Chapter Text
This is it. The time has come.
That’s all Kyouka can think about as she stares at the mirror, dawned in white robes soon to be stained in red. Soon she will have to fulfill her role as the sacrifice to allow the village to continue to prosper. What a sad way to end, especially after finally reaching maturity.
She looks around her room, at the plain bed and dresser with her few meager possessions. For most of her life, this room is all she has known, being kept here away from others to avoid attachment and only interacting with another when her food is delivered. This will be the last time she will see any of it. The thought should bring her to tears, but none fall. All the tears she had have already been shed.
A knock interrupts her thoughts, guiding her attention to the door. She watches as it opens, revealing a man with shaggy hair and deep bags under his eyes. Aizawa. Her guardian. Her teacher. Her warden. “ It’s time.” He says in a gruff voice, leaving no room for argument.
She simply nods and makes her way out. She could try to refuse, but he has already made it clear to her that he would drag her if he needs to. She walks ahead of him, knowing where she needs to go thanks to the lantern lit path. She momentarily glances to the woods not that far from her, a thought of running to them appearing in her head. Of course, she smothers that thought instantly, seeing no chance of her making it with Aizawa there. She already knows his capabilities from her past escape attempts. All it would earn her is a few bruises and the same end.
It isn’t long before they finally make it to the square where the ritual is set up. Villagers stand around it, adorned in red robes and silent as she approaches. All the rights and scriptures tied to this have already been read, if her memory serves her. She has seen this ritual once, giving her a horrible insight into her future. She still remembers the smell of roasting flesh when the demon that year took his offering.
As she gets closer to the circle before her, she makes sure to look at each villager she can in the eyes, hoping to send her rage and hatred their way. Cowards, all of them. Choosing the outsider to be their sacrifice instead of one of their own. The girl found in the woods after losing her caravan and parents to bandits. No one to miss her, no one to care when she is gone.
Whatever. Not like any of this matters as she steps into the circle. As she looks ahead, at the statues of the big three demons they worship, all she has to worry about now is who will show up. There are several demons out there, not just the ones depicted in stone, and each have their own way of handling the sacrifices, some being more cruel than others.
Thanks to Aizawa’s teachings, she knows quite a bit about them and their history with the village. The village was on the brink of starvation, the soil only producing a few meager crops and barely any game to hunt. That was until a deal was struck with the big three demons, who passed a boon of bountiful crop and game, as well as protection from the religious orders that would take issue with this, in exchange for a sacrifice. To keep the boon going, they have repeated this ritual over the years, choosing one person who will come of age at around the time the gifts would end. She just had to have the rotten luck to fit that category nicely.
She looks at the statues and begins to go through the list of potential options. Maybe she will get lucky and get Hadou, the energy demon, who will put her victim to sleep before finishing them off, sparing them from pain. Of course, knowing her luck, she’s more likely to end up with Amajiki, the beast demon, who will transform one of his arms into a massive maw before devouring his victim. God help her if she gets one of the lesser demons like Toga, the blood demon, who will keep her victim alive for several days in continuos torture, though she might be in luck as from what little chatter she has been able to catch, that one hasn’t been seen for a while.
She makes her way to the center of the circle before discarding her robe and laying down on her knees. She has already been informed of the steps and any embarrassment she might have felt from being made bare in front of all these people has been drowned by her overwhelming sense of melancholy. What does it matter if she is naked if she’s going to be dead in the next few minutes?
Aizawa walks up next to her, pulling out a ritual knife before crouching down and bringing it up to her wrist. Just before slicing, he hesitates for a moment. That is to be expected seeing as he has watched over her for years, seen her grow and taught her many things. That being said, she doesn’t gain any hope from this. Their small time together won’t override years of ingrained teachings and on top of that, he has a husband and daughter to worry about, especially little Eri. That unfortunate mutation of hers would get her murdered by any holy folk who came across her.
Her suspicions are proven true as he steadies himself and drags the blade, cutting open the vein. She lets out a hiss of pain as he moves to her other wrist, repeating the same action before moving off the circle. Blood pools out around her as the sigil begins to glow. The blood takes on an unnatural life of its own and extends out, filling out the circle with more than what was coming out of her. It takes a minute for it to finish, her head starting to feel light from blood loss, when she sees ripples appear in the blood before her.
Before her eyes, a figure rises up from the blood, staying unnaturally clean even with her red tinted skin. Two horns emerge from her head, curling back over raven hair, and a tail with a pointed tip swishes behind. Looking up at her, Kyouka feels her eyes widen and a blush form on her face as she realizes that the demon is just as bare as she is, though with far more sizable proportions.
In any other situation, she would find this woman very attractive, but all she can feel right now is dread at her appearance. She feels her body begin to shake as she is met with her end, but she will not beg or cry. If she is to die, than she will die with some fucking dignity. Using a few clues, she puts together that this is Yaoyorozu, the creation demon, able to form any material from her flesh. Not great, but definitely not the worst. She tends to create an iron maiden before sticking the victim in and closing it, impaling them. It will hurt, but it will be faster than other options.
