Chapter Text
He stood once again at the gates of the Underworld. He should have known. He really should have. He should have known better than to get involved with a mortal. A being so fragile their flesh could be torn, burnt, cut by mere accident. There was a reason it was forbade by his world. The world of demons and desire.
There were rules. Humans were a means to an end. Things to be controlled and used. Pawns. But never anything beyond that. Even when summoned and bound there were loopholes. Loopholes that always ended up with the human dead.
So why had fortune decided that after eons of evading binding spells, he would be caught? That one particular human had to take more than just his freedom? That by taking that, it led to the other Princes of Darkness scorning him and casting him aside, just as he needed more than anything to enter that bottomless pit of black once again.
Late afternoon light poured in the windows bathing everything in gold. Quiet rustling of paper and footsteps padding down carpeted aisles blanketed the level. It was Kei’s favorite time of day. It was when the library seemed most alive, despite the lack of people. The books on the upper levels glowing and the small rustles like tiny breaths. It was as if actual magic could spill from the pages if they were opened. An absolutely ridiculous notion, of course, which Kei would never actually entertain, but a thought that fluttered through his mind nonetheless.
He turned his attention back to the cart full of books that needed shelving and continued to make his way toward the non-fiction section. He passed Yachi at the reference desk, bowing his head slightly in acknowledgement before entering the stacks.
Books loomed above him on the tall metal shelves. The stacks here were the tallest in the library, making it one of the only places his height didn’t make the blond of his hair peek over them. Kei let out a sigh of relief as he began to walk through the shelves.
As head librarian he didn’t really need to do shelving, but the quiet white noise calmed him and admittedly he felt attached to the golden hew that painted the floor at this time of day. He found that it centered him. Let him forget life in a maze of numbers and codes. Every book had a place in the library. It was order to the umpteenth degree. Each one belonging in its place until someone took it home, reveled in the pages and then brought it back. How many people had these books given adventures to? Kei could only guess.
He pulled the first book from the cart, a collection of articles on parrots, located its home and then moved onto the next. He continued to weave through the shelves, soon falling into an easy pattern of picking up and placing books with practiced ease. And so it went, until he came to a book with a large green reptile with a long neck, rearing back from cowboys on the front.
The absurdity of the image irked him, just as it did every time he saw the cover of the book. Everyone knew cowboys and dinosaurs were from vastly and distinctly different eras, but nevertheless it didn’t stop him from looking at the cover longingly for a second. The Last Dinosaur Book: The Life and Times of a Cultural Icon by W.J.T Mitchell. A book on dinosaur obsession, an obsession that Kei knew well.
He sighed as he placed the book on the shelf and proceeded to the next one, another volume on dinosaurs. He looked down at his cart and realized he had quite a few today and sighed again. Of course Kei had read all of them, but by this point in his life he had hoped that he wouldn’t be on this side of the book. He had wanted to be the one doing the research, digging up the fossils.
He quickly made his way through the section, each book feeling like a regret he was placing back on the shelf, but there were some things that you never got in life, no matter how hard you tried, they just didn’t work out.
He felt the tension leave his shoulders as he finally made his way out of the section and into the marine wildlife area. As he slipped a book on orcas into its place he realized his cart was empty.
He made his way back down to sorting area behind the front desk to grab another cart. He was relieved to see there was only a single full cart left until he noticed what section it was for. Kei could feel himself deflate as he skimmed the books awaiting to be placed back in their homes.
He sighed.
Fantasy. Of course the only shelving left to do is fantasy.
He grabbed the end of the cart and begrudgingly made his way to the section.
The light that shone through the windows was beginning to lose its golden hue coming ever closer to night. He dragged his feet the closer he got.
Fantasy. It was a bunch of unuseful gibberish if you asked, Kei. Yes, he most certainly had read the books, spilled over the pages absorbing every word, wanting desperately to believe in magic and dragons, faeries and wizards, demons and djinn, because it had to be real. They way his brother talked about those things they must’ve been real.
But then he did what everyone did. He grew up. Pushing daydreams to the side, favoring science and logic, the rational which he still maintained was a magic of its own but shelving the fantasy section always seemed to pull him back in as he walked by titles he’d read, once upon a time. He loved and hated this section. But then again memories tended to do that to things.
Kei shook his head, trying to clear it. He swiftly pulled the next book from the cart and made his way down the aisle to the shelf it belonged in.
