Midorima couldn't spend his life in his bedroom, so he eventually left his room the next morning. However, when Takao tried to speak, the human paid no attention to him. It was like the demon no longer existed in Midorima's eyes. The demon's concern grew as the ignoring continued into the next day, and even more so the following one.
Thankfully for Takao, after the complete two days of silence, he came home from work to find a note. It was from Midorima and it explained how the human was still figuring things out. He told Takao that he wanted to continue to pretend like the demon didn't exist for the time being. The note ended with the human saying he didn't want Takao to actually disappear, not yet at least.
That note not only lifted the demon's spirit, but it started the pair's only form of communication for the next few days. Midorima would sometimes leave a note about groceries or laundry, but even though they were nothing special, they still continued to lift Takao's spirit and hopes. He never left a note of his own though, since he didn't want to break the not existing rule that was in effect. Even so, just Midorima's written words were enough for him.
This is what led to Takao lounging around on one of the couches close to midnight, just thinking about his human as he watched TV. He didn't want to rush Midorima, but he also hated waiting. He just wanted the human to decide fast, but he was also afraid he'd make an upsetting decision. He sighed loudly, before covering his mouth. He'd been trying to remain as silent as possible since he didn't want to wake his human up. However, his efforts were wasted as he soon found out.
"Takao." The demon jolted up from the couch with a girlish shriek but fell to the ground due to his legs being asleep. From the ground he looked up at Midorima who was standing over him now.
"...Ah... Um, Shin you nearly scared the life out of me!"
"That was not my intention, I apologize." He didn't look sorry at all, in fact, he seemed completely emotionless. However, under the mask, Takao could see Midorima wasn't as calm as he seemed to be.
"Why are you awake at his hour? Is something wrong? You're not sick or hurt are you?" Now Takao's guardian switch was turned on and his panic induced irritation faded. The human just held up his hand to stop his demon's freak out.
"I am fine. I have finally come to a conclusion about our situation." At the word conclusion, Takao's heart dropped and fear began to grow.
"I see..." Midorima ignored the hesitancy in the demon's voice. Instead, he decided to turn on the lights in the living room and turn off the TV. Once his tasks were complete, he sat down on the couch and motioned for Takao to join him.
The demon followed the order and sat next to the human. Neither said anything for a few moments; they just stared at each other. Within Takao's mind, he was going through scenarios where Midorima's choice completely shatters him. He was terrified that Midorima no longer wanted to be near him or that he now hated him. Each silent moment that passed caused his mind to tumble further down into the abyss of negativity.
"My decision is this; we will remain together and will break my curse. I do not fully trust you, but I also don't believe you have any ulterior motives against me. I also do not want you to leave as I have grown accustomed to your presence. This is one thing that I am, for sure, feeling for myself, without being influenced by anyone else."
"Alright, I understand."
"I wasn't finished."
"Oh, my bad."
"I also know that I do indeed feel something for you. I, however, think it is best left to discuss until after we break my curse." Once the human was finished speaking, he and Takao were just staring at each other once again. Midorima couldn't help but sigh before speaking. "I am done now, you can respond."
"Oh! Alright! Well Shin, I fully understand your decision. We'll work together to break your curse. I'll be good and not try to woo you until after that. But after, you better be prepared, I'll go to any human extreme to win your heart." Takao spoke with a huge confident smile on his face. He was glad... no, he was completely thrilled to hear Midorima's decision. He now knew that it wasn't only the demon who'd grown attached, but the human as well.
"There are some rules until then."
"Huh?" It wasn't the rules that confused Takao, it was that Midorima seemed completely okay with the demon eventually trying to win his heart. He'd been expecting the human to tell him to shut up or die for saying such things. "What are the rules?"
"You will not sleep next to me and you will not be overly close and affectionate either."
"Oh, is that it?"
"Do you want more?" The human seemed fully willing and ready to add a few more. Takao's response was him waving his arms and beginning to panic.
"N-N-N-N-No! You don't have to do that!" Takao's panicky stuttering and flailing caused Midorima to smile and let out a little chuckle. The actions caught the demon completely off guard. "Huh... Did you just...?" Takao had witnessed his human's reaction to him, and it honestly concerned him. The green-haired male didn't make it a habit to show such things in front of the demon or anybody.
"Don't be an idiot."
"But..."
"It seems you want another rule."
"Ack! I'll shut up now, no need for that!" To the demon's surrender, the green-haired male smiled again, but this time it was internally.
"On to the next topic, what are your ideas on breaking my curse?"
