Archive of Our Own

The door slammed with such force that the whole house shook and a neighbouring dog barked into the night.

But Mika was used to it, unfortunately.

His parents must have had another fight, and his dad must have stormed out of the house in his anger, most likely to spend the night getting drunk with his friends or to go get a whore who would warm him for some hours. His mother would then proceed to smash glasses and trinkets into the door and cry, and then go up to Mika’s room demanding him to get out.

No way in hell was Mika going to get out.

The bruises he got the last time were enough to make him learn that he should not see his mother in one of her fits, no matter how hard his mother cried about being lonely or about how everyone hated her.

Mika tried to ignore the screams from the other side of the door by looking out the window, trying to distract himself with whatever his tired mind could make out with what was out there. The night was dark and the lampposts weren’t working, so he could see the stars clearly. Maybe he could try making figures out of stars or something similar?

A shooting star shone brightly in the sky all of a sudden, and Mika found himself making a wish upon it.

‘Please have someone love me.’

The wish had come naturally and unbidden, and Mika flushed red with how sappy his wish ended up being and how childish it was.

But, how could he not wish for love?

At 16, he no longer remembered a time where his parents loved him. Maybe they did at some point, but his memories were plagued with screams, physical pain, shivering nights and cries. When he was little, he thought that this was all temporal, and he had tried his best at making his parents love him by giving them the biggest smiles and obeying them without complaining.

His parents hated him more, convinced that their kid was plotting something against them.

Now he had completely given up and was already thinking of ways of getting out of that toxic house.

But where would he go? Mika didn’t have friends either, with all the kids scared of him for his foreign looks, or hesitant to get close to the kid with raggedy clothes when he was little. When Mika grew up things didn’t get much better, with weird girls squalling about his supposedly good looks and the boys hating him for getting all the girls’ attention.

As if he were to be interested in girls who were only attracted to his looks and only approached him for sex or status, but no one seemed to see that, no matter how many times Mika was openly disgusted by the girls’ loud and cocky attitudes and how many times he would give the girls the cold shoulder.

Mika sighed. He was really sad and pathetic, wasn’t he? He was sure that many boys his age would be ecstatic to have so many girls trying to sleep with him, but Mika just wasn’t interested.

If only he had a friend…

There was another loud bang behind him, and then…

“Fuck! That hurt!”

A male voice cursed loudly, a voice Mika had not heard before.

Mika blinked once, twice, and slowly turned his head, afraid of what he would see.

Sitting on the floor of his small room, rubbing his bottom and muttering curses under his breath, was a boy his age, with glistening red eyes and dark, spiky hair and… horns?

If Mika was a normal boy, he would have most likely screamed his head out, but instead he just froze on the spot, his eyes somehow glued to the teen that had magically appeared into his room—not that he could have screamed anyway, for that would have alerted his mother who has still banging on his door and she could take it the wrong way and destroy the door itself, thinking that her son was getting rebellious and was in dire need of immediate punishment.

The boy stopped cursing and then his eyes found Mika, who flinched slightly under the intense glare he was now under. They kept staring at each other for a while, until the boy broke the eye contact and scanned the room confusedly, to face Mika once more.

“Ok, so what’s your fucking wish?”

“Pardon?” Mika was so confused by what was happening right now his voice was barely audible, but the other boy seemed to have heard him alright and he huffed irritably.

“Your wish,” he said exasperatedly, moving his arms up and down. “You know, the fucking wish you made upon the shooting star?”

“What?”

The other boy threw his arms in the air and let out a long cry of frustration, which was enough to break Mika out of his confusion.

No way in hell was he going to tolerate someone who suddenly appeared in his room and got angry at him for things he didn’t know nor understand.

“Who are you in the first place and how the hell did you get into my room?”

The boy stopped his cry—how the hell did he not get tired after shouting for so long, was something Mika was mildly impressed with—and stared at him for a second before running his hand through his hair and sighing.

“I’m Yuu, but it won’t matter because once I grant your wish I can get the hell out of here,” Yuu said, his hands now on his hips. “So tell me right now your wish so I can go home and kick Guren’s ass.”

There was a minute of silence where they just stared at each other, Mika frowning in confusion and Yuu glaring at Mika, waiting (im)patiently for his answer.

“Are you a demon or something?” Mika ended up asking instead, because that would explain the red eyes and the horns, and how Yuu got into his room when Mika had been at the window and his mom was still pounding at the door, blocking the only exits.

“Oh, you could tell?” Yuu’s demeanour changed from his angry glare to an excited grin. “I knew it! Fucking Guren saying how I am not demonic enough, I’ll rub this in his face and if he dares say I’m a failed demon again—”

“So you are.”

“Yeah!” Yuu grinned. “I’m a demon and I can grant you any wish, so just tell me what did you wish for and I’ll be out of your hair and kill Guren—”

“No.”

