Chapter Text
Light came to life with the universe's creation and spread its soft and comforting tendrils everywhere rather quickly. The first thing one could think about was the Sun, the blazing flames of a fire, or even a lit lightbulb. Light was an omnipresent entity that everyone loved.
However, before light, before the universe, there was something else. Nothingness. Darkness. An entity that had spent aeons in loneliness before everything came to be, an entity that was feared and hated.
Although they were each other's opposite, they needed one another. Without darkness, there can't be light, and without light, there can't be darkness. Like the Yin and the Yang, their fates were woven most intricately. It was as simple as that. So they were tied to each other, completing the other's existence, connected in the deepest part of their beings and thrived off together.
But there was a problem, just a tiny one in this vast universe. While Light absolutely adored Darkness, Darkness absolutely loathed Light. This was something they couldn't align themselves on as one loved the inevitable and inescapable connection between them while the other one despised it.
Because after having spent a good majority of your life surrounded by nothingness, you had gotten used to the obscurity, the solitude, having your own space, and especially the silence. It was a lifestyle nobody truly understood, but hey, being the entity of Darkness wasn't so bad. You had all the space in the world… ahem, in the universe, being the oldest had some perks such as having your own tower, which freely floated in space and sometimes in between dimensions. There were some little downsides, like suddenly being upside down because the tower ended up upside down, but it wasn't so bad.
But then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked– Wait! What were you even saying? Whatever. Everything changed when Gojo Satoru appeared, the great entity of Light who was supposed to… what was it again? Ah yes… complete your existence. Ugh, you wanted to roll your eyes until they fell from your eye sockets. Because with his apparition, finished was the silence you loved so much, your calm reading time, finished was your peaceful life. You didn't even have your precious personal space anymore.
He'd freely enter your tower as if it was his and fill it with his obnoxious crackle he called laughter before loudly calling for you once he'd notice your 'absence' until you'd finally give in and step out of the shadows. Then, like a spoiled human child, he'd tightly hug you while pouting and whining and moaning about you hiding from him. He had no idea what boundaries and personal space were, even after existing for so long – or maybe he just didn't care – surely because he was the entity of Light and couldn't be contained within limitation, but boy did you hate him for it !
Like right now. He was sitting on a chair in your living room, feet crossed on the table while babbling over some painfully uninteresting and useless game humans liked to play and watch too, apparently. Because of his animated movements, he would sometimes almost fall backwards since the chair was in suspension on its back legs. You were hoping he would fall backwards and knock himself out so you could have some peace.
You tried your best to focus on your book, surrounding yourself with thick black fog to shield yourself from the noise coming from him since you've been reading the same page for the last twenty minutes, but to no avail, his blabbering too powerful even for you. It was his fault you haven't been able to read and finish your books these days. His irritating visits were more frequent recently, always coming uninvited to talk about things you couldn't care less about.
It was also his fault your head was filled with human shows' quotes, sentences that he'd quote endlessly – 'But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.', 'My precious~', 'Dobby is free!', 'Winter is coming!' just to name a few – until you'd have enough and throw the nearest object, sometimes a spear made of shadow, at him to shut him up.
"–and so, the ball comes right at him and–" and he was still talking, talking, talking about baseball while you just wanted some silence so you could finish your book with calm and serenity. Was it too much to ask for? Tears of frustration welled up in your eyes when you realized you had read the same sentence over fifteen times. "– but I got it! Look!" Suddenly, the book you were holding was taken from your trembling hands before a signed ball replaced it. Not knowing what to say or do, you just blinked at him. "I guess you could say I grabbed it with… the speed of light ," he smugly added, causing you to clench your fingers around the ball.
That stupid joke, the straw that broke the camel's back like humans said. Enough was enough!
"Well, congratulations," you curtly replied, the words dripping with contained fury, and hissed because of how tight your jaws were clenched. You stood up and went to face the closest window which was opened toward… Oh, what a pleasant surprise!... Saturn. "Now, you can go catch it again!" You aimed and threw the ball with all your strength.
"Wait, no!" He immediately jumped out the window to follow it.
Right as he did it, you slammed the opening shut thanks to some foggy tendrils then turned around, deciding to move your tower away from your current location. Perhaps you could hide in a dark spot on Earth or even better, the dark side of the Moon. So that was where you went, reaching your destination within seconds, sighing in contentment when the tower slowly landed on the satellite.
Light, or perhaps you should call him 'Satoru' – because he had some obsession with Japan and decided to choose a Japanese name for himself – was like an overgrown child, and after having spent millions and millions of years with him – you could still remember that tiny child with bright blue jewel-like eyes and snow-white hair who cowered under your gaze the first time you met him. Oh, how you missed those days when he feared you. – you had given up on the idea of changing and rectifying him.
He was who he was.
The thought made you huff and roll your eyes. Exhaling loudly, you pinched the bridge of your nose, a groan leaving your lips when you felt him try to reach you through the link between you two. It was almost desperate. Thankfully, you were much, much older than him so you had some knowledge of how to block him from your mind.
Sometimes, you wondered why he was so… clingy and needy toward you. It couldn't be the link because you would have been as crazy about him as he was about you, so it was impossible. You have also seen him interact with other entities during reunions, balls and get-togethers, he was just annoying and obnoxious on purpose, sometimes downright arrogant with some of them, but he wasn't clingy and needy like he was with you.