He paused a moment to look at the next book on the cart that needed shelving. It was one from the corner alcove. An area few people ventured, not due to anything sinister at work, but simply because it was easy to miss, tucked away from the other shelves.
Kei directed his cart that way, expertly maneuvering it around the next corner and parking it outside the small space that was just large enough to hold two bookshelves on either side of the wall with enough room for someone to stand back enough to examine titles. The carts never fit well, so he left it to the side. He was once again amazed anyone had even grabbed a book from here let alone checked it out. He began to study the shelves for the book’s precise spot and, spotting the gap in the lower corner under the window, gently slid it into place.
He moved to stand up and turn back to the cart, but something caught his eye.
At first glance it looked like a regular old library book. It was large, but not quite large enough to draw attention to itself. The cover was well worn, edges rounded. Kei almost missed it. But something about it was not quite right. He bent down and when he looked again it was clear as day. The book had no code.
Who had let this happen? How could he have let this happen? He was the head librarian and there was an uncoded book on the shelves. It was an atrocity. Not to mention the state of it. It looked filthy. Kei narrowed his eyes at the offending volume, bending right back down to pull it from the shelf.
As soon as he touched it though it felt…wrong. Too heavy for what it was and too solid. There was no give to the paper. It was almost like it shouldn’t be there...
He wiped the cover off against his pant leg, a line of fine sandy dust left in its wake, and lifted it back up immediately to examine the cover more closely.
No title.
He looked back to the spine. It wasn’t uncommon for there to be no title on the cover of hardbacks. But when he looked to the spine there was none there either. How hadn’t he noticed that immediately? Kei slid his glasses back up his nose and held the book further away. There was some sort of symbol on the spine. Spirals weaving in and out of each other, circles dancing through them. It didn’t look like any design he’d ever seen before.
He turned the book over in his hands again, looking back at the front.
No title on the front or spine? That’s odd.
He went to flip the tome open, but his finger caught on the edge. It wouldn’t budge. His eyes narrowed even further.
Was this some sort of practical joke? Was he dreaming? He turned the book over again, looking for something that gave away that it wasn’t actually a book.
The cover was a deep brown and the more closely Kei looked the more intricate it became. There were golden accents and intricate designs pressed into it, and…
His fingers brushed gently across the cover. They snagged on a higher ridge. Looking more carefully Kei realized some swirls were higher than others. He felt a pull to them, like they needed to be deciphered, drawn out, found.They were beautiful. His fingers flowed from the top to bottom corner, dancing along the ridges like they’d been enchanted.
Like it was magic.
But like most spells it broke all too soon. Small vibrations began to peal out of the book, shaking in his hands, a soft glow emanating from it. It startled him. Kei opened his hand to drop the book near immediately, but it stuck even as he tried to shake it off. The tremors continued to grow, shaking him like a leaf until a sudden wave of force knocked him back to the ground, stealing the breath from his lungs. His head knocked against a shelf and he cursed. He felt a rush of air sweep past him. Head spinning he got to his elbows, book still in his hand. Kei looked at the blasted thing. He tried shaking it from his hand again. It fell open.
Whatever was on the page, Kei couldn’t read it, not that he had long to look as the ink on the page began moving, the words weaving themselves into a large black spot that began to draw up forming a shadow. At first, it only discolored the air it was beginning to occupy; a swirl of smoke. Then, began to wind itself up the figure.
Kei scrambled back as quick as he could, but ran into a bookshelf, knocking his glasses askew. He couldn’t do anything but watch as the smoke traveled up and a solid form was left behind. Kei’s eyes followed as the smoke gave way to bare feet, tattered black jeans, and a burgundy hooded figure. The shadow took shape and formed in front of him into a… man.
Kei’s mouth parted, eyes widening.
The figure remained still. Standing as if he were a statue before, ever so slowly, raising his head.
The minute his piercing golden eyes met Kei’s he felt a tingle on his wrist, but he couldn’t look away. The man looked world-worn and weary, but confusion clouded his eyes as he took down his hood and slowly looked around the library, scanning the area curiously.
Kei watched silently as the tall, muscular man took in his surroundings. His crazy, lopsided nest of black hair made him seem somehow even more unreal.