Yuu stopped his rambling and frowned at Mika.

“What do you mean with ‘no’?”

“Just what I said. I don’t want you to grant me a wish.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re a demon, right?” This time it was Mika’s turn to sound exasperated. “There’s usually a gist to it, isn’t there? Like, you’ll get my soul in exchange of my wish or something? No thanks.”
“What the fuck,” replied Yuu, frowning. “What would I do with your soul?”

“I don’t know! You’re the demon, you should know!”

“Well, unfortunately for us, I don’t want your soul,” said Yuu, now angry again, if his crossed arms and frown were to say something. “I was just kicked out of hell and I can’t get back until I grant the wish of a human, so that’s it. Can we get going with your wish now?”

“Why would you get kicked out of hell?” Mika asked instead, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

“Fucking Guren said something about learning a thing or two in the human world and he just banned me! The bastard!”

“Who’s Guren?”

“My stupid old man,” Yuu growled, as if he didn’t want to admit that Guren was his father.

“And what did you do to get kicked out, exactly?”

“Who cares!” Yuu said exasperatedly—honestly, did this demon only have two or three emotions?

“I just want to know why should I allow you to grant my wish, because I’m sure there’s a trap somewhere,” said Mika, crossing his own arms in defiance.

“Fucking humans,” said Yuu, before eyeing the door in annoyance. “And why the hell is so noisy out there?”

“My mom wants me outside,” Mika replied with a shrug.

“Then why are you still here?”

“Because my mom just wants to scream or punch someone, and I don’t want to be that someone.”

Yuu stared at Mika weirdly for a few seconds before grinning.

“Is your wish to get your mom to shut up? No problem, if I kill her she won’t bother you anymore!”

“Wait a second!” Mika couldn’t believe his ears and quickly scrambled after Yuu, who had turned towards the door, and tackled him to the floor. “I don’t want you to kill her! What’s wrong with you?”

“What? Wasn’t that your wish?” Yuu craned his head to stare at Mika in disbelief.

“No!”

“Then what the hell was your wish!?”

Mika paused. While he did remember his wish, there was no way he was saying it out aloud, and less so someone else could listen to it. That was way too embarrassing! And it was so vague, he was sure that Yuu would screw it up somehow!

Although Mika couldn’t help finding it funny how five minutes after meeting the demon he somehow could understand how that little brain of his worked.

“So?” Yuu interrupted his thoughts, squirming a little under Mika’s weight.

Mika stared at Yuu’s eyes, who was looking back at him in annoyance.

Mika was no idiot, and he was sure that there was a catch in this shady thing, no matter how much Yuu claimed there was none. Or maybe the demon was acting like that on purpose, to make him lower his guard. Either way, he wasn’t bitting the bait so easily.

“I don’t have one,” Mika said, getting off of Yuu. “So there’s no wish for you to grant.”

“That’s bullshit!” Yuu was quick to stand up to his feet and confront Mika. “You did have one when you prayed on that shooting star! And your wish must have been strong enough to summon me! What happened in these five minutes!?”

“Meeting you, I guess,” Mika shrugged. Honestly, he had been tired before all this happened and now Yuu’s constant shouting made him get a headache. The faster he got rid of Yuu, the better. “Guess you’ll have to find someone else, huh?”

“But I can’t!” Yuu exclaimed, his eyes widening in fear. “I don’t know much about this stuff, but I know for sure that when you summoned me you linked me to your soul, I can feel it!”

“I DID WHAT!?”

“Hey, don’t look at me with that face, I didn’t choose to be linked to you!” Yuu took a step backwards, hands raised in surrender.

“I didn’t want this either!”

“Well then, just wish for something and I’ll be out of here!”

Mika observed the demon, who was moving his arms up and down and suggesting wishes back and forth—‘Do you want a sports car?’ ‘Infinite curry sounds good, doesn’t it? ‘A pet dinosaur? But those bite so maybe not?’ ‘Guren said humans love money? Do you want mountains of that green paper so you can burn them? I’m sure the green fire must be pretty!’—, most likely hoping to guess what Mika’s wish was.

It was cute.

Mika almost slapped himself with that thought. Did he think that the demon spawning nonsense in from of him was cute!?

Mika groaned and decided to go to bed, because this was most likely a dream and he was going to wake up the next morning laughing at how crazy dreams his brain could make up.

Yeah, that sounded good and realistic.

“Hey, are you ignoring me and going to bed? Hey! Don’t be like that! Was the idea of wishing for a firefighter’s truck that bad!? Was it the giant puppy!? Hey!”

Unicorns galloped happily on a pink-coloured lawn in the middle of an amusement park. The attractions were working even though there were no people on them, and the merry music filled the air, alongside the laughter of invisible children.

