Silence. The old creaky house in which he is staying in with his cousins is deserted of any sort of awakened spirit yet the monochrome teen's tentative footsteps seem to make the entire house groan. Thick fingers clasp around a wooden handle which slides a small cabinet open, revealing a small Swiss army knife and a flashlight beside it. God knows why his uncle actually had a cabinet exclusively containing this stuff but hey, as long as it allows him to go into the forest it doesn't matter right? Swiftly, his hands grasp at the tools, stuffing them into his old beaten up skull backpack. Golden eyes adjust just barely enough to gaze at the old grandfather clock on the other side of the hall.
"Three AM. Seems like a good time to go out into the forest and watch the sun rise." His statement is barely audible even to himself over the quiet creak of floorboards underneath his black converse sneakers which makes his left hand grip onto the back door, which he had unlocked prior to his 'plan' of sneaking out and watching the sun rise in the trees instead of on the water bed on the floor. Then, with a gentle pull of the back door, the warm summer's air caresses his face in a gentle greeting and the pale moon's beams lay out the pathway for him to get into the forest. This is it.
Gleefully grinning, the excitable explorer ventures out, fairly snug in his skeletal ribcage hoodie which he had decided to wear. He smiles fondly when he's encased by the coniferous trees and only then does he turn on the flashlight. Trees are marked with the cool artificial light while the floor in front of him is illuminated in a path. Bokuto yawns to himself, contently aware that nothing is lurking in the shadows. He continues walking.
"Who's there?" Instantly, his body turns rigid and his grip on the flashlight gives up on him.
"W-What the hell?" He asks, trying not to scream in fear due to the amount of adrenaline coursing through his body all at once. Then, however, he turns to find a large slim figure hanging from a tree. "What? Why are you out here in the night?" Instantly, the figure appears before him, startling the poor teen even more. Bokuto's breaths are forced to steady themselves while he gets a good look of the 'person' before him.
"Well, as I'm awake I'd like to ask what time it is." Olive green finds olive oil while thick digits fumble around uselessly for the light on his digital watch.
"Three twenty four AM." The great horned owl states while attempting to stifle his fascination with the boy in front of him. His messy obsidian hair, the large bat ears atop his head, the leathery wings which sprout from his shoulder blades and the long tail which ends in a plume of fluff are in each and every way likeable and strange. "I have a few hours." His voice is a continuous monotone drone which could probably piss numerous people off if taken the wrong way.
Then, as quickly as the boy had come down from his branch, he's back up again. "Are you going back to sleep?" The question slips from Bokuto's lips while his golden eyes stare at the mysterious creature who is now tucked into the crook of a branch. "Bats sleep upside down."
"Y-Yeah I know that!" A small flush pools at his cheeks before he begins to scale the large tree. "What's your name?"
"Akaashi Keiji." The raven haired male's response is curt yet still somehow polite and even with the matte olive orbs gently creasing with amusement when the teen decides to rest on a few branches below him. "What about you?"
"Bokuto Koutarou." Despite his short lament due to his inability to continue climbing for now, the wacky haired boy replies with a proud smile.
The two stay in a semi comfortable silence, well comfortable silence meaning Bokuto staring at him intently and Akaashi trying to ignore the golden orbs which are locked on him. "So what are you?" Bokuto queries, attempting to climb up the tree even more.
"I'm a half demon." He responds calmly while paying little heed to the adventurer's actions.
"How does that work?"
"I wasn't mothered or fathered by any demon. Instead I had been subject to a certain gemstone which had been shone through refracted water sun rays which was obtained through a glass beaker."
"The wha?" Bokuto asks while the mountain of his nose becomes more layered and rock like due to it scrunching.
"I basically gained powers through a magical rock." The half demon states, his tone of voice more than slightly condescending.
"Woah! That's cool!" Akaashi groans at the boy's child like enthusiasm.
"If you say so."
"Did you get to choose what animal you shift into?"
"No, depends on what stone strikes the most energy through you."
"That's so cool!"
Few more minutes pass with Bokuto having finally made it up the tree, after many scrambling attempts he contently sits on the same branch as the demon. "Can you shift back into a human?" The tall teen suddenly asks while his golden eyes seem to brighten even more.