He would always follow you around while exclaiming 'Darkness-chan! Darkness-chan~!' like a puppy hopelessly enamoured with its owner whenever you attended those events. The times you were able to openly discuss with someone else were long gone now, Satoru would materialize by your side before acting like a jealous cat that would hiss– would brag in a very possessive manner about how you were connected to him, that he didn't need anything or anyone besides you and vice-versa, those two examples being only the tip of the iceberg. However, after existing in complete solitude for so long, you learned that you didn't need anyone besides yourself. You had told him as such when the entity you were talking to walked away.
"Yeah, I know, Darkness-chan!" he had nonchalantly replied before rubbing his face in your hair. "Everyone should put themselves first. It doesn't matter if I'm second in your heart, you're first in mine!" You remembered elbowing him in the ribs and walking away, irritated that he had ruined your delightful conversation with the entity in charge of black holes and glass holes.
'Darkness-chan', you chuckled derisively at the foolish and absurd nickname accompanied by the Japanese honorific. You hated it with a burning passion and even after telling as such, he had dared to shrug before saying something along the lines of, 'It would be easier if you also chose a name, a human name!', which had made you wince. As fascinating as humans could sometimes be, you weren't the least interested in the slightest by names.
Speaking of it, the last time you went to Earth was over fifteen years ago – in human years – for books, and now that you almost finished the current stock, it was probably time to go back to refresh and restock. Yes, you could also read the books coming from the other species in the universe, but you had a soft spot for human books, just the letters themselves were so… adorable and soft. Perhaps you could also go to another galaxy to restock in non-human books once you'd be done on Earth.
Scheduling your outings was difficult as well, as you disliked human spaces with too many humans, and avoiding Satoru made it twice as arduous. He would randomly pop up during the rare times you were on the blue planet and ruin your plans. His mere presence was the quintessential concept of counterproductivity. Because every time he'd make an appearance during your errands, you would always, always forget one thing or two; you even forgot a book once, one that you liked a lot, left on the counter because of him, which was nearly unforgivable. You had almost tossed him into the nearest black hole at that time, and sometimes, you regretted not having gone through your plan and changed your mind, letting him get away. Whatever, there were numerous black holes in the universe and there was still a lot of time and occasions to do it.
Chuckling at the idea, you relaxed in your armchair, eyes slowly closing as you felt your mind drift to more important matters, such as your next excursion on Earth. But then, a voice in the distance disturbed your peace of mind, the way it quickly approached caused you to frown and open your eyes, your body stiffening in vigilance. When you recognized Saroru's voice, you rolled your eyes and closed them again, cursing under your breath.
You detested how he would track you down through the entire cosmos itself whenever you hid somewhere, and somehow, still manage to find you even in the smallest crack of an asteroid. Feeling him coming closer, you let out a sigh, maybe if you ignored him hard enough, he would go away. Even better, maybe you should abandon your tower for now. However, this game-dynamic-'relationship' of cat and mouse was getting rather tiring and monotonous, having spent the last millions of years 'playing' with him.
"Hey." That irritating voice whispered in your ear, causing your eyebrow to twitch in annoyance, you hadn't expected him to sneak up on you and actually manage to startle you. He repeated the word again, and again, and again, until you grunted in anger, making him laugh as he shifted his position. You took a peek to see him kneel by your side before folding his arms under his head on the right side of the armchair. The light emanating from his hair was strangely muted compared to usual, but you didn't have time to comment on that. "What were you thinking about?" he asked in an abnormally calm manner so you fully opened your eyes to look at him.
"About the next time I go on Earth," you flatly replied and the second the words left your mouth, his light became blindingly bright, illuminating the room, forcing you to squint to protect your eyes while he happily grabbed your hands.
"Wait, seriously? I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with me! You know what, this must be fate! Or the connection between us!" he exclaimed, vibrating with joy. You raised your eyebrow, was it why he looked so down until now? "We should totally go toge–”
"No," you cut him off with the same cold tone, the two letters' word falling from your lips like a cleaver, his eager expression turning crestfallen as the light in the room began dimming. "I will be honest with you, Satoru, every time I go here, it always ends up disastrously because of you. So I'm telling you now so we can avoid each other there."
"But I don't want to avoid you, I want to be with you all the time! I swear, everything will go smoothly this time so please, please, please, let me come with you!"
"No."
"But I–"
"No."
"You d–"
"No."
"Plea–"
"No."
He got up and threw his hands up before tugging at his strands, groaning in frustration because of your stubbornness. It was so satisfying to see him so irritated for once, but nothing filtered through your calm expression as you observed him walk in circles in front of you before abruptly stopping in front of you.
"This is completely unfair!"
"Nothing is fair in the universe," you simply replied and shrugged.
You argued back and forth for a little while before he finally left, fuming because you didn't yield, at least a little . Some time passed and you wondered if he would come back, but fortunately, he didn't. So after reading some more, you decided to rest and were about to close your eyes when a bright head popped into your peripheral vision. You turned to look as he smiled at you, making you scowl as it gave you a very bad feeling about his intentions. You watched him as he fully entered through the window, and you would have found it comical, the way his long limbs caused his movements to be awkward, if it wasn't for the annoyance you were feeling at how confidently smug he seemed right now, making you glare at him.
"What is it this time?" you sighed once both his feet were planted on the black floor, gritting your teeth when his grin widened, you knew you were going to be surprised in a very bad way.
"Do you remember what you gave me as a gift?"