There was also another patch of lawn near the unicorns’, but this was one was filled with dinosaurs, which were saddled as if they were horses. They didn’t look uncomfortable; on the contrary, they looked quite happy while they drank from a chocolate river running through their lawn.

Suddenly the day turned cloudy and marshmallows started raining down, bouncing on the pink lawn. The dinosaurs roared and opened their mouths to stuff them with marshmallows and chewing them loudly, before there was an even more potent roar on the skies and a dragon was seen roaring around, roasting some marshmallows mid-air, to the delight of the dinosaurs and even the unicorns.

What the fuck.

That was Mika’s first thought when he opened his eyes in the morning.

While Mika knew his mind liked to sometimes get creative in his dreams, those dreams were usually more… realistic than what he had experienced. Unicorns? Dinosaurs drinking from a chocolate river? S’mores raining down from the sky?

Had Mika hit his head very hard lately or…?

Mika groaned and sat up on the edge of his bed, running his hand through his messy locks and sighing. He closed his eyes tiredly; maybe if he waited a few seconds he would forget what his dream was about before he could start thinking he was going crazy. He had the gnawing feeling that something really insane had happened to him the previous night, but he couldn’t remember right now what had happened…

“Oh! You’re finally awake! Good morning!”

Mika frowned with his eyes still closed, because when was the last time someone had greeted him in the morning? And he knew that voice… Or he had definitely gone mad or the first dream he had about a demon wanting to grant him a wish was not really a dream, which was already nuts. Maybe it was better to just assume he had gone mad.

“Hey, are you still ignoring me? Why? Are you really mad about me suggesting you wish about a giant puppy? Were you a cat person? So how about cats ruling the world?”

Mika opened his eyes slowly, and sure enough, he was greeted by the red-eyed demon from his dream, who was crouched on the floor in front of him, staring at him with squinted eyes, although whether they were from worry or annoyance, Mika wouldn’t know.

“It wasn’t a dream?”

The demon huffed.

“Well, good morning to you too, mister,” he said sarcastically, standing up and crossing his arms. “It was very rude of you to just go to sleep and leave me talking alone, y’know? The least you could do is to reply when someone greets you! It makes me wonder who’s the demon here!”

“Oh, excuse my manners,” Mika replied tiredly, rolling his eyes. “Good morning, Yuu-chan.”

The demon blushed and spluttered, while Mika stared, inwardly having fun with the demon’s reaction.

“Yuu-chan!? The hell, man!?”

“Why not?” Mika shrugged, which left Yuu flustered, stammering through his sentences about him being very demonic and manly and that the nickname didn’t suit him at all.

Mika chuckled lowly, which stopped Yuu’s rambling at once.

“You sure you’re a demon? You sure don’t act like one at all,” observed Mika, resting his head on a hand and watching Yuu, who once more huffed in indignation.

“I sure am! What’s wrong with you all wondering if I’m a real demon?”

“Oh? So I’m not the first one to question if you’re a demon?”

“Fucking Guren with his pain in the ass attitude keeps asking me that,” groaned Yuu. “You’d think that because he’s my father, he should be the one that knows the best that I’m a pure demon! But he keeps saying I’m a failure!”

“He doesn’t sound like a good father,” said Mika, ironically thinking that his own parents weren’t really ideal parents either. At least his father was happy ignoring his existence and he didn’t have to deal with his harassment.

Yuu groaned once more, and Mika decided to get up and prepare for school, for he was running a bit late for his liking.

After quietly leaving to the bathroom and ignoring Yuu’s questions about if Mika had remembered his wish yet, Mika came back to his room as silently as possible, and started changing into his uniform. To his surprise, Yuu stopped his barrel of questions, and Mika felt his questioning gaze upon finding the bruises that were adorning his body. Mika tried his best to ignore the silent question and weird atmosphere, and promptly grabbed his bag and left to the kitchen. He also ignored the mess that was his house now, and after quickly scanning the kitchen for something he could eat for breakfast, he settled for grabbing an apple to eat on the way and silently left his house.

The walk to his school was silent, but Mika could feel Yuu’s presence behind him. Unexpectedly, this didn’t freak Mika out or make him wish for the demon to be gone, for reasons he could not tell.

“School?” Asked Yuu suddenly when they reached the school grounds. He sounded confused. “Do you still need to go to school?

“Of course I do,” replied Mika in a low voice. “More importantly, can other people see or hear you?”

“Nope, you are the only one who can,” said Yuu, a bit impressed. “I’m amazed you knew!”

Mika shrugged, he had imagined that was the case since his mother hadn’t screamed about hearing people talking inside his room last night, and her cries were the same as usual. If she had heard someone being in the room with her son, she would have gone more ballistic than usual, yelling about how bad son he was because he preferred the company of another human being to hers.

Luckily that hadn’t happened yet, but he was familiar with how his mother’s mind worked after a fight with his father and he just didn’t want to find out if he were to defy her.