"Well, we could go to a shrine to ask them for help, or we could try our own exorcism type thing." Takao continued thinking before shrugging. "If all else fails, we can just go ask the goddess to lift the curse."
"That's all you have?"
"Yup!" He was smiling at his human and seemed proud of himself. "Well Shin, do you have any ideas?" The human remained silent and looked away from Takao. "I thought so." The demon laughed as he smiled at Midorima. The human, however, glared at him in return.
"Now that we have ideas, we can act on them."
"Alright, let's go to our first stop; a shrine!" Takao shot up and went to retrieve the keys to Midorima's car, but was stopped by the human grabbing his arm.
"You are aware that it is the middle of the night, correct?"
"Oh... I forgot." Takao laughed sheepishly before returning to the couch. "I guess we should sleep now and go in the morning."
"Yes, that would be wise." Midorima stood up and headed to his room. He paused at the open door before entering and turned to look at the demon. "Goodnight Takao." There was a warmer look in his eyes than usual, it brought a good feeling up in Takao's heart.
"Goodnight Shin. Sleep well." With that, the green-haired male entered his room, leaving Takao to himself in the living room. He decided to not dwell on anything and just fall asleep. He knew that thinking about it all would just cause a headache so, Takao snuggled into his couch that he'd turned into his bed and began to drift off. Both the demon and human fell asleep quickly, thinking of only one thing; each other.
The two woke up early the following morning and ate breakfast together for the first time since their fight. It was a simple breakfast and it was quiet, but both the human and demon enjoyed it. Takao couldn't help but smile the entire time. However, his happiness seemed to annoy Midorima on the outside. Even so, the human was actually grateful for it. He would never actually admit it to himself, nor would he tell Takao, but he'd missed seeing the demon happy. The human felt happy when he saw the demon happy, but Midorima didn't want to dwell on it for too long.
Once breakfast was over, the pair got ready for the day and headed out. They'd finally figured out which shrine to go to, so they promptly made their way there. The ride to the shrine was mostly in silence since Takao decided to pout in the car. He wanted to drive but Midorima still refused to let the demon drive with him in the car, even though he'd been letting Takao drive his car for a while now.
"Shin, what was the name of the shrine? I already forgot." Midorima couldn't help but sigh at his companion's idiotic question.
"You fool, how do you forget something so easy to remember."
"Then what's it called?" Takao had a feeling the green-haired male also forgot, so it was a trick question. He waited patiently for the human to reply, however, the human didn't respond immediately. He looked like he was in deep thought for a few seconds before speaking to his demon.
"The shrine is called... Well, it's something to do with good fortune." Takao smiled at his human. He hid his face from the human, so he could avoid Midorima getting irritated with him.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter. We know it's a large shrine, so I'm sure they can help us somehow. I know it will go well."
However, Takao was very wrong. The moment he stepped onto the shrine grounds, he was overcome with nausea. Along with that, he felt as if he were 1000 pounds and was brought to his knees due to the pressure. His breathing picked up and he was nearly gasping for air.
"Ta-Takao?" Midorima looked entirely concerned for the male. He wasn't sure what to do as he watched his guardian suffering. He didn't understand what happened to him so suddenly. The demon coughed and held onto Midorima's arm that the green-haired male offered to him.
"Holy grounds... Demon..." Takao's raspy words between coughs were enough for the human. He realized what had caused the demon's reaction, so he knew he needed to take action. Midorima instantly slid his arms under Takao and lifted him up. If anyone was seeing the events taking place with the pair, neither male was aware. All Midorima could think about was getting Takao to safety, and obviously, all Takao thought was that he was going to die. So, quickly, the green-haired male made
his way to the car. Once at the vehicle, Takao was sat down in the seat. He could then breathe better and slowly returned to normal.
"Are you alright?" Even though he was clearly okay now, Midorima was still concerned about Takao.
"I was more shocked you could pick me up so easily." He weakly smiled up at the worried human.
"Takao!"
"Sorry Shin, it's just surprising to see you so worried. Don't be too concerned though, I'm fine now."
"I was merely concerned that my guardian would no longer be able to protect me. I couldn't care less about your well being."
"Sure, of course." Neither male actually believed what the green-haired male said, but Takao decided to not mention it.
"What will we do now?"
"You'll have to go in there alone. There's no way I can enter the shrine grounds."
"I see." Midorima wasn't sure about that. He was worried again, but for a different reason. He was, by no means, a people person and it was obvious.
"I believe in you, Shin! You can do it!"