When his eyes finally fell back on Kei, his brow was furrowed, mouth turned down in a frown. He looked like he was about to speak, but then he caught sight of the book in Kei’s hand and his eyes widened immediately.
“Where did you get that?” his voice boomed so loudly it seemed inhuman.
Kei could only gape, frozen in place as he tried to process what had just occurred. Emphasis on ‘tried.’
“I asked where you got my Grimmory, human!”
Kei tried again to get further away, but only managed to pushed himself against the bookshelf more. Human? Grimmory?
He closed his eyes hard. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. He opened them again.
The man was still standing there. Face hardened in anger.
He suddenly marched up to Kei, grabbing his left wrist and looking at it. Kei watched as his eyes widened then narrowed, his grip tightened around his wrist. “How did you get the book?” he hissed harshly.
Kei’s brows twitched together, fear taking second place to the stupidity of the question presented to him and how the man, whoever he was, seemed to think Kei was unintelligent. That he lacked common sense. Oh how wrong he was.
Kei slowly pushed himself back up, leaning against the bookshelf before rising to his feet. The man’s eyes followed him as he rose. Once at his full height, Kei realized he stood slightly taller than whoever this person was. He looked at the book and then back at the man, scowling.
“This is a library,” Kei stated flatly. “This,” he raised the volume in his hand, “is a book. You put two and two together,” he mocked, irritation overruling the fear of the oddity that had just occurred. Scientifically it had to be some sort of hoax. People didn’t materialize. Especially stupid ones.
The man’s jaw clanched. “That doesn’t answer my question. This isn’t just any book. It shouldn’t be anywhere near a library.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have misplaced it. Now, I have shelving to do, so if you’ll excuse me.” Kei turned to leave, but a far too strong hand landed directly on his shoulder, pulling him back.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Kei’s temper gave a tick, and he easily and succinctly removed the man’s hand from his shoulder with a quick shrug and turn, stepping away.
“To do my job, now stop demanding things of me in my library.” Kei moved to leave again, but he felt another tug, but it was more like a string.
“You can’t,” the other man’s voice dripped with weariness. “You summoned me. We have a contract now.”
Kei whipped back around. “A what?”
The man rubbed at his face and ran a hand through his mess of hair. “A contract. You summoned me with my Grimmory. I have no choice in the matter and neither do you. Look at your wrist.”
Kei stared, dumbfounded. The seriousness in the other’s eyes not leaving room for doubt on Kei’s part. He believed what he was saying. Kei’d had a long time to learn when people were telling the truth or lying. His life had depended on it more than once. He looked down at his left wrist and saw marked there a small black cat in a circle.
“Why is there a cat on my wrist?”
“Because we have a contract, and that’s my mark,” he replied evenly.
“A what?” he asked skeptically.
The other man looked around, irritation now painting his features. “A contract.”
“For what?”
He sighed in exasperation. “For whatever you like. Well almost whatever you like, my specialty is knowledge, but I can-”
“Are you crazy?” Kei asked.
“No?” Confusion creased the man’s brow.
“Good, now get out of my library, I don’t want to hear anything else from you.” Kei turned again and placed the book he’d been holding on his cart and then walked away. It wasn’t till he reached the elevator that he realized the man was following him. He allowed it, since the door to leave was on the first floor, but he didn’t leave. He followed Kei even as he made his way back to his office.
He stopped suddenly in the hall. “I said you should leave. Do I need to call the police?”
“You’re the only one who can see me, that wouldn’t do any good.”
“You’re talking nonsense again. Don't test me. You follow me into the office and I’ll call the police.”
Kei’d had to deal with his fair share of… unsavory characters when he was in the field. He could probably take the guy down now if he needed to, but he preferred to keep things more civilized. Even when unsavory library patrons may not.
He continued down to the front desk.
“Yamaguchi,” Kei called the attention of the man at the front desk. “Any issues?”
“None in your absence,Tsukki. It’s Friday evening, not many people coming in.” He smiled.
“I told you not to call me that at work,” he sighed. “Let me know if you need anything, I’m going back to my office. Make sure this guy doesn’t follow,” he motioned with his thumb toward the shady character behind him.
“Who?” Yamaguchi’s eyes looked the direction he motioned in confusion.
Kei stared pointedly at Yamaguchi. “The man who’s been following me.” He looked behind him, the guy was still there.