As usual, he could hear some girls swooning after him, but this time with the difference that he now could hear Yuu make a weird sound that maybe tried to be a whistle, but all that got out was a strange and weak raspberry, and Yuu’s spluttering.

Mika chuckled and now Yuu was rambling indignantly behind him, which made Mika’s grin grow wider.

When had been the last time he had smiled or interacted with someone, he wondered?

“Ah, look at the freak. He’s smiling to himself.”

“I bet it is because he slept with his mom or something disgusting like that.”

Mika heard Yuu gasp loudly, but he paid his classmates no attention and kept walking as if he had heard nothing.

“What the fuck? Do you want me to make them shut their asses?”

“No, Yuu-chan, just… don’t,” said Mika in a low voice, because he knew that most likely the demon would be able to hear him anyway and he didn’t want to give people more reasons to pick on him.

“Why not? How can you just stay there and not want to punch their faces!?”

Mika sighed, and kept walking, ignoring how the demon was saying how amazing it would feel to make them feel what it was to be picked on, and suggesting a few revenge tricks, which Mika was quick to tone out.

Which was becoming more and more difficult as the day went on, because Yuu always had something to say: ‘Oh man, that problem sounds difficult to solve, how can you do it?’ ‘I bet that grumpy teacher has a dildo up his ass or something, don’t you think?’ ‘The guy in the back is reading porn under his desk.’ ‘That girl just hogged her nose! That’s not something you see every day!’ ‘Doesn’t your ass hurt after sitting for so long?’

And while some remarks were annoying and others were so funny Mika had to resist the urge to just laugh in the middle of a class, Mika found himself not minding much the presence of the demon, even if he sometimes managed to distract him from his studies.

It had been a while since someone had talked to him like this, after all.

When the bell to lunch rang, Mika sighed and left the classroom, with Yuu tailing behind him. Yuu must have thought they were going to the cafeteria or something, because he let out a questioning noise when Mika went into the library instead and sat down in a hidden corner.

Yuu silently sat down in the chair across him and observed with critical eyes as Mika was getting out the homework he was given during the morning, and started answering the questions.

“I’m hungry,” Yuu said after a minute.

Mike lifted his gaze, confusion in his eyes. “I didn’t know demons needed to eat.”

“We usually don’t,” Yuu replied, a frown in his face. “But I’m linked to you. And if I’m hungry, it means that you are.”

Mika gulped.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Yuu asked, his eyes shining with something indecipherable.

“I…” Mika considered not answering and changing the topic, but if what Yuu said was true, there was no way he was going to be able to fool the demon. “I don’t have money to buy something. And you saw the kitchen this morning, there was nothing I could grab for lunch.”

“I was thinking,” Yuu said, after another minute of silence. “Are your parents abusing you?”

Mika remained silent, his eyes casted down.

So what if he was? It wasn’t like he chose to be born in that family. At least, he was aware of it and that was why he was studying his ass off, so he could get a scholarship at some university and escape his home.

Yuu sighed, and suddenly Mika felt cold. He lifted his eyes and saw with widened eyes that Yuu was nowhere to be seen.

Where had the demon gone?

Mika stood up, his homework forgotten, and started roaming the library in search of Yuu.

Mika found himself running through the halls once he found out that Yuu wasn’t in the library, desperately looking for Yuu and trying to convince himself that he was doing it because he felt responsible for the demon. What if he did something to someone?

But that wasn’t it. He just couldn’t explain why he felt lonely and anxious all of a sudden. Maybe it had to do with the soul link he had with the demon? Or was it something else?

Had he been so emotionally starved that after spending so little time with someone, he now felt hopelessly lonely if left alone?

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

Mika turned his head so fast he was afraid he had broken something in his neck, but it didn’t matter to him. It didn’t matter, because Yuu was here, was here with him again.

Yuu looked concerned and approached Mika with a frown in his face after checking their surroundings.

“Why are we outside again? Weren’t you in the library?”

“Yeah, before someone disappeared on me!” Mika tried saying, but he had been running for what felt so long that he had trouble speaking.

Yuu sighed, and wordlessly handed Mika a lunched box.

“Don’t ask and just eat it, ok?”

“Did you steal it?”

“Didn’t you hear me saying ‘don’t ask’?” Yuu huffed, but his eyes were sparkling with mischief.

Mika was so tired he decided to just give in and take the lunch, and Yuu grinned so brightly Mika though the he was going to get blind—was that possible when Yuu was a literal demon? Yuu then took Mika’s hand—Mika decided to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat—and sat them under the shade of a nearby tree.

“So I just realized,” Yuu said after Mika had eaten half of the lunch. “I never asked for your name.”

Mika paused for a second.

“Mikaela.”

“Huh. Wasn’t that an angel’s name or something like that?”