"Yeah." The monosyllabic response has little effect on Bokuto as the human still keeps his excited grin.
"How?"
"Dunno, it just happens." Bokuto's mouth stays shut while he stares at the demon boy beside him.
"Where did you get your gemstone?" After a while, the boy can't keep his mouth shut and the stars in his golden galaxy of his eyes twinkle.
"Why?" The demon is cautious to accept, raising one obsidian eyebrow at the explorer beside him.
"Because being a demon seems cool!" A certain desire to smack the monochrome haired boy courses through the bat demon in which he suppresses with a pinch to the top of his nose. "It's something that you can't get rid of once you have it you know. Plus, you change in certain situations." Bokuto sighs, smiling proudly at himself as he stares back at the demon whose face is contorted into an expression of concern. "And you have to eat the kind of food that your other half eats."
"So?" I'm not a fussy eater." Bokuto counters with a challenging smile contorting at his lips.
"But you have to hunt, and this forest isn't as… normal as other forests."
"Well that's all just crap."
"I wouldn't be so sure Bokuto-san." Akaashi warns while casually glancing downwards at the dirt track below their feet. Bokuto's casts the line of his gaze downwards only to spot a large figure slinking down the path, pausing for a mere moment to look around. The boy's breath snags in his throat as pure adrenaline rockets through his shuddering body. However, as soon as the monster is content, it leaves.
"W-What the hell was that?!" The boy nearly screams as his owl like eyes stay locked on the large monster's back.
"That was a phylogen troll." Akaashi responds calmly while not even bothering to look at the monster which had disappeared into the darker parts of the forest.
"A what?"
"A big nasty troll with the ability to poison you." The demon finds himself (yet again) simplifying his response to fit the human's tastes.
"Oh, is there a cure for the poison?"
"Yeah, but it's not easy to find." He responds easily. "Only Youkai- demons can really detect it."
"So you could find it?"
"I'm a half demon."
"Ah." With a small smile still plastered on his face, Bokuto stares at the moody boy beside him.
"Why would you want to be a demon anyway?" The boy asks, staring at his abstract haired companion.
"Because it looks cool!"
"It's not a 'fun' or 'light' matter. You can end up dead."
"So?" A sharp sting courses through the top of Akaashi's nose as a breath escapes from his lungs.
"You'll die in a horrible fashion if it goes wrong."
"I don't care. It looks so cool!" The boy can't help himself from grinning from ear to ear while golden eyes search for a hint of agreement.
"It looks cool. It's not that great when it's freezing and you have to sleep outside in order to stop your family from attempting to kill you."
"I love sleeping under the stars!" Akaashi groans.
Then, with another widespread grin, the platinum silver and obsidian haired explorer's eyes find their way to the reddening sky. A familiar pull tugs up at his slightly chapped lips as the glowing orb of the sun majestically rises in the sky, blazing its superior white knights in beams to reclaim the earth from the night's twilight mystery. "The night's over." Akaashi deadpans, letting loose a small yawn which Bokuto finds adorable before black leathery expanses stretch out. "I'll see you soon." With his goodbye, the raven haired demon's feet press against the rough bark of the tree and with that, he's gone, flying under the guidance of the morning sun's warmth.
The same thick fingers grasp helplessly at the back door to the house, urgently toying with the wire mesh before his knuckles turn white from the handle. Then, finally, the slab of stubborn wood gives way, with a shaky jolt, and a soft groan of defiance. Small beads of perspiration wind down the column of Bokuto's neck in a languid fashion as he quickly, and quietly, tiptoes through the kitchen and into the hallway. His feet flitter above the ground as if he was flying as he makes his way up both smooth staircases and into the attic where his two cousins are too engrossed in the throes of their slumber to be awakened by the boy.
Softness hits his left cheek and tickles his skin as his legs vigorously kick off his jeans after his shoes are pulled off. Shimmying underneath the sheets of the stiff mattress and grasping fistfuls of the thin white sheets which now encases his body, the boy attempts to make himself seem as asleep as he usually is. Yet with the heavy thud slamming against his ribcage and the warm sun now standing proudly in the sky refuse to let him lay still.