Yamaguchi stared in confusion again. “There’s no one behind you, Kei.” He replied, a hint of worry in his voice. “How late did you stay here last night?”
He glanced back at the dark-haired man again who gave him a bored look and raised an eyebrow. Kei looked back at his now concerned colleague. “I left after I closed,” he replied lightly.
“Maybe let me close tonight then? You close every day.”
“No, no,” Kei shook his head, starting to make his way down the hall to his office. The man still followed after him as his mind raced. Grimorries, contracts, summoning. He’d said all those words so matter-of-factly. Like they were the most natural pieces of information that Kei should know.
He wracked his brain, trying to remember anything that’d match those. He came up only with demons and djinns.
But those aren’t real.
He closed his office door behind him then turned.
“Why can’t he see you?” Kei asked accusingly.
“Because he didn’t summon me,” he quipped.
Kei sat at his desk. “Why do you keep saying such ridiculous things?”
“Because they aren’t ridiculous.”
Kei felt another tick of anger. “If they aren’t ridiculous then explain to me what’s going on! And who the hell are you anyway?”
“Kuroo, Demon of Knowledge, Prince of Darkness, at your service,” he bowed, a cocky grin sliding into place on his lips.
“Demons aren’t real,” Kei immediately shot back. I left searching for the mystic far too long ago for it to be real now.
“That, my friend, is where you would be wrong.” He snapped his fingers and suddenly the tome he had emerged from was in his hand. He began to flip through the pages, mumbling to himself. “Aha! Here we are. Grimmory contracting rules. Please read.” He swung the book around and placed it in front of Kei.
He looked down at the page. The script curled across the top of the page read:
Grimmory Contracts
While archdemons can be summoned traditionally, Grimmory contracts bind the archdemon to the summoner automatically. A human must have possession of the Grimmory and summon the archdemon by triggering the key. Once triggered and the demon summoned the contract is binding. The archdemon must complete the human’s request.* The contract is fulfilled only after the request, no matter what it be, is completed.
Kei read the paragraph twice then looked back up at the demon. “I don’t want a contract with you. You can leave. I release you.”
“Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that,” Kuroo sighed. “Did you read the astrix?”
Kei looked back down.
* The contract binds the demon to the human, but also the human to the demon. Binding can only be lifted by a request of significance being filled or the death of the human.
“A request of significance?” Kei raised a brow in question.
“It means you can’t ask me for a sandwich or book and call it a day. It has to be a request of personal significance. And if you can’t find that I continue to be bound to you. Until you die.”
Kei stared steadily at the words again, then back at the demon.
“I didn’t summon you with purpose. There’s nothing I want or desire. I am perfectly content.”
“Contentedness does not mean no desires,” Kuroo replied looking Kei in the eye. It was slightly unnerving. As if the demon were reading his most inner secrets and thoughts.
Kei dragged his eyes away and stared at the…Grimmory.
“I don’t need it. I don’t need anything. Wanting more doesn’t lead to anything good.”
When he didn’t hear a reply he looked up again. Molten eyes were studying him, mouth in a firm line. Kei returned the stare steadily. He wasn’t sure how much time passed until the demon spoke. “Every human desires something. I’ll figure yours out eventually. If you don’t die first that is.”
With that he was gone.
Kei jumped, looking around his office, but the demon was nowhere to be seen. He almost would have thought it all an odd hallucination, stemming from the fact he only got a few hours of sleep the night before, except the Grimmory still lay open before him. He leaned forward, placing his head in his hands, staring blankly at his desk.
Die.
Was that a threat? And what if he didn’t have any truly significant requests? Then what? He didn’t stir till a knock his door jolted him from his thoughts.
“Come in,” he called.
The door cracked open and a brown head of hair popped in. “Hey, I have to go run some fliers for the summer progam. Can you come watch the counter?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll be right there.”
The door closed again and Kei looked once more at the book. Well, the demon could try as hard as he liked, but Kei was not about to crack.
Kenma always enjoyed the archives. It was certainly better than going to the human world and being contracted. Luckily he didn’t need to do that sort of thing. He could stay here for centuries. Never phased by the passage of time except to add to the collection and stealing to the human world periodically for a new game that came out. That would be perfectly fine by him. He wasn’t a demon who wanted extas or had any social obligation to want it. That kind of pressure never appealed to him. So he stayed down here in the comfort of well-worn pages and the smell of paper and ink.