“I don’t know, you tell me,” Mika shrugged. He didn’t feel like telling Yuu that a few months before he was born, Mika’s mom had been dragged to a religious cult and had gotten obsessed with the bible. Not that she wasn’t now, but…

“Can I call you Mika?”

“Why? Does my full name burn you every time you say it?”

“Har har,” Yuu stuck out his tongue, and Mika rolled his eyes in reply. “So Mika, what do you really wish for?”

“Do you really have to grant me a wish?” Mika huffed.

“Of course! I can’t go back if I don’t!”

Mika hummed and continued eating his lunch, ignoring how Yuu was once more spewing random ridiculous wishes, each one more absurd than the rest, until…

“Do you wish for a friend?” Yuu was mostly saying things without thinking by now, but this one made Mika pause.

Did he wish for a friend?

Yes, he did. While it wouldn’t be as strong as his wish for love—Mika needed to stop thinking about having made such an embarrassing wish—, Mika had long wished to have a friend who would stay by his side, helping each other out and spending time together. Someone who liked him for who he was, and not for interest.

Could Yuu help him with that, even when he himself was unlovable and not worthy?

Yuu gasped loudly as he saw Mika reacting to one of his ideas, stood up and skipped excitedly around Mika. He then proceeded to point at a random student walking by and said very loudly, “Mika, how about him!? He’s a human, I’m sure you have a lot of things in common!!”

Mika regretted thinking for a split second that Yuu could maybe help him and promptly threw his now empty lunch box to the demon’s head.

The sound of glass breaking was Mika’s cue to tail out of the kitchen, where he had been trying to attempt to make something to eat with some scraps he found, and to hide in his room, not wanting to be near his parents when another argument escalated to a full-blown fight.

Yuu wordlessly followed him, frowning all the time.

Mika sighed, and slumped down on his worn-out bed. He closed his eyes and tried his best to block out the sounds from the living room that were getting louder and louder, but it was proving difficult, for the yelling was giving him another headache, aggravated because he had to listen to Yuu spewing nonsense all day and he was already tired.

At least Yuu had good intentions when he had been trying to set him up with random people throughout the day, even though he had moments when he wanted to kill Yuu because the demon wouldn’t understand that it was not acceptable to befriend someone by throwing a ball to their face.

He couldn’t think of his parents having good intentions in mind when they were having another fight, though, no matter that Mika’s mom was shouting something about ‘saving their holy marriage’ now.

“Mika.”

Mika opened his eyes tiredly, and Yuu sighed.

“I’ll be right back.”

With that, Yuu disappeared with a pouf.

Mika closed his eyes again, trying to ignore the fight that was going on his home. Why hadn’t any of his neighbors reported his parents, was something he would never know. He was sure that if anything were to happen, they would appear on the news saying how normal they were and how they never suspected a thing, in an attempt to mask their horror and guilt at avoiding a disaster.

Mika shuddered thinking that if anything were to happen that needed the policy to intervene, most likely it would involve him getting seriously hurt or killed after his mom went nuts and decided to take all her anger on him, after his father left the house.

It was funny how she was still screaming about ‘family’ outside.

But suddenly, there were no more noises and everything went quiet, and Mika opened his eyes in confusion to see Yuu standing in front of him, a sandwich in his hands—the sandwich he had been trying to make before he was forced to leave the kitchen—and a sheepish smile in his face.

“I brought you something to eat,” he said, handing Mika the plate. “And I also used an spell to block out noises. I used to use it very often, when Guren would be screaming at me for filling his mug with worms or something.”

Mika chuckled, and if he had been paying more attention, he would have seen how Yuu blushed.

But he was tired, so he didn’t and simply thanked Yuu, who nodded robotically and sat down next to Mika.

“Can you tell me more about you?” Mika whispered after a moment of silence, curious about how hell worked and what demons would do down there. Because who wouldn’t be curious?

“Is that your wish?” Yuu tilted his head, and Mika sighed.

Were all demons this adorably stupid or was Yuu a special case?

“No, just… Never mind, it’s nothing.”

“Hell is not such a nice place,” Yuu started after a few seconds. “It’s dark and cold, but there’s all sorts of creatures. I guess demons are in the top of the chain, but I never paid attention to that kind of stuff… I don’t know what else to tell you, sorry.”

“Tell me about Guren.”

Yuu snorted, but complied right away.

“Guren is my father. Apparently he’s amazing and a lot of demons and creatures love him, because he’s always surrounded by a harem and they defend him fiercely. Once I had to hide in a cave for days after they got madIate his curry and replaced it with mud! Hey, it was scary, I swear!” Yuu tried to defend his honor while Mika laughed. “Those servants of his are terrific! They once wanted to hold my body over an open fire for having doodled on his statue! I was only saved because Shinya thought it was hilarious, I swear he’s the only sane demon around!”

