Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Admissions

Owari no Seraph / Seraph of the End: The Taming of the Human

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Chapter 3: Admissions

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Another installment of what might have been. See what you think.

The beginning of this story is told in "The Taming of the Demon," if you want to know. Jus' sayin'.

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The next night, Yu was watching a movie on his large-screen TV in the apartment's living room. He was sitting on the couch in front of the TV, eating a snack of cut cauliflower and broccoli, slathered in ranch dressing when Maru wandered in. The Black Demon seemed to be keeping pretty close to him lately; it was a little unnerving. "What're you watching?"

"It's a movie about the early days of the Vampire Wars."

"No doubt written by humans, for humans."

"Actually, it's written by vampires, told from their point of view. It's really interesting."

"Really? You think something written by vampires is interesting?"

He paused in his eating. "Well, of course. Why? You, of all people, should know I'm not the vampire-phobe I used to be."

Maru plopped down on the couch beside him, eyes fixed on the screen. Yu gave him another look. Seemed like the demon had sat down a little closer than Yu would have thought he would have. "What's it about?" Without waiting for an invitation, he plucked a ranch-dressing-soaked cauliflower head from Yu's bowl and popped it in his mouth.

"Well, I never would have thought that the vampires put so much thought into the keeping of the human children. I mean, I was one, but I wasn't in any position to know a whole lot about the whole arrangement. It doesn't make any bones about the situation; doesn't try to make it seem like some fairy tale or something. I mean, we were basically cattle, only we produced blood instead of milk. And," and here he paused, and Maru waited for him to continue. He didn't need his empathic powers to tell him that what Yu was about to say hurt to say. "I guess...I can kinda see how it-the harvesting of the children, I mean-was a necessity for both sides. We humans were on the verge of becoming extinct, and that would have made the vampires extinct. They wouldn't have had any source of blood. So yeah, it...was a massive undertaking. I guess my eight-year old self just blew all that off in my hatred of vampires. But yeah...they, the vampires, really didn't have any choice but to do what they did.

"But I never realized what a huge and desperate undertaking it all was. Those underground cities didn't build themselves. I'm wondering, myself, who this 'first progenitor' was." He glanced up; Maru was looking distinctly uncomfortable. Change the subject, Yu. "Of course, I'm sure a lot of this is fictionalized, artistic license, and all that, but it goes into a lot of detail over the internal politics of the cities where we were kept. It's easy to see how the Split came about, once the wars were over with." Referring to the political stresses that had brought about the formation of the Western State and the Eastern Empire. "This part's about our ol' pal, Ferid Bathory. I heard they tried to get him to play himself in the movie, but he refused."

"I'm surprised. I would have thought he'd have jumped at the chance to be the idol of millions. Guy's a narcissistic jerk, to put it mildly."

He looked at Maru, surprised. "You knew Bathory?"

"We crossed paths. He once tried to possess my sword, to force me to submit to him."

"Glad he didn't succeed."

Asuramaru smirked. "He succeeded in holding the sword...for about two minutes." Another smirk. "He lasted longer than anybody else I've rejected."

"Hm." Yu was altogether too familiar with Maru's mental powers, and what those powers could do. By comparison, being burned alive would be a pleasant sensation. "I almost feel sorry for him. Almost."

Maru was squinting at the screen. "Can't see it very well." He scooted over closer to Yu, squinted again. "Hey! The screen's curved! It's a curved screen!"

Again Yu stopped chewing, again glancing at his demon seatmate. "Well, yeah. Supposed to be better for three-D viewing. Don't tell me you haven't noticed that before?"

"No, I haven't. I don't pay that much attention to your ridiculous human gadgets. But it's no wonder I can't see it very well. You've got it turned so it's focused on you!"

"And this surprises you because…?"

Asuramaru sniffed, crossing his arms. "It doesn't surprise me at all, now that I think of it. It's inconsiderate, so I guess it's typical of you."

Yu sighed. When Maru got like this… "Here. Let's swap places. Then you'll be in the 'focused' part."

"No, no, no. I wouldn't, for a moment, even dream of running you out of your own spot. I'll just settle for sitting way over here and letting your solipsistic mortal machine permanently scar my retinas." Yu was looking at him, so he caught the two ever-so-brief sideways glances Maru made at him.

Yu rolled his eyes. He started to move over. "Here. Just move over here-*"

"No, no. It's fine. I'm just a lowly demon, after all. Don't discomfit yourself on my account." Another two quick glances at Yu. What was Maru after, anyway?

"You could, I guess, move a little closer..."

Maru immediately hitched over.

"...except that would put you closer to me, and you've told me how being close to me makes you want to puke…" The brief look of disappointment on the demon's face told him all he needed to know. Maru reluctantly moved back. "C'mon back, Maru. If you need one, I'll just get you a barf bag."