Plus they had a decent group down here. Along with him he had Kiyoko and Yaku. She was the head of material acquirement. In order to keep demons up to date on most human things they had to keep up with the human world’s rather outrageous -in his opinion- creation of them.
That hardly meant that demons, like Kuroo, actually kept up to date on the most recent things. He swore the man was still stuck back in the Victorian period the way he continually went through Austen’s works.
Yaku sorted. He took Kiyoko’s acquirements and placed them within the archiving system. Kenma ran the archives, making sure they were where they needed to be and checking demon world documents that came from Tora.
They had a tight system. Kuroo made sure of it. Being the demon of knowledge, the archives were his idea. He made sure that they had the system in place long ago. As new media materials came into play and Kiyoko brought samples back, they discovered more and more. It was truly incredible what humans came up with. There was a period of time where the demon world began to wonder if humans would even need demons any more. It seemed humans could conjure nearly everything they desired themselves.
But they soon found that desire never leaves, it just simply changes form every now and then. It made sense. Desire is an extremely old emotion. Preceded, perhaps, only by fear. That's why it was so strong, that's why demons crave the extas that comes from it. The only two other emotions that run as deep were too unwieldy. Fear was too unpredictable to try and harness, and one other was barely spoken of in their world. It was a strong emotion but fell to whims. But desire. Desire held fast and never let go once it sank its claws in deep enough.
“Hey, Kenma.”
"Yes, Yaku?" he replied.
"Have you gotten the last meeting minutes from Kuroo yet? He hasn't entered them and the next council meeting is the day after tomorrow. He's late, he should have had it to me yesterday."
Kenma's brow creased. "That's odd."
"Yeah tell me about it, but if you see him before me let him know I'm gonna give him hell if he doesn't get his materials in on time."
Kenma’s mouth quirked in amusement at the feisty short, blond. It was incredibly entertaining when he got worked up. Not that Kenma would ever actually say that aloud. Yaku would probably give him an earful. "Will do."
He turned back to the National Geographics he was sorting through himself. Despite them being one of Kenma’s favorite collections and them having every single one since they began publishing, he wished new games were coming in. Well, good ones. They just had... what was it? Oh, Barbie Dream House 5. Lev swore by the series but Kenma could care less about it. Who wanted to watch plastic march around in heels with a man who never stopped smiling? It was creepy.
He was just sorting through some files in it when he sensed Kuroo’s presence, but something seemed to be amiss. His energy didn't feel... right.
Soon enough the large doors leading into the archive offices opened. The demon's easy smile and stride were nowhere to be seen. He was the walking demonification of tension. He stride was stiff. His lips tight. Something had gone wrong. Very, very wrong. He walked straight past Kenma and into his office. Kenma took note of where he was in his work and followed soon after, unbidden. He knew Kuroo may not even want to see him right now, but he also knew something had happened and that, in turn, would affect the rest of the department.
He reached the door, large dark mahogany monstrosities, and gave a knock before walking in, alerting Kuroo to his presence. He wasn't expecting what met him. Kuroo was at his desk, head in his hands.
Something had most certainly gone very wrong. He hoped against all hope it wasn’t what he thought it was, but something told him that would be too optimistic.
"Kuroo?" Kenma prompted.
Kuroo dragged his gaze to Kenma's and that was just about all he needed to confirm what he'd feared. There was a specific irritated resignation written into his eyes.
"A contract?"
He nodded.
"What kind?"
He held up his wrist, showing him the cat shapped symak and gave a sad, ironic smile. It was red.
Kenma swallowed thickly, his brow creasing in confusion. Kuroo didn’t take contracts. That only left… "Grimmory? I thought you destroyed that with Bokuto ages ago. How...?"
Kuroo started laughing, but there was no mirth in it. "Funny isn't it? I'd like to know myself. Maybe it’s just fate telling me I can't change what I am."
Kenma studied him. Kenma could hardly recall when Kuroo’s last contract was. Half the council had been getting on his case about it for what seemed like millennia. Kuroo was good at contracts, but he avoided them.
"That's not even the best part, Ken," Kuroo’s smile sent a chill through Kenma. It wasn't his natural one, it was twisted.