Mika kept laughing, and Yuu found himself smiling, glad that the dark cloud over the human had somewhat disappeared.

“You’d think that I had committed a capital crime every time those demon girls of his start chasing me! Don’t tell me that you also think that filling his bed with cockroaches is something that you think I should be punished for!? Maybe it was rude of me, but I didn’t deserve to be tied to a tree for a whole day, y’know!?”

“But why would you do that?” Mika asked with tears in his eyes, already imagining Yuu running for his dear life with an army of demons behind him.

Yuu hesitated, and casted Mika a worried glance, as if he was wondering if it was a good idea to tell him the reason, until he seemed to give in and sighed.

“I don’t know who my mom is,” Yuu started, absentmindedly playing with his fingers. “Maybe she’s one of the current servants, or she’s not here anymore… and Guren won’t tell me who she is. And… I kind of don’t like it when he sleeps around so much? It feels like he’s betraying the memory of my mother with each different demon he takes to bed…”

“But that’s not the only reason, isn’t it?” Mika asked quietly, his heart clenching painfully in his chest upon seeing the hurt showing in Yuu’s face.

“Well, Guren doesn’t really talk to me, so…”

“So you play pranks on him as some way to interact with him?” Mika provided a tentative answer after remembering his own relationship with his father.

Yuu didn’t reply, but Mika knew the answer upon seeing Yuu’s face.

It hurt.

Mika laid his head on Yuu’s shoulder, ignoring the way that the demon tensed and inhaled sharply, and closed his eyes.

“You’re a good demon.”

“How?” Yuu’s question came softly, uncertainty filling his voice.

“I just know. You have a good heart.”

There’s silence, and Yuu sighed before gently laying his own head on top of Mika’s.

“Thanks.”

A girl walked elegantly into the classroom, and Mika couldn’t help but follow her with his eyes.

Shinoa Hiiragi.

Mika watched as the girl stopped by someone’s desk and they started a conversation. About what, he could only guess, and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious.

And he would also be lying if he said he was not worried because the demon floating behind him has not said a word about the girl he was eyeing, despite Yuu normally not shutting up about making suggestions over what should he do to befriend random people.

(Mika had to admit that he noticed that Yuu had stopped pointing at really random people, and had started pointing at people who seemed nice and he did make some points at to why the two of them would be good friends.

Not that he wanted to. He was already content with being with Yuu.)

Shinoa spent a few minutes talking, her eyes sparkling with some glint of mischief and a smile on her face, and although she must have felt that she was being watched, she made no move to show it, leaving the classroom a few seconds before the bell rang.

Mika spent the rest of the following class looking out of the window, conscious of the questioning stare he was receiving from the demon, but he decided to ignore it for a while.

Seeing Shinoa always left him with complicated feelings he would feel stupid for having, because who would still be hung up about their first friend just forgetting about them? They were only 8 at the time, and so many things had happened…

And well, Mika also had himself to blame. If he had tried harder to reconnect with her, maybe they would be best friends by now, and not complete strangers that never spoke to each other.

“Who was she?”

Mika was surprised that that was the first thing he heard the demon said after he saw Shinoa a few hours earlier. He had thought that Yuu would start rambling about weird things after Shinoa left, but he had been uncharacteristically silent, even disappearing to get lunch for Mika without letting him know first—Mika had long lost the guilt of eating food that was most likely stolen, but well, there was no evidence of such thing and he was hungry. Now the demon had this frown in his face and a guarded stance, arms crossing defiantly in his chest and Mika couldn’t help but feel that the demon looked small and scared, almost if he was guarding himself for some kind of damage he was expecting to receive.

Mika wasn’t stupid, he could almost read Yuu like an open book, and he felt guilty for causing some sort of pain to the demon, albeit unknowingly.

“Shinoa, she… she was the only friend I have had,” Mika started explaining, because he feltYuu deserved an explanation, for reasons he couldn’t understand. “She was the only kid who would hung out with me when we were younger, but then, after the holidays, she stopped coming to school. And when she did, she stopped spending time with me. I later learnt that her sister had died and that she was going through some rough times, but at the time I felt that she was rejecting me as my parents did, and since my mom had started hitting me and telling me how worthless I was as well… I guess I was scared? And now, every time I see her, I wonder if I hadn’t been so scared, maybe, maybe, we could still be friends right now…”

“Just friends?”

“Just friends,” Mika ignored the bitterness coating Yuu’s voice, and gave him a small smile. “Why, you jealous?”

Yuu huffed and looked to the side, and Mika chuckled. He left his now empty lunch box aside and opened his arms.

“Come here, Yuu-chan.”

The demon seemed to hesitate for a moment, but the moment he saw Mika lowering his arms slowly, he quickly settled himself between Mika’s arms and hugged the human tightly, while Mika chuckled once more and stroked Yuu’s hair.