Without another word, Maru hitched even closer to him than before, so that their hips were touching. "Still can't see very well," he grumbled. Then he reached around and picked up Yu's arm, the one on his side, and draped it over the back of his neck, moving in so close that his head was actually lying on Yu's shoulder. He settled in, twisting and turning until he got comfortable. "There. This is better."

Yu thought for a second, going over the way this scenario would look to an outside observer: himself, seated on the couch, with his arm draped around the Black Demon, with Maru's head nestled against his shoulder. Hm. To anyone else, looking at the two of us like this, one would almost think…we would almost look like...

Nah. No way. He glanced down at Maru, to see how he was liking the show so far…

The little demon was fast asleep, there in Yu's arms.

….

Yu was late getting in the next day, due to some paperwork complications. The first chance he'd got, he'd gone off from everyone else and called in. Maru had answered, recognizing the caller ID. "Late? How late?"

"I don't know how late, Maru, but I'm sure it won't be long. Just get one of those box lunches we prepared-*"

"Those horrible things?! You expect me to eat those?!"

"This is what we made 'em up for. One of them will do for tonight." The Black Demon had no idea how to cook. His only attempt so far had resulted in a grease fire requiring the use of the emergency fire extinguisher, along with some fast talking by Yu, to the complex's fire control division, upon their arrival. "Look, it's only for one night. I'll be in, it's just I'll be late, that's all." Why should the demon be worried about a thing like that?

He didn't notice his fellow soldiers looking at him oddly. They knew Yu was a bachelor, in a single-dwelling apartment. Who was he calling?

But that was a question whose answer would have to wait for another time.

It was later than he thought when he finally managed to make it in. He'd stopped by the store to pick up a special order item, plus some extra blankets for his guest.

Maru was nowhere in evidence when he went in. He shrugged; the Black Demon knew better than to go out in public without Yu.

So Yu sat down on the edge of the bed, and pulled his boots off. Next came the clothes-he took especially good care of his uniform; dry-cleaning bills were on the moon!-got out his sleep pants, showered off, and came back into the bedroom, still brushing his teeth. Hm. Still no Maru.

He finished up, rinsing his mouth out, and donned his sleep pants. Got into bed, all the while wondering where Maru was. He wasn't on his futon.

There was a suspicious looking bulge underneath the covers on the other side of his bed.

He turned the covers down just enough so he could see a thatch of fine, purple hair, and a protruding "V" shaped ear. "Maru?" he whispered. The ear twitched. "Maru. Wake up." Another ear twitch was the only response. "C'mon, Maru. Look. I bought you some more blankets, AND I got you a wireless electric blanket. You can dial it up to as warm as you'd like."

Twitch. Twitch.

Two possibilities occurred to him, both along with their accompanying negations: he could order the Black Demon out of his bed-but if he did, then Asuramaru would know this sort of thing got under his skin, and would let him have no peace doing similar things that he hadn't exactly ordered him not to do, or…

...or there was the distinct possibility that the little guy really was cold down there, in which case, Yu would feel like a heartless monster ordering him back down to his Futon of Misery. There'd be time enough in the morning to explain the electric blanket to the demon then.

And he had said Asuramaru could stay up there. With him. In his bed.

So, with a sigh, he got in on his side of the bed, on his left side, as he'd come to habitually sleep.

And, as he'd halfway expected, he no sooner got settled in but Maru rolled towards him, once again wall-papering himself up against Yu's back and slipping his arm underneath Yu's and around his chest, pulling in close. He was either asleep or pretending to be. "Warm," he murmured, cheek rubbing against Yu's shoulder. "So warm." Yu didn't bother saying anything. Nothing to say.

Besides...this wasn't...really all that bad.

Completely without his being aware of it, his fingers entwined themselves through Maru's, and they both drifted off to sleep.

His last, subconscious thoughts in the waking realm: He's my own mischievous little demon, and I never know what he'll do next. I just know that, for some reason, he's become very precious to me.

…..

In the following days, Yu became more and more nervous. Maru hadn't played any tricks on him or tried to prank him for two solid weeks now. What was the demon up to? Whatever it was, it must be plenty potent, to require this much build-up.

And each night, regardless of the miracles of modern technology offered him, the Black Demon seemed to find his way into Yu's bed. Yu became accustomed to waking up with the feel of Maru's arm around him, holding him close. When asked why, when he had a perfectly good electric blanket he could go to, he usually answered that demons and technology didn't get along too well. Or...something that sounded equally bullshitty.

Then one day, Yu came home to find Maru waiting for him. "Uh, Yu? I, er, I have something for you."

Uh oh, thought Yu. This is it. The biggie. He braced himself, both physically and mentally. "Oh? What is it?"

"It's...this." And the Black Demon suddenly produced a small, square porcelain dish, with a fitted glass cover over it. "Here. Take it. It's yours." And he leaned back as far as he could, his face scrunched up and turned to the side, almost, Yu thought, as though he were expecting the dish to explode.