"I suppose I have no other choice."
"If you need any help, call for me and I'll be there."
"Just stay there and shut up." Midorima glared at Takao for a moment before turning and re-entering the shrine grounds. He rapidly made his way to where all the people were and began asking questions. He was hesitant, but he wasn't sure who to talk to, so he had to talk to various people. Thankfully, he was eventually pointed to where the shrine keeper was.
The shrine keeper seemed to be a priest type old man and looked friendly. He smiled at everyone around him and happily chatted with them. That was until his eyes fell onto Midorima. His smile faded and annoyance and disgust appeared on his face, along with hate in his eyes.
"What do you want?" His voice was low and harsh, catching the green-haired male off guard. The other people around either turned away and pretended to not notice anything, or they watched with the same disgusted face and hateful eyes directed at Midorima. It honestly unnerved the male, but he kept up his usual confident act.
"I am here for assistance."
"With your demon problem?" The priest man chuckled humorlessly before speaking again. "Then again, you seem to be close to it, as his aura is surrounding you. It seems you've been marked by the beast."
"How did..." Midorima wanted to know how the priest knew, but he also didn't want to know. Either way, it wasn't the most important thing at that moment. "No, the demon is not my problem, not right now at least. I've been cursed by a goddess."
"I refuse to assist a lover of a demon. You are as tainted and vile as he is. I am unsure how you were even able to enter holy grounds, however, it is time for you to leave. Also, do not return."
"...Very well." Midorima could tell to not bother arguing with the man. His words, along with his face told him all he needed to know. So, with nothing left to do, Midorima turned around and began walking away.
"Be careful around that beast. There's no telling when he'll decide to get rid of you. He will use you for his pleasure and get rid of you by his own hands one day. All demons are like that." The green-haired male paused to turn back around. Written on his face was irritation towards the man.
"You are wrong. Not all demons are like that. You should get to know one first before accusing them all of such things." With those final confident words, Midorima fully left the shrine and returned to his car where Takao sat. As he walked, he was able to reign in his anger and calm down. So, as soon as the demon saw his human, he didn't see anything but mild annoyance, which was common for Midorima. Overcome with relief at seeing his human, Takao jumped out of the car and made his way to greet his human. He'd been nervous knowing anything could happen to Midorima and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.
"How'd it go, Shin?" The human ignored him and got into the car. Takao quickly followed after him and patiently waited for the human to tell him the story.
"It didn't go at all. They refused to help as soon as they saw me."
"What?! Why?"
"Because I am "lovers" with a demon. The priest could tell I was close with you." Takao was momentarily in shock. He wasn't exactly sure what to respond, he just knew he felt bad about it. "I never thought someone would be able to see a demon's aura around a human."
"He may not have been a human. It's possible he was an angel or a god."
"I see."
"Well, it was a long shot anyway. We can still try an exorcism by ourselves." Takao smiled at Midorima, trying to keep up the positive vibes.
"How are we exactly supposed to go about an exorcism?"
"Well first, there's some stuff we need to get before we can start." Takao pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to his human. There were about 10 items written in the demon's handwriting. "I'm hoping this will work. It's not common to try to find an exorcism for a god or goddess, especially for a curse from them."
"Will it actually work then?"
"It could, but it's also possible that it will fail horribly." It was very concerning to Midorima to see Takao say that with a smile on his face.
"What could happen?" To his inquiry, Takao just shrugged, clearly avoiding the question. It was enough for Midorima to be unsure of trying the exorcism.
"We'll find out then, so let's just get all we need." Midorima reluctantly agreed and headed to all the places Takao directed him to.
The human was left in the car each time the demon retrieved the supplies. It was quite fine with the green-haired human, he didn't want to enter witchcraft shops. He didn't even want to think about the strange items that were most likely in there. Even though he no longer looked at his horoscope, he was still very superstitious.
"Where to next?"
"Hmm... It seems we have everything on the list now. Let's go get lunch?"
"It's 5:30 in the afternoon."
"...Let's go get dinner?" Midorima couldn't help but sigh. He then thought for a moment, but food was definitely something he was up for. The two had only eaten breakfast that day, so it made sense that they were hungry.
"Fine."
"Yes! I know the perfect place!" Takao gave him directions to the destination. Midorima was glad they would be getting food and that it was the last place they needed to go.
"What kind of place are we going?"
"The perfect place." He had a smirk on his face and it was causing Midorima to now be wary of where they were going.
It was the perfect place, for Takao. It was also not a restaurant like Midorima assumed it would be. Takao guided them to the bar he works at. As they pulled into the parking lot, he was clearly very proud of himself.