"The best part is, this human," he laughed a little again, standing up and placing his hands in his pockets, turning to lean against the desk. "This human, he didn't even want to summon me in the first place. He didn't know what he was holding. And not even just that," Kuroo turned back to Kenma. "He claims he doesn't have any desires." Kuroo started laughing harder. It was a broken thing. The way one laughs at a predicament there in that they never wanted to begin with.
"What are you going to do?" Kenma asked calmly.
"I hardly have a choice in this, Kenma. This is the last time I'm not completely bound outside of council obligations," he had stopped laughing. He leaned against his desk, piled high with books and papers. "I never wanted to do this again. If simply summoned I can reject contracts, but Grimmories," he shook his head again. "I can't get around this one. I'm bound. No freedom in it," he looked to Kenma again.
Kenma knew there was more to it than just freedom. Something had happened during his last contract, or maybe it had been small things that had built up slowly over time and he had just finally snapped. All Kenma knew was almost immediately after the last one was completed Kuroo went straight back to the human world to locate his Grimmory and did the best he could to hide it. Bokuto had gone after him. When they came back something in Kuroo had shifted. A new resolve was ingrained to his core. He avoided contracts at all costs.
"Kuroo," there had been a spell of silence and Kenma broke it again. "Have you ever wondered if maybe there is a way for, you know, the human to…"
Kuroo shook his head. "I've tried, Ken. I've tried so many times. And every time it's the same. And this man..." Kuroo's eyes cloud for a moment. "I don't know what to make of him yet. Figuring out his desire may be a challenge though. He started fighting me about it so quickly."
"What does he do?" Kenma asked, settling onto the couch that occupied the wall near the door of Kuroo's office. It was a hideous yet cushy thing. Kenma really had no idea why Kuroo had to get it in chartreuse.
Kuroo chuckled and smiled, this one actually seemed genuine. "He's a librarian. Just a regular library librarian, not even rare collections or anything." His eyes sparkled. "A tall, blond, librarian with glasses and a personality problem."
"How'd he get the Grimmory?" Kenma inquired, slightly intrigued by the oddity of the predicament.
"It was in the fantasy section with no code apparently," Kuroo's eyes sharpened in thought. "I have no clue how it got there, Ken. Bo and I, we hid it where it'd be so hard for a human to find. I just..."
"We don't know what happens to the Grimmorries when they get from place to place. That was part of the point of them, wasn't it?"
Kuroo nodded slowly, still lost in thought.
"You all still know the procedures for when I'm contracted right? Or do I need to call the others in for a refresher?"
"I believe this archive works with or without you around. You're barely here anyway, I have no idea why you think your presence is necessary," he added lightly.
"Kenma, you wound me" Kuroo's lower lip started to pout at the teasing.
"You're the one who insists on going on excursions and leaving us here."
"I used to invite you, but you said no for like, what, a hundred years? I decided to give up."
Kenma smiled softly.
"Oh, that reminds me. Yaku said you better get the minutes from the last council meeting into him before the next one or you're in for it."
Kuroo groaned and walked back over to his desk, picking up the packet of papers on top. He flipped through them, glanced at the date and then handed them to Kenma. "Get these to him for me? I need to be getting back. I just," he paused, taking a deep breath. “I needed to let you know and wanted to grab a few things before the window of time I still have a modicum of freedom closes.”
"You'll make it through, Kuroo. And who knows," Kenma shrugged. "Maybe this one will be different."
"I highly doubt it," Kuroo sighed. “I’ll see you in a few days for the council meeting.”
At that Kenma took his leave, closing the door softly behind him.
He sighed. Things were about to get very busy around here.
“What was that all about?”
Kenma looked up, groaning inwardly when he realized who it was.
Lev, the new archive apprentice. What Kuroo was thinking when he took the lanky young demon on, Kenma knew not.
“Nothing,” he replied steadily.
“Didn’t sound like nothing,” Lev’s face fell as he turned back to unpacking the box he’d brought in.
Kenma sighed outwardly this time. He might as well tell him, everyone would know soon anyway.
“He got a contract,” Kenma replied.
“Oh! Well that’s good! He should’ve taken one-”
“Grimmory contract,” Kenma interrupted.
“Oh,” his face fell again. “But that’s still good, isn’t it? He hasn’t had one in a long time, and I know I’m new, but I’ve heard about his old contracts, he’s supposed to be a master at them. Bending humans exactly how he wants them. Getting them to think they have what they want.”