It always surprised him how docile and needy Yuu would become with physical contact, something he discovered during their heartfelt conversation a few nights ago.

Maybe he was just that starved for affection, but Mika couldn’t say he hated it.

In fact, he loved pampering Yuu with touches—although he wouldn’t admit to the demon that he loved the content faces Yuu made when Mika patted him on the head—and hugging someone always felt nice.

Yuu being so huggable and nice-smelling and warm were always big bonuses as well.

But was that all?

He hugged Yuu tighter, ignoring how warm he was and how fast his heart was beating in his chest, but how at peace he felt.

What was this feeling?

In reality, he knew, he knew, but…

“Mika,” Yuu whispered, and Mika hummed to let him know he was listening. “Don’t let anyone tell you you’re worthless, because you’re not. You are amazing, and you deserve to know it.”

There was something in Mika’s eyes that were making them tear up, so he hid his face in Yuu’s soft locks and held him closer, because Yuu was someone he felt safe with.

Yuu felt like home.

Mika was crying, trying to hold onto his mother’s arm and promising how good he was going to be from now on, how he wouldn’t complain or cry anymore, but the woman only looked at him with disgust. His father, at the wheel, asked loudly over the child’s cries how much longer would they have to wait until she shoved their son out of the moving car, and Mika’s mom scowled and promptly opened the door, shoving the kid out, and…

Mika braced for the impact and the pain and the blood, but his body fell on top of a soft surface, bouncing lightly until he came into a stop. Through his tears, he shakily looked around, and found himself in a familiar and bizarre amusement park with unicorns and dinosaurs, but not even the soft music or the pastel colors surrounding him could make the fear in him disappear, and he called after his parents, because he was sure that they would come back to him and tell it was all a joke.

But no one came, and big fat tears started rolling out of his eyes. He was alone, and he wasn’t loved, and if this was what it felt like he didn’t want to live anymore, because if not even his own parents wanted him, who would?

However, strong and gentle arms held him, and Mika inhaled a soothing and familiar scent, which made him reach for this person and sob in their shoulder.

“Don’t leave me…”

The other person made soothing sounds, and tightened their hold on Mika, as if to tell him they wouldn’t.

“Yuu-chan, don’t leave me…”

Mika opened his eyes trying to ignore the light headache, and was surprised to find himself in the arms of Yuu, who was looking at him with worry in his eyes. But the surprise quickly faded and Mika, still tired, snuggled closer to the demon, basking in his presence.

“Thank you, Yuu-chan,” he whispered before falling asleep once more, so he never felt the light kiss that Yuu left on his temple.

“Oh man, I’ve got the best idea ever! What if I replace Guren’s throne with a toilet?”

Mika almost spat the water he had been drinking.

“Throne? Throne!? Is Guren the demon lord or something!?”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Yuu sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. “Guren is the Demon Lord in charge of Japan.”

“YOU MEAN HE’S SATAN!?”

“Nah, Satan is the demon lord of some country in the west,” Yuu shrugs. “But it’s not big deal, I mean, Guren is an asshole anyway.”

“That’s a big deal! You mean I’ve been hanging out with the Demon Lord’s son all this time!?”

“Who cares about that stuff?” Yuu huffed in annoyance.

“But—”

“No, Mika, don’t,” and there’s a sense of finality when he said it. “I’m just Yuu, ok? Don’t go treating me differently, I’m the same ol’ demon you have known for like two weeks.”

Mika was silent, digesting the information load and trying to link the image of Yuu being the son of the Demon Lord with the goofy and adorable demon he was.

There was just no way Yuu was a Demon Prince!

Was the Demon Prince the same demon that was convinced that wasabi was mashed avocado and tried to prove it to Mika by gulping down a Ping-Pong-ball-sized amount, and then proceeded to choke so hard there were tears on his eyes?

“Hey, you are thinking there’s no way I’m a powerful demon, aren’t you?” frowned Yuu, flicking Mika’s forehead with his finger teasingly. “I’ll let you know, mister, that I am indeed very strong and can grant you your wish easily, just you wait!”

“So far, your attempts at match-making have been horrible, though.”

“That’s because I’m not using magic when trying to get you a friend!” replied Yuu indignantly. “Besides, that’s something I want you to have.”

At Mika’s confused gaze, Yuu sighed.

“Look, have you ever told me what your wish was?” Mika shook his head. “See? So I am not using magic to grant you a wish because you haven’t told me what you want. But I know what I want. I want you to have friends, surround yourself with people who appreciate you and treat you as the amazing person you are. You’re a good person, Mika. And you don’t deserve to be alone.”

“Yuu-chan…”

“Of course I will grant whatever wish you want,” Yuu continued. “I mean…”

Yuu blushed and avoided Mika’s stare, muttering something under his breath.

