It was nearly 7 in the afternoon when Midorima and Takao returned home. They were exhausted and ready for bed, but their day wasn't over yet. They still had a very important task; the exorcism.
"What do we need to do first?" Midorima inquired as he and his demon brought all the supplies into the apartment.
"We'll need to create a circle using some salt. It will be where you'll stand in while we're performing the exorcism." Takao pulled out a photo of an intricate salt circle. "Do you think you could make this on the living room floor? I can't touch the salt."
"We're doing it here?"
"We'd risk getting caught anywhere else. We can't afford to be stressed over other people as we do this."
"I see." Midorima took the photo from Takao and examined it. "I believe I can do this."
"Alright, well, you do that and I'll do the rest." Takao disappeared into the kitchen, so Midorima began his task. They'd bought quite a lot of salt so he had plenty to use, and he'd definitely needed it.
Takao eventually returned with a bowl and began putting various items in it. One of the items were quite a few strands of green hair. It concerned Midorima, but he said nothing about it. There were a few other things that went in the bowl. Some looked like regular spices and some were odd colored flakes. The human had no clue what was going in, other than his hair, and he honestly didn't want to know.
"Shin, the last two things are something you'll have to do. After that, it's all up to you. You will be the only one able to handle what this will be used for and I have my own tasks that only I can do."
"What is it?" The green-haired male had finished with the salt circle, so he instantly headed to Takao. There was the feather sitting on the table along with a bottle of clear liquid. "What is that?"
"Holy water. I got it from Ryouta earlier to give to you. Just in case I decided to "jump you" as he said." The demon laughed and took a step back away from the table to give the human room to move there. The human's ears tinted pink out of embarrassment from the statement, but it was thankfully ignored by the demon.
"I see..."
"So, anyway, pour in the whole bottle but do nothing with the feather for now. Once you pour the holy water, stir it with the spoon I brought out." Midorima followed Takao's instructions exactly. As he stirred, the ingredients combined and turned green, just like his hair color.
"What do I do with the feather?"
"You will dip it in the mixture to fully saturate it, then, but not until it's fully green, you'll light it on fire." Midorima looked at the feather and then at the matches sitting next to it.
"I feel odd burning Kise's feather..." Midorima didn't want to admit it, but he felt like he had to.
"Don't worry, the actual feather won't burn, just the green on it will."
"Why is it green anyway?"
"It matches the color of hair that's put into it, or so the website said." Midorima nodded and looked at the feather. It was now completely covered in green. "We'll leave it be for now. There's something that I have to say first."
"What is it?"
"Listen, Shin, I could die if this goes wrong. To be honest, I'm going to be hurt regardless, but if you do anything wrong or if I mess up the words..."
"I understand..." Midorima was nervous now. He didn't like that his demon was going to be hurt, but he definitely didn't like hearing he could die. He truly didn't want that to happen.
"So, when this starts, I will be in pain. A demon like me shouldn't be near this type of ritual, but I have to speak the words. They need to be perfect."
"Alright."
"Well, let's get started, Shin." Midorima nodded his head and picked up the green feather. He lit it as he stepped into the salt circle and then looked to Takao. The oddly green smoke startled the human as it began to swirl around him. Takao was thankful that it was going right so far, as the smoke was staying within the circle.
Takao began to speak the words written on his paper. His voice was low and serious. Midorima wasn't sure what language it was, but he could tell it was ancient. Midorima was mesmerized at how beautiful Takao was sounding at that moment.
Everything was calm as the smoke flowed around the human, however, the calm soon turned into a storm. All at once, after Takao read the final line, the smoke flowed out of the circle. Takao began to choke, but he didn't seem worried. He'd been expecting the smoke to act like that; what he wasn't expecting was when Midorima began to choke as well. It seemed like the purifying smoke was attacking the demon and human.
Unsure of what to do, Takao quickly reached into the circle to pull Midorima out. Being a demon, the moment he entered the circle, he was burned. It was an internal burn that traveled throughout him instantly. He was shoved backward by the purifying salt's barrier, still gasping for air. He did manage to grab the human, but he too was pulled down.
The demon hit the floor with Midorima on top of him. The feather landed away from both of them thankfully, but the holy water mixture was knocked off of the table onto the human. Most of the liquid flowed from the human onto the demon, causing Takao to cry out in pain.
Now that Midorima was out of the circle, the smoke began to fade. The ritual was now over and it had failed. It left both males unconscious on the floor. It took a half hour for both to wake up, but even after they woke up, they didn't feel better. They actually felt worse than they had before. Midorima felt overly hot inside and had a bad cough. Takao felt burnt internally and just all around horrible. It hurt to move and to breathe, but he didn't show that much pain to his human. With the purifying smoke and holy water coming in direct contact with him, he was injured badly and in a lot of pain.
"Takao, are you alright?" His voice was hoarse, but the human's concern still showed through.
"...I'm okay..." Takao did his best to smile, but it was clearly forced.
"You're lying." Midorima was annoyed with him trying to pretend, but he also didn't want to be too harsh on him. So, ignoring the protests of the demon, the human lifted Takao up and into his arms as if the demon was a bride. Takao wanted to be embarrassed, but at that moment he could do nothing but fell pain in that room. He brought Takao into his bathroom and stripped the demon down completely.
"S-Shin? What are you doing?" Takao's strong embarrassment now won over the pain and was embarrassed beyond belief, but also relieved that the holy water soaked clothing was off of his body. However, with his feelings, his whole body began to blush.