Kenma sighed. “It’s not that simple, Lev. You know what usually happens to humans at the end of contracts, don’t you?”
Lev shrugged his shoulders some shaking his head, “They get what they want?”
“They usually end up dead,” Kenma replied shortly, turning back to his own sorting.
“So?” he shrugged.
Kenma shook his head. He didn’t know how to explain to Lev exactly how many contracts Kuroo had been through. How with each one he watched his friend become obsessed and invested in the human, wanting them to achieve their goal as much as they did, only to have them fail. And Kuroo would always say every time “This one will be different. They’ll make a difference, a change for the better.” And every time he was let down.
Then something about his last Grimmory contract made him snap. It was decades before the council eventually tried to force one on him, but Kuroo fought them every step of the way. He almost lost his seat on the council.
Kenma looked back up at the grey haired demon and gave him the explanation Kuroo always used to cover. “So, Kuroo is the demon of knowledge, right?”
Lev nodded.
“So the death of a human means a death of their knowledge. How are we supposed to collect that?”
Kei flipped through the pages again. He’d read and reread the damned contracting book. He didn’t know how to get around it. And he couldn’t find anything about the “Underworld” either outside that he could call Kuroo from it if need be.
Kei had to admit he was tempted to try it. To see if all this was actually real or if he’d been staring at a hoax the entire evening. It was absolutely insane. A world of demons. That existed right alongside the world of humans. How did any of it work? Kuroo was an Archdemon. That must’ve made him some sort of authority figure, right? Or were all demons called archdemons. Did they have a government? How was their world different?
Slamming the book shut in irritation he rose to his feet, and looked at the offensive mark on his wrist for what must’ve been the hundredth time. How did this even happen? His brother had railed about how it existed. How demons existed. Kei used to believe him. Kei used to believe all those tales of fantasy, faeries, demons, ghosts. It was all real. Until it wasn’t. Until his brother left. Until he got roped into searching for them and became a part of a treasure hunt he never wanted in on.
He stared at the glass cabinet in his office. The few things he’d kept from a different life. A different time. Old dig photographs matched with a few plaster specimen replicas. Kei barely recognized the blond smiling back at him in the pictures. Before it all started he’d studied paleontology. The things people didn’t believe were real until there were bones, until there was proof. Creatures and lands never seen by homo sapiens. To prove the untrue true, that was all Kei wanted to do.
And he did it too. He’d even started his PhD. People in the field were beginning to recognize his name. And then his brother came back.
“Kei?”
He jumped, whipping around toward the door. Tadashi was standing there, hesitantly, half in the room.
Kei composed himself quickly, “Yes, Yamaguchi?”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to close tonight? You’ve been out of it since you did shelving this afternoon,” he paused, eyes studying Kei, trying to read him, see through all the walls he’d put up. “Did something happen?” Which Tadashi just happened to be incredibly good at it.
Kei shook his head. “No. Just tired,” he attempted a small smile, but he’d never been very good at that. But Tadashi knew that.
The other man sighed. “You know you’re going to work yourself to death if you don’t try to start leaving a bit earlier than midnight.”
“Well then it’s a good thing I don’t leave that late since, if I did, I’d miss the last train,” Kei retorted.
Tadashi raised his eyebrow.
Kei didn’t know how he ended up with a coworker like Tadashi but he did. Sometimes it was a blessing. Sometimes it was a curse. It just depended on the day.
“I promise to be out by eleven today since close it at ten. How’s that?” Kei relented. He really just wanted to be alone at the moment. He hadn’t fully processed exactly what happened earlier yet. If what happened was actually real…
Tadashi studied him from the door a second longer and then pointed a finger at him. “Okay, but I’m going to check the security footage. To make sure you left well before the time to catch last train.”
Kei narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me,” he smiled. “Yachi is opening in the morning, so don’t worry about getting in early.”
Kei was about to protest. He came every morning regardless of who was opening. “Don’t even start with me, Kei. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that Yamaguchi closed the door and left.
“Thank God. I thought he’d never leave.”
Kei spun again to see Kuroo reclining in his chair with his feet propped up on his desk.
Anger began to bubble beneath his skin. “Get out of my chair,” he growled, taking a few quick steps toward the demon.
“Is that your inner most desire?” He asked, a sly grin appearing.
