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He had no idea where he was.
Last he recalled he had been reading in the garden. Not sleeping in some creepy forest, in front of an even creepier looking cave, with nothing but a dying fire to chase away the darkness.
Groaning, Masato Hijirikawa stood up while massaging his aching head. He was feeling a little dizzy. The fact he was unsure of his whereabouts did nothing to calm his nausea.
Why was he here? Where was here? How did he even get here?
As he made his way towards the edge of the campfire to grab some dried wood to feed the dying light, something pulled taut and he fell face first in the dirt.
Ow.
Masato laid there a couple seconds, willing his spinning head to calm down and his pain to fade away, before rolling on his side to see what had caused his fall. Only then did he notice the cold iron cuff clamped around his ankle. The chain connected to it snaked all the way to a rock, just beside the entrance to the dark cave.
More questions jumbled his already confused mind. Why was he chained? Who brought him here? Had he done something wrong?
“Oh my, poor dear.” A voice suddenly rang through the clearing. Masato’s heart leapt into his throat as he scuttled as fast as he could beside the dying fire to grab one of the still burning branches.
“Sorry.” Continued the voice. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
A man stepped out from the trees. He looked… pretty unassuming. Despite appearing older than him, he was also shorter. His eyes, smile and tone held no threat; still, Masato kept the branch in hand.
“Who are you?” He hissed. “How did I get here?”
“Calm down, I won’t hurt you.” Said the stranger, hands held out to assure he meant no harm. “My name is Van. I’m a hunter. And you are…?”
“… lost…”
He wasn't about to give his name to a stranger without knowing what happened to him beforehand. What if he’d been captured by bandits? What if Van was one of those bandits, playing tricks on him for his own amusement?
“I’m not sure you really are, lad.” Saying this, Van motioned towards the rock chaining him to this place. “Looks more to me like someone decided to offer you as sacrifice.”
When the young man didn’t answer, the hunter glanced back at him and blinked at his suddenly ashen face.
“Oh… you really have no clue where you are, do you?”
Masato slowly shook his head, eyes wide.
“… sacrifice? What…? But… who… why…?”
“Hey, just breathe, alright? You look as if you could faint any second now.”
The hunter moved towards him. The action prompted Masato to swing his still lit branch.
“Stay back!”
The man stopped, frowning slightly.
“Alright, I’m not moving, see? I just want to help you. Look.”
Van put down his bow and quiver, away from him, before taking out his hunting knife.
“Tell you what. How about you keep it until you trust me? Sounds like a deal?”
The hunter slid the knife on the dirt towards Masato, who quickly snatched it up to hold it protectively in front of him.
“There you go,” carried on the man in a cheerful tone. “Can I come closer now? I just want to get a look at that cuff, see if I can pick it open.”
Masato’s eyes went from his ankle to the hunter. What did he have to lose, anyways? If the man stayed true to his word, at least he’d be set free and would be able to get away from this place.
“… alright.”
Van smiled and carefully walked over towards the younger man. He knelt in front of him and lift his pant leg a little, to be able to fully see the iron cuff.
“Ah, you’re a lucky young man, you know that?” Whistled the hunter. A lockpick suddenly twirled between his fingers. “Nothing too fancy, I bet I can get it open in no time.”
Masato didn’t answer. He let the hunter pick the lock, eyes going from the brown hair leaning down on his shoes to the mouth of the looming dark cave.
He didn’t get it. Who would want to sacrifice him here? What creature was he being offered to?
“What lives here?” He finally asked, efficiently interrupting the hunter’s cheery whistling by doing so.
“Nothing now, hopefully. There used to be some dark hellish creature in there, but he hasn’t been spotted for years. Probably got killed or left to terrorize some other poor villagers, I don’t know. People still send in some sacrifices, occasionally. First time I’ve seen a live person being offered, though. Whoever brought you here must really hate you. They were probably hoping you’d be eaten alive or something.”
Masato’s head was spinning again. Had he really been offered as a food offering to some creature?
“I… don’t understand.” He admitted, voice faint.
“You don’t get out often, do you?”