The demon looks down at her, onyx pupils scanning her up and down, before a grin forms on her face and she speaks in a far more elegant voice than what Kyouka was expecting. “ I can sense it within you. You do not wish to die at this moment.”
Kyouka can’t help but raise an eyebrow at this. She wasn’t expecting to be making conversation with the demon who will kill her. Trying to keep her voice as level as possible to not betray the fear she felt, she responds with “ Does anyone ever truly wish to die?” Her response seems to amuse the demon as her grin grows wider.
“ Such fiery passion behind those eyes. It would be such a shame to see it go out.” Yaoyorozu then suddenly snaps her fingers causing red smoke to form at the edges of the circle and rise up, cutting them off from the villagers. Kyouka looks around, confused on what is happening, when she watches as the demon crouches down so that they are face to face. “ I have a proposition for you.”
Kyouka's eyes go wide in shock. This is new. She has never heard of the demon summoned making any deal with the sacrifice. “ What kind of proposition?” She asks, wary but willing to hear the demon out if it buys her more time.
“ Simply put, I am willing to offer both your life and to continue the blessing that has been put upon this land.” Yaoyorozu says as if she wasn’t offering anything major. Kyouka’s heart leaps at the idea of avoiding her fate, but she quickly stamps it down. This sounds way too good to be true.
“ What’s the catch?” Kyouka asks, trying not to show her interest. It is usually ill advised to make a deal with a demon, even to hear one out, but she is kinda low on options right now.
Her wariness amuses the demon as she says “ For these gifts that I will give you, all I ask for in return is this.” With that, she takes a finger and pokes Kyouka just below her navel, clearly indicating what she wants. The action confuses Kyouka as she tentatively asks “ My skin?” which sends the demon into a laughing fit. Once she settles down, wiping a tear from her eye, she corrects by saying “ No, nothing as barbaric as that. What I want is your womb. To put it into lame man’s terms, I would wish to sire a child with you.”
Kyouka’s face goes completely red at the request, a whole bunch of unsensible sounds coming from her lips. She was expecting a lot of things out of this, but not that. “ A-a child?! There’s no way we could, because… you know.” She points to herself then to Yaoyorozu, hoping to get her point across. This gets a chuckle out of the demon.
“ I am a demon. We are not held back by your mortal limitations.”
“ Okay, besides that, can a demon and human even have children?!” This is insane. How the hell did she go from facing her impending doom to this?
“ Very rarely, and there is no guarantee that the human would take even if they tried. But let me promise you this.” The demon takes on a more serious expression, looking Kyouka directly in the eyes as she makes her vow. “ If you are able to take, then you would become my bride and be placed under my protection. Not only would your life be spared, but you will get to live out the rest of your days in comfort and bliss.”
Everything that Yaoyorozu is telling her is really tempting. Not only would she be able to escape her cursed fate, but she would also have an admittedly powerful demon protecting her. Of course, the wary side of her held her back from immediately accepting, still holding some distrust of the demon. “ And if I refuse?”
At that, Yaoyorozu gains a more sour expression, likely thinking her little speech would have sealed the deal. “ Then, I would simply have to claim what I was summoned here for. Though, with how pale you have gotten, I don't imagine I will need to do much of anything.”
Kyouka looks down at herself and sees that she has indeed gone very pale. On top of that, the edges of her vision have begun to grow hazy. She didn’t notice thanks to the smoke. She had forgotten that, during their whole conversation, her wrists were still bleeding. She will likely bleed out within the next few minutes if something doesn’t change soon.
This sight is what finally leads her to a decision. Yes, making a deal with a demon might not be a good idea, she has no idea what might lie hidden beneath this promise. That being said, she wants to live dammit!
“ Okay. You have a deal.” Kyouka finally relents, trying to stave off the tiredness she is experiencing.
“ Splendid.” Yaoyorozu smiles, clearly pleased with the outcome. She then moves to take Kyouka’s wrists into her hand before using the other one to wipe over the wounds. Once it passes, her wrists are completely healed, not even having a scar left behind. On top of that, as Kyouka takes her arms back, she notices that on the back of her right hand is a mark, likely as proof of the deal made.
As she returns to standing, the smoke dissipates, revealing the bewildered look of the villagers. They hadn’t expected her to still be alive. They look at each other quizzically, unsure what to do, until the village leader decides to step forward. “ Great demon Yaoyorozu, could I ask if there is something wrong with this sacrifice?”
“ None at all. Please have her returned to her quarters.” She says with a smile, ignoring the shock on the leader’s face. She turns to Kyouka and says “ I will see you later to begin the process.” before taking a step back and sinking back into the blood.
The villagers all stand there silently, unsure on what to do, when Aizawa approaches Kyouka and places his robe over her body. “ Jirou, what happened in there?”
She could say a lot of things right now. She could say she made a deal for her life. She could say she is to sire a demon’s child and any implications that might bring. Hell, she could start yelling at them all and tell them to suck it.
Instead, looking at the mark placed upon her hand, the only thing she can think to say is “ I think I just got married.”
Aizawa pauses, staring at her for a long moment as he processes her words. It takes a moment, but he soon speaks again.
“ What?”