“Sorry Yuu-chan, what did you say? I couldn’t hear you,” Mika said, somehow feeling that he had missed something really important and precious, his heart beating painfully fast in his chest.

Yuu opened his mouth in mortification, a horrified expression in his face before he blurted “I said that the faster I grant you your wish, the faster I can go kick Guren’s ass for being an awful parent!”

Mika somehow knew that Yuu was not saying the truth, but nevertheless the statement made his stomach churn.

Of course Yuu would want to go back home, where all the people he knew were and where he wouldn’t be stuck with someone like him against his will.

The knowledge made him feel horrible because he had never thought much about Yuu wanting to go back, especially since they spent so much time talking and having fun, to the point where Mika could forget that Yuu was a demon.

He had grown to be way too attached to Yuu, and that could be dangerous.

“Yuu-chan, can you make crafts?”

“Huh? Yeah, why?”

“Can you make a teddy bear from scratch?”

“Huh? What’s this? Why are you asking me this?”

“I just had this image of you not being able to make handmade stuff and whenever you try to make a teddy bear, you end up making a big cushion with eyes instead,” Mika teased, trying to mask his intentions under his smirk.

“Why you—!! I’ll show you my amazing skills, blondie!”

With that, Yuu disappeared with a pouf, most likely to get materials.

Mika choked back a sob, knowing what was going to happen next and dreading it.

He didn’t want to let Yuu go.

“Mika, Mika, wake up!”

Yuu’s energetic voice woke Mika up, who rubbed his eyes tiredly.

He had been dreading that moment for so long he couldn’t go to sleep, and when he finally did, it felt like he had only closed his eyes for a few seconds before Yuu had nudged him awake.

But maybe it was worth it, because the first thing he saw clearly was Yuu’s bright grin greeting him.

The demon beamed when he saw that Mika was fully awake, and proudly presented him the teddy bear he had been working on endlessly that night.

“Ta-da! It’s cute, isn’t it?”

Mika took the yellow teddy bear with quivering hands, noting how it had blue eyes as well, and tried not thinking that maybe, maybe, Yuu had modeled this plushy after him.

It was very soft to the touch, and just watching at it made his body warm and happy.

“I told you I could do it! It took me a while because I wanted to make it as adorable as you, but it was very difficult! Do you like it?”

Mika held the teddy bear close to him, and a tear escaped his eye when he realized that it also smelt like Yuu.

“Hey, was it so horrible that I made you cry!? I can try again, you know?” Yuu sounded desperate, and Mika had to chuckle when he saw the demon moving his arms up and down frantically.

“No, it’s perfect… Thank you, Yuu-chan, for granting my wish…”

Yuu’s eyes widened when the words that Mika had uttered registered in his brain and opened his mouth to say something when he was suddenly engulfed in a bright light so dazzling that Mika had to close his eyes.

And when he opened them, Yuu was nowhere to be seen.

Yuu’s absence hurt more than anything, and if it weren’t for the teddy bear, Mika would have thought that it had been all a dream.

But the reality was that it hadn’t been a dream.

Yuu’s constant reassurances that he was worth it and that he shouldn’t be afraid of anything made him swallow back his fears and reach out to Shinoa, who had smiled at him gently and welcomed him back as if nothing had happened in all those years they had been apart.

Shinoa’s presence also helped lower the gossiping and to shut up the loud girls that loved to squeal to get his attention.

But he still felt that he was missing something.

Not something.

He missed Yuu dearly.

So one day, when he saw a shooting star from his window, he couldn’t stop himself from wishing he could be with Yuu once more, knowing how silly he was being and that he would most likely never see Yuu again.

“Mika!”

Mika froze.

No way, that voice was…

“I can’t believe you did that, you asshole! Do you know how many pranks I had to make so Guren had to send me away again!?”

Mika turned around, and tears started running freely down his cheeks.

“Yuu-chan…”

Yuu’s glare softened to a gentle smile, and he opened his arms in a silent invitation.

Mika didn’t hesitate to run and tackle Yuu to the floor, both of them laughing so much it hurt.

“Mika, you idiot, you shouldn’t have wasted your wish on a silly teddy bear… You could have asked for world domination instead, and—”

“You would have granted me that wish?” Mika asked playfully, sitting up so he could see Yuu’s face clearly.

“Maybe,” Yuu replied easily.

“So if I wished to spend my life with you, would you be able to grant it?”

Yuu’s grin was so wide and happy, Mika was tempted to lean down and kiss him. Badly.

“I wish I could live with you forever.”

There was a light coming from Yuu that made Mika shield his eyes, but contrary to what happened last time, when Mika opened them, he was greeted by green eyes and a smile so warm it could only belong to Yuu.

“I hope you don’t regret this,” whispered Yuu, raising a hand to stroke Mika’s cheek.

“Never,” said Mika, before leaning down and kissing Yuu breathless.