Chapter Text
Hidden in the dark, pushed against a wall of a narrow alley was a man, dirty with messy dark hair, curls brushing just above his eyes. He watched out of the alley, holding his breath as demon after demon moved past, searching. When the last demon had passed, he waited another moment before releasing his breath and pulling away from the wall. From underneath his torn jacket, dragonfly wings twitched.
“Damn,” He mumbled, peeking out from the alley way and looking around. “They just about caught me. Was too careless…” he sighed.
The coast was clear, so he hurries out and moves back the way the demons had come from, ducking into a different alley, over some debris, and then down a manhole. Not the cleanest way to get around, even after all these years, but demons weren’t down there as much, so it was usually a bit safer. No one had the power to truly fight the demons, so the only option was to run away, unless you wanted to be captured.
He shuddered, just the thought of what happened to anyone who got captured… his wings twitched as he recalled a hazy memory from long ago. Now wasn’t the time to get distracted, he chided himself. First, he had to get to where he wouldn’t be found, where it was safe. Their home, and it had been for a long time. It’s a miracle that they hadn’t been found, really.
When he arrives, he calls out, “Kari-papa? I’m back, I got the piece you needed.” From his jacket pocket, he pulls out what he’d gone through all the trouble for.
His Kari-papa is at the desk that he usually works at, pulling away and turning around, with a warm, happy smile. His hair was long, not really messy, but a white and grey mane that had grown to settle around his neck in a way that almost looked like a beard. “Wonderful! With this last piece,” he takes the offered item, “finally, it’ll be done.”
“That means we’ll finally be able to fix this?”
“Yes,” Kari-papa grinned, “you’ll be able to stop this all from happening, Koushiro.”
“Me?” Koushiro frowned.
Returning to the desk, Kari-papa responded, “You, yes. I can’t go, I’m far too old. This is what we’ve been working towards. You can do it, it’s not like I’m sending you there empty handed.”
Koushiro sighed, sitting down in a pile of miscellaneous items beside the desk, “I know, I know. It just sounds… scary.”
“Scarier than the hellscape out there?”
“Maybe.”
Sighing, Kari-papa turned to look at Koushiro, “I know you can do it, Koushiro. I know you have all it takes to be a hero. To stop this all from happening.”
The words seemed to have given Koushiro a new determination, standing as his wings fluttered behind him. “Right! Of course. I’ll make you proud, Kari-papa!”
With a small laugh, Kari-papa answered, “I know you will. You always make me proud, and I know your family would be proud of you.”
Koushiro’s enthusiasm lessened at the mention of his family. “If you say so.”
He just knew one thing for certain, his goal for his entire life. To find a way to stop this terrible, terrible world. Which meant he either had to stop Diablo from waking up, or the harder option… stop Diablo from winning. Koushiro just hoped he’d be able to do it.