Kei’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. Now give it to me and leave.”
“I told you it doesn’t work like that,” a silky voice purred in his ear. Kei couldn’t help but jump. Kuroo was suddenly standing behind him. “But trust me when I say I wish it did.” He mosied over to the cabinet Kei had been looking at earlier.
Kei’s frown deepened as he studied the creature. He looked so… human. “Then maybe you could enlighten me to how it does work? I read the book, or instruction manual, what have you. It doesn’t actually say much of anything.”
Kuroo didn’t turn back to look at him. He just stood, staring at the cabinet. It put Kei on edge. How much did demons know? Could they read minds? Did they just know by looking at you, by looking at your things?
Had Kei spent half his life trying to forget just to have it unraveled by a demon?
“The book says exactly what you need to know. No more, no less,” he paused, “well maybe a tad less.” He turned. No smile this time, just steady piercing eyes. The kind Kei hated because they looked like they could read souls.
He tore his eyes away and went back to sit behind his desk, his steady gaze turning back to Kuroo.
He nodded his head toward the seat, waiting for him expectantly.
Kuroo seemed to catch his drift as he finally took the seat across from him.
Tsukishima settled in his chair and adjusted his glasses as he reached for the book and his notes. There was really so much left unexplained in the thing he had no idea how it managed to be so large yet say nothing at all.
“I need more details than what this monstrosity has, which is basically nothing at all,” Kei leveled a glare.
Kuroo paused a moment. “Ask away,” he swept his hand open in permission. “But there are only certain details, as you say, that I can tell you.”
Kei looked at his notes. He guessed he would start with the most obvious of things.
“If we’re contracted then why did you leave so quickly earlier? Shouldn’t you be like, glued to my hip or something? It doesn’t actually say in here. It just says to call when I need or want you.”
“Yes, I come when you call, but you rarely should need to. Unless I have obligations in the Underworld I’ll be here, with you. Earlier…” he ran his hand through his hair. “I will admit that I am about as enthusiastic about our predicament as you are.”
Kei raised a brow.
Kuroo leaned back in his seat raising his own. “The last time I saw my Grimmory was when I buried it in the ashes of the Library of Alexandria and even before that I tried keeping it rather carefully hidden away. But humans do seem to know how to get their hands on things they shouldn’t.”
“I didn’t go looking, thank you. The damn thing was on the shelf with no DDC. And had no title. What self-respecting librarian would tolerate that on their shelves? This isn’t a private collection. How was I supposed to know it was some sort of demon portal?” Kei scoffed.
“A Grimmory is not a portal. Portals are at very specific-” he cut himself off, narrowing his eyes at Kei.
Ah, he said too much.
“So if there are portals how come you can just,” he snapped his fingers. He didn’t really know what to call how Kuroo got here. Was it teleportation? Apparation? He didn’t know.
“I’m an Archdemon. There are certain powers that come with that. Not to mention we’re contracted.” He motioned to Kei’s wrist.
Kei glanced down at where the black mark still sat. He’d tried scrubbing it off earlier, but it was more like a tattoo than anything. He looked back up to Kuroo curious now.
“How many Archdemons are there?”
Kuroo raised an eyebrow at him. Kei kept his gaze steady as he stared back.
“So many questions today aren’t there? Well I can tell you that since it’s technically knowledge already known to the human world. Our Grimmories are present here after all. There are seven. Seven archdemons who cater to seven human desires. Knowledge, Vitality, Beauty, Strength, Comfort, Youth, and Control.” Kei noticed Kuroo’s lip curl at the last one.
Kei took down a few more notes. “And you Archdemons, do you rule the Underworld?”
“In a sense,” Kuroo replied diplomatically. Kei would have to see what else he’d be able to discover about that.
“So are you the only demons that contract?”
“No, many lesser demons also contract, in a way. It differs with level, but we are the only demons with Grimmories. And therefore the only demons who can end up in this predicament we have here. Which, I will tell you, is incredibly rare.”
“How so?” Kei couldn’t stop his curiosity. New worlds, new beings, new rules. Maybe he hadn’t changed so much after all.
“Demons contract for a reason.”
“To kill people?” Kei recalled the warning Kuroo had left him with earlier. He did want to know about that.
Kuroo paused. “No, not exactly. The only way a demon can kill a human is if the human breaks their contract.”
There was more to that