"Can I see?"
I allowed for my skin to rip into the usual creepy smile, and closed the rip just as Yuuki reached to touch it. He whined at me and asked to let him touch it, but I denied him; I didn't want him to cut a finger on my teeth. He huffed and didn't fight knowing that I would punish him if he annoyed me. I stood there holding him for a while, and just as I leaned to put him down he wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed me where my mouth had been. I froze, initially confused by the gestured, but eventually I pressed my face harder against his lips in attempt to return the kiss.
He pulled away and nuzzled my cheek. "I have to give you another name now."
I cocked my head. "Yet another name? But why?"
"Well, 'Akuma-san' doesn't fit now that now what you look like," Yuuki said as if it were as obvious as the sun in the sky. He placed a hand on his chin as he thought about it.
I set him on the floor as he wracked his brain and stared at me intently. "Senokowai-san... Senotakai-san..." He humphed and shook his head. "Seno...sama...?" He smiled. "Yeah, I like it! Seno-sama!"
"It's not the most creative name..."
Yuuki put his hands on his hips. "Would you rather I called you 'Bob' or 'Steve'?" I laughed at the thought of being called such odd names and he grasped my pale hand. He looked at me hopefully. "Can we go play in the woods, Seno-sama?" He cheered when I said yes.
With no further provocation I turned and headed out the door, dispersing my shadows as I passed it. I felt Yuuki following me closely as we mounted the stairs and finally passed through the door to the outside. It was well past noon, a time that I wasn't used to being outside at, but at the same time it was no hindrance. It caused me no harm or discomfort.
Yuuki suddenly ran off in the direction of the trees, and I quickly removed the invisible barrier there before he could have an experience like his first day. He disappeared into the trees. "What are you doing, child?"
He turned back and peeked around a large tree. "Running," he told me. "You're supposed to chase me."
I was taken aback. "You want for me to chase you?"
"Yeah, it'll be fun. C'mon!" He ran off again.
With a bemused grunt I stood there, allowing for him to get a good distance away before summoning a portal and stepping inside. I appeared just in front of the boy, making him slam into me; I barely wavered from the impact. He was sprawled out on the ground before me rubbing his head as he sat up.
"You cheated," he whined. "You weren't supposed to teleport..."
"I don't run..." I merely told him.
He stood and dusted himself off. "Why not?"
"I just don't." I'd probably look terribly silly if I did such a thing anyway. "Might I suggest you think of another game to play?"
Yuuki humphed stubbornly, but relented. "I guess. Hm... hide 'n' seek?"
"I would find you quite easy since I know where you are at all times."
"But I don't! You can teleport away, and then I'll look for you, but don't go too far, okay?"
I thought for a moment before nodding. "That would be acceptable," I told him before summoning a portal and stepping inside. I reappeared only a meter or two away behind a tree and watched as Yuuki began to run around in search of me.
It wasn't long before the silence got to the boy and he began calling for me, and even occasionally asking for hints. I messed with him by making a branch rustle far off with a tendril. Yuuki was persistent however, and though I continued to lead him wrong, he didn't become disheartened and give up until nearly half an hour had passed. By then I had moved to silently walk behind him.
"Seno-sama... you're supposed to hide not keep moving around!" He huffed and crossed his arms with a pout. "Come out now, I don't want to play anymore."
I let my next step make a sound and he gasped in fright, but before he could turn around I plucked him off his feet and into my arms. The look he graced me with was confusion but it turned to vexation as I headed for the house.
"You cheated again... didn't you?" He reached up and wrapped his arms around my neck. "You're bad at games."
A chuckle escaped me. "I suppose I am."
Dictionary (Japanese):
Akuma: Demon
Yurei: Ghost