Okay, thought Yu, What is this? Fried dog turds or something? But when he cautiously opened the chilled dish, he saw…

...banana pudding. With bananas in it. "Uh, Maru? Are...are you giving this to me?" He couldn't believe it. Asuramaru, the Black Demon, The Banana Fanatic, actually giving away bananas?

"Yeah," he said, his face still averted. Yu realized he was doing his best to not look at the dish in Yu's hands. "I, I hope you like it."

"Did...did you make this?"

Maru's still-sideways head nodded. "I looked up the recipe on the internet. It, it wasn't hard to follow." Still not looking at the dish.

"Maru?" The demon only turned his face around just far enough to see Yu. He didn't want to see the bowl of...gasp...banana pudding that was now forever out of his reach…?

Except Yu was holding out two spoons. "Here," he said, handing one to Asuramaru, "Let's share."

He even "accidentally" nudged a few banana slices over into Maru's side of the bowl.

But in the days to come, Maru still remained morose. He once called Yu at work, asking where the replacement garbage bags were. Yu could hear him coughing and sneezing. "Maru, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to do some, some cleaning. (Cough, kachoo!) Where did you say you kept those garbage bags?"

…

The next morning: Asuramaru still seemed awfully subdued, to Yu. "Maru? You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm...fine." But he was actually picking at his breakfast cereal, even though it contained his favorite sliced bananas. Yu had poured in some extra cereal, explaining that Maru was getting the same amount of bananas, just more cereal. Privately, he was carefully measuring Maru's sugar and cholesterol intake; that was another thing to be concerned about.

"Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"I guess so." Yu was wondering if the Black Demon had run out of ways to torment him, and so had found that life held no meaning for him anymore. Yu felt the need to do something, anything, to get Maru out of this funk.

"Say," he said, as inspiration struck him, "I've got an idea. How about we go to a movie this evening? I hear they've rebuilt a few spare rooms into an old-style working theater."

Asuramaru looked up from his almost-uneaten cereal bowl. "A movie? What's that?"

"It's kinda like Tri-V, but bigger and better. I hear they've got some really old Godzilla movies in; you'd love those."

"Gods-whozis?"

….

"You never did explain this Gods-whozis to me." The movie theatre wasn't packed, as a lot of people preferred to stay home and stream in something new, but there were a few in evidence. This was more a social event than anything else, anyway.

"He's a monster supposedly resurrected by mankind's atomic bomb testing. He routinely rises up out of the sea and eats Tokyo or fights another monster or something." He saw Maru's eyes light up with anticipatory joy. "But," he cautioned, holding up a finger, "nobody dies. At least, not in this one."

Asuramaru deflated somewhat. Well, he thought, I can fantasize, I guess.

…

The movie began at five-thirty, just in time for Maru to discover, to his horror, that the outside food court did not carry fruits of any kind, let alone bananas. But Yu had just brushed aside this devastating revelation and ushered them, Maru still griping, into the shadowed darkness of the theater. Perhaps things will become more civilized, thought Maru, in the near future. But thinking about that only made him wonder, all the more, about his own personal future. Was he doomed to stay here, on this planet of fools, with this one particular human his sole connection back to a sane-albeit a lot emptier-universe?

No bananas in the food court? How much worse could it be?

But once inside, alone in the darkness, shrouded in the shadows, Yu produced a pocketful of bananas. Maru found himself having to resist the urge to kiss him. That would just never do.

The movie wasn't bad, he thought, providing you made allowances. After all, the humans, at that time, had only had so much to work with. But of course, he had to pretend to think it was awful, it was horrible, the actors didn't know which hand was their right hand and which hand was their left, etc.

And the whole while, Yu just sat there and took it. He'd ordered a large box of something called "popcorn," though, try as he might, Asuramaru hadn't seen it pop once. He'd specified it to have "extra butter," and had offered it to the Black Demon. Asuramaru had tried some, but didn't expect the salt content, which set him to coughing. Yu had to pat him on the back, then listen to his usual complaints about how the "crazy human" was "trying to kill him," etc. Yu had long since gotten used to such fits from his demonic houseguest. After that episode, Maru had limited himself strictly to his stash of bananas.

And he wondered. Wondered about his dream.

But then, he found himself doing that a lot, lately.

That evening, back at the apartment, Yu was hanging up his cape in the cloakroom when Asuramaru came up to him. "Yu?"

"Hm? Yes, Maru?" He folded the collar just so; it wouldn't do for it to take a set.

"I, I." Something seemed to be warring within the Black Demon's soul. He looked down at his hands, the fingers of which were fumbling with each other. Yu looked up. What was this? "I, I just wanted to say I had a really nice time tonight."

Yu stopped what he was doing and gave him a long, measured look. "Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Asuramaru?"

"What?! Can't I just tell you I had a…" Pause, with an audible gulp. "...nice time?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, uhm." He rubbed the side of his face. "But I did! I, I really enjoyed being out with-I mean, seeing that old movie...with...you." Then he ran off, back to the half-bath. Yu heard the click of the door being locked.

Now what was that all about?

To be continued...