"You need to get the holy water off of you." Midorima turned the water on in his shower and sprayed the naked demon with his detachable shower head. The water was ice cold, causing Takao to shriek loudly, which then caused both men to cringe at the loud noise.
"Shin, I can do it myself." Takao quickly grabbed the shower head and set it in the shower for a moment. He then began to shoo away the human. Midorima wanted to argue with him, but he figured that the demon could, indeed, take it from there, so he allowed himself to be pushed from the bathroom. Even so, the human still needed to tell Takao something. He needed to tell him it was okay that it failed, but when he turned around to say it, he froze. In his original worried state, he didn't actually look at Takao's naked body, but now that he was calmed down and had a full view of him, he could see everything.
"Um..." Midorima's face turned entirely red as both males just stared at each other. It took a moment for Takao's mind to reset and react to the situation. His whole body once again turned completely red and he gasped, completely shocked at how things just turned out.
"Get out!" The flustered demon quickly shoved the human out of the bathroom, a little stronger than he intended to. Midorima nearly fell over but was able to use his bed as a support instead of hitting the ground. His face was still totally red and his heart was racing. Takao was feeling the same way, but his reaction was caused by embarrassment.
"...Wow..." The green-haired male wasn't sure how he was feeling now, but he knew he shouldn't dwell on it too long, for various reasons. So, the human decided to take his mind off of it and get ready for bed. It didn't work, but he was at least now able to climb into his comfortable bed. Just as he was getting situated, the bathroom door opened up. Takao was only wearing a towel around his waist and it was clear he was still blushing. He tried to avoid looking at his human as he searched for a pair of clothes. Moments of awkward silence went by before the human decided to break it. "Takao...?"
"Oh... Hello Shin..." It was clear he was still embarrassed, especially since he was grabbing at his clothes in a more panicked way. Once he accomplished his mission, he was prepared to run out of the room but was stopped.
"Wait!" At Midorima's voice, Takao froze and slowly turned to face the human. "Sleep next to me tonight. You've been hurt so you shouldn't sleep alone. It would be... unfortunate if you were to get worse at night, alone on the couch."
"A-Are you sure? That was one of your rules." Midorima nodded his head and pulled the blankets back to reveal where Takao slept before their issues. The demon was touched by the concern that his human felt towards him. "Well, alright, but you can't get angry with me in the morning."
"Just get in the bed Takao." The green-haired male finished situating himself under the covers as Takao climbed into bed next to him. The pair faced away from each other, but it was enough. It was still comforting to both of them just to be next to each other, once again. Midorima didn't want to admit it, but he'd been missing this just as much as Takao had.
The two woke up the next morning
from the best sleep they'd gotten in a while. At least Midorima did and Takao pretended to have. Even though his wounds were not visible, they continuously woke him up every few hours that night. He made sure to suffer in silence so he didn't wake his human or make him worry further. He also didn't want Midorima to know how serious he was hurt.
"Well Shin, let's get breakfast and then head out to the shrine!" Takao was smiling and happy once again, on the outside.
"How are you feeling?" The green-haired male was still concerned about his demon, even though he didn't want to admit his concern.
"I'm fine. I'm a demon, so I heal faster than a human would!" He smiled wide and it was enough to fool the human. Midorima nodded his head and climbed out of bed. He went off to the bathroom to prepare for the day as Takao struggled to get out of bed. The pain struck him and shot through his body. He nearly collapsed to the ground from the nearly crippling and sudden pain. However, he ignored it and fought through it. He eventually made it to the kitchen where he was able to make an amazing breakfast for his beloved human. To his relief, all through the breakfast, Midorima still didn't notice how much pain the demon was in.
"Takao, you're eating too slow. Finish up and then go and get ready. I will clean up." Midorima had already finished his breakfast and was eager to head out. Takao was taking a little longer due to him being tired. The tiredness also brought along annoyance towards his human's orders, but he knew he wasn't really annoyed with him. He was trying to not show his lack of sleep as well, so he kept his smile on his face.
"Sure thing Shin! I'll be ready in a minute!" Takao quickly finished his food and fled from the kitchen to Midorima's bedroom. He stripped fast but paused as he put on his clothes. In the mirror on the wall, he could see his wounds. They were now visible and clearly showed how badly he was hurt.
"Takao!"
"Ah!" The demon rapidly threw on his clothes and ran out to meet Midorima. He was waiting for him by the door with an impatient look on his face. Takao put his shoes on and smiled up at his human. "Alright, I'm ready!" Midorima seemed deep in thought, prompting Takao to question him.
"Will you be able to enter the shrine grounds?"
"The goddess is tainted by hate, so I should be able to. Hopefully."
"I suppose we shall see..."
"Yeah..." The two made their way to Midorima's car, only to find it broken down and not able to be started.
"This decides to happen now?" It made Takao uneasy. Since the beginning of him becoming Midorima's guardian, his presence had been able to keep away the misfortune. He was worried now because his human's curse was acting up, meaning that the demon was weaker, due to the injury, than he thought he was.
"Let's call a taxi. We need to get there today." The demon was worried he would continue to grow weaker, leaving the human's life at risk.
Takao only hoped he had enough strength to protect Midorima. He didn't want his human to be hurt in any way. The green-haired male, on the other hand, hoped they would finally be able to break his curse. Not only to go back to his normal life but to be able to figure out and explore his true feelings for Takao. Midorima had no idea that his demon might not make it that long.