"I suppose it could be worse..." Midorima had to admit, he was disappointed that it wasn't a restaurant, but he was happy that it wasn't some cheap fast food place. So, the human was slightly proud of the demon. He even allowed Takao to drag, him by holding his hand, into the bar.
"Hey there Ryouta!" Takao nearly yelled out as the pair entered the doors. The blond male looked over and smiled at the two.
"Hey, Kazu! I see you've finally brought your man."
"He isn't..." Takao couldn't help but blush at the words and quickly release Midorima's hand.
"We're here for food, not pointless chatter." Midorima coldly spoke as the two approached the bar where Kise stood.
"Oh, I see. So what do you guys want?" Kise glared at Takao as he spoke. The demon couldn't help but smile apologetically at his best friend. He'd never gotten the chance to tell Kise about the human's decision, so it was quite a shock that they walked in together.
"Sorry Ryouta, this happened last night. I never got the chance to tell you."
"Well, tell me now then." Takao agreed and began to explain. Midorima joined in the explanation, simply to hurry it along so they could get food.
"...and that's how we ended up here." Takao smiled at the blond as he finished his explanation. The angel in return just nodded his head at the long story.
"Can we order food now?"
"Of course!" Kise quickly found a menu and gave it to the pair. "Let me know when you're ready."
The two ordered after a few moments and ate quickly. They spent some time chatting with Kise and Kasamatsu, who showed up a little after they did. They were taking so much time in the bar that Midorima grew suspicious.
"Takao..."
"Yes, Shin?" He turned to his human smiling. He was clearly having a good time.
"Why are we here? Don't tell me it's simply just for dinner."
"Well, Shin, you're right. I didn't want to say anything in front of others, but..." Takao then turned to Kise. "The last piece we need for the exorcism is a feather from an angel." Kise paused in pouring a drink to look over at his best friend. It was clear that he was not expecting him to say that.
"Just what are you going to do with it?" Midorima was surprised by how serious Kise sounded in an instant.
"We need it to try an exorcism to remove Shin's curse."
"Why a feather?" Kasamatsu was just as confused as Midorima.
"It needs to be something from a holy being. An angel is obviously a holy being and the best and safest thing from them is a feather. It also makes the power of the holy object stronger if it comes from someone who is close to who is having the exorcism." Takao was also being completely serious, which shocked the green-haired human even further.
"How do you plan on doing that? Are you just going to tear out one of his feathers?" Kasamatsu was still confused, but he knew enough to know Kise would be getting hurt in some way. He didn't like the thought of his lover being hurt, even a little bit.
"What? No! I would never ask him to do something that would seriously hurt him. I would let him take it out himself. Angels can remover feathers if they get damaged so it would be painless!" Takao was panicking slightly. He could tell how protective Kasamatsu was
over his guardian, which also was confusing to him.
"Yukio, it's okay. He's right." Kise calmed his lover down before looking to his best friend. "Do you really think the exorcism will work?"
"It's a possibility..." Kise sighed before smiling again. "I'll go remove a feather but Midorima will have to carry it. It's a holy item, it could hurt you."
"Thank you, Ryouta. I'll owe you. Anything you want, I'll do."
"I'll think of what I want, so for now, you just wait. I won't waste this chance." He chuckled as he spoke, and with that, Kise disappeared into a separate room. Only a few minutes later he returned with a beautifully pure white feather in hand. It was much larger than Midorima had been expecting, but then again, it wasn't like he ever saw an angel's wings before. "Here you go. Be careful with this Midorima. Don't let this touch Kazu, not even a slight brush against him."
"I understand. Thank you for assisting us."
"Of course. Kazu has been chasing after you for years, so there's no way I wouldn't do anything I could to help you in any way." The statement caused Midorima's face to grow hot, but he thankfully did not blush any.
"I see..." He gently took the feather and placed it carefully in a pocket within his jacket for safety.
"Well, we should get going now. It's getting late and we have an exorcism to try." Takao hugged Kise as Kasamatsu and Midorima said their farewells.
"Let me know how it goes. Don't keep any more secrets from me, not even for a day."
"Sure thing." Takao and Kise chuckled as the two began to part.
Midorima and his demon didn't rush home once they left the bar, making that the first time Midorima actually drove the speed limit that day. The two casually drove home as they were slightly nervous about how their next attempt would go. However, the pair were still hopeful that the exorcism would work. It seemed that hope, once again, was all the human and demon could do.