There was a click, followed by a satisfied ‘ah’, and Van stood back up with a happy grin.
“Thou hath been freed, fair prisoner.”
The hunter held his hand out.
“No offence, but you don’t look so well. Come, I live in a hut, not far from here. A nice meal and a warm fire will bring you back to life, I’m sure.”
Masato hesitantly took his hand, not trusting himself to not collapse any moment. He kept the knife firmly by his side, ready to strike at the first sign of trickery.
With his free hand, Van grabbed the lit branch Masato had threatened him with and held it up to light the way as he led him.
As they walked, the young man let his mind go back to what he recalled of the day. Had anyone acted suspiciously today? The servants? His parents? He had been scolded for playing with his younger sister after studying, as always. He’d fled to the garden to study some more. Again, nothing unusual.
He’d sip his tea, just as usual.
His tea.
His tea had been sweeter. He had dismissed it at the time as one of the servants discreetly doting on him, but now that he could really think about it… the scent had been heavier too. As if they had wanted to hide something else.
Come to think of it…
His father always thought he never paid attention whenever the heads of the family talked business, but Masato had overhead them talking about how bad affairs had been lately. His family had been unable to secure some interesting deals and their wealth had dwindled down over the course of the year.
Poor management, Masato had thought. But his father was proud and superstitious: he was more likely to blame the gods and elements for his misfortune rather than accept the fact he may have made mistakes.
Masato’s knees suddenly gave out beneath him, forcing Van to a stop. The hunter turned towards him, seemingly concerned.
“You alright, lad? Shit, you’re even paler than before, is that even possible?”
“He sold me…” Masato’s voice was hardly more than a whisper. “He had me drugged and left me there to die…”
What better sacrifice than one’s heir, after all? What better way to appease the gods than by offering one’s first born child?
“He sold me…”
Fingers were snapped in front of his eyes, startling him out of his slowly crumbling mind. The hunter’s concerned brown orbs soon filled his vision.
“Look at me, Masa-chan. That’s it. Take a deep breath. You’re safe, you hear me? No one is going to hurt you.”
Masato softly nodded and focused on breathing, until the dark edges at the corner of his eyes faded.
“Thank you, Van.”
Slowly he pulled himself back up. Van steadied him as he regained his footing, and once certain the younger man wouldn’t keel over again, he gently let go.
“You’re welcome! Now come on, we still have some traveling to do!”
Masato nodded once again and followed him through the woods.
He stopped, however, no less than half a mile later, a frown marring his pale face.
“Van… I never told you my name.”
In turn the hunter stopped his steps. Masato stared at his back, at the light from their makeshift torch bouncing on his hair and shoulders. His hand still clutched the knife the older man had given him earlier.
“You haven’t,” Van remarked in a thoughtful tone. He turned to face him slowly, an amused smile on his face. “Thought I wouldn’t recognize the heir of the Hijirikawa family? I used to travel a lot, you know, and that mole beneath your eye is rather unique.”
Masato self-consciously brought his free hand beneath his right eye as the hunter drew closer.
“I haven’t lied, though.” Van added. “You’re free to leave whenever you want… though I won’t recommend running off alone in the dead of night through these woods. You never know, that creature might still be here, somewhere.”
The hunter did have a point. Masato knew he wouldn’t last the night out on his own. Reluctantly, he let his knife-wielding arm down.
No sooner had he done so that Van lounged forward.
The knife quickly left the younger man’s grip. Masato stumbled backwards into a tree and shut his eyes as he saw the glint of metal flashing through the night. Desperately, he lifted his arms in an attempt to protect himself.
There was the clang of metal on metal, followed by a strained silence.
Surprised he was still alive, Masato slowly peeked through his arms.
Van had his back turned on him, knife held up against another blade. A sword, it seemed, wielded by a dark-haired stranger cloaked in white.
“Fancy seeing you here, Kira.” Said the hunter in a pleasant, albeit strained voice. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How are the kids doing? Here to see Yamato I guess?”
The stranger narrowed his eyes.
“The boys are fine…” He answered slowly. His amber orbs flickered briefly behind Van to glance at Masato. “Care to explain what is going on?”
Van chuckled slightly and shifted his stance ever so slightly to keep between Masato and the newcomer.
“Nothing much to tell.” The hunter answered in a decidedly much too cheery tone, considering the circumstances. “Just escorting this young man some place safe. Poor lad was left as a sacrifice by the Devil’s Mouth, you know?”
Kira lifted an elegant eyebrow as he glanced once again towards Masato, long enough for the younger man to feel as if he was piercing right through his soul.
“… Uh-huh…”
The white-clad man slowly stepped back, pulling his sword away from the hunting knife. In turn Van stepped back towards Masato.
“Really, Kira, after all this time, you still doubt my word?” His tone was slightly too dramatic to be really hurt. “Ask the lad if you don’t believe me!”
Kira only narrowed his eyes at the hunter, and Masato had the unnerving feeling Van was being torn apart by that gaze. It was as if the two men before him were arguing verbally while simultaneously holding a silent conversation.
The heavy atmosphere surrounding them was making him nervous, so Masato cleared his throat softly.
“It is true.” He assured the dark-haired stranger. “I was to be offered as sacrifice. Van rescued me.”
Kira’s amber eyes fell on him again in a scrutinizing gaze, and he almost regretted drawing his attention. Thankfully, the dark-haired man’s features softened slightly, which helped ease his nervousness.
“I do not doubt the words B...Van speaks.” Kira explained softly. “However, I do question whatever it is he leaves unspoken.”
Masato blinked slowly at his rather curious explanation. Truly, he couldn’t see anything problematic Van could have left out off the conversation.
“Just trust him for once, Kira.” The new voice startled Masato enough he all but leapt against Van. The newcomer was tall, much taller than all of them, with messy blondish hair and a scowl on his face.
Kira’s frown almost turned into a pout whereas Van cheerily waved at the man.
“Yamato! Look who came to visit!”
As Yamato drew closer, Masato nervously pressed himself a little harder against Van’s back. The newcomer draped his arm across Kira’s shoulders and leant down slightly to gently kiss his cheek.
“You must be exhausted from your travels, Kira. Let’s get you home, shall we?”
Kira’s brow furrowed. He threw one last glance at Masato before letting himself be tugged away by the taller man.
Confused as to what had just happened, the young sacrifice watched as the two shadows disappeared in the darkness, before feeling a hand slip into his.
“Sorry about that. Kira’s a little on edge ever since my brothers and I left home to live here. Let’s get you out of here.”
Masato finally turned back towards him and nodded. He desperately needed a good night’s rest, at least for what was left of the night.
Further away, Yamato made use of his strength to pin Kira to a tree and kiss him passionately. The shorter male moaned against his lips, before turning his head to breathe.
“You’re distracting me, Azazel.” He stated in a matter of fact tone, before having his neck attacked by those same hungry lips.
Yamato, or rather Azazel, growled softly against his skin.
“Leave it be. Belial won’t hurt the boy.”
Kira scoffed, hands trying to push away his lover.
“You’ll have me believe Belial wasn’t the one who suggested offering Hijirikawa’s heir as sacrifice in the first place? All because he fell for him?”
Azazel sighed and pushed Kira’s body harder against the trees.
“Even if he did, you know the boy’s better off with him than with his rotten family.”
He then proceeded to distract him by slipping his hands beneath his gold trimmed shirt. The dark-haired sighed softly.
“You know we’re not supposed to meddle with mortals.” He reluctantly added, abandoning all hope of pushing Azazel away. Instead, he let his arms lock around the taller male’s neck and his hand slip through his hair.
“Exactly.” His lover answered, lips slipping down to his collarbone. “Angels’ shouldn’t. But Belial isn’t an angel anymore, Uriel, nor am I. You, on the other hand… Would be a shame if you fell for the sake of a lowly mortal. Who then would take care of Michael, Gabriel and Raphael? They’d be devastated without you.”
Uriel sighed again but conceded his defeat.
“I hate you so much…” He breathed softly before catching his lips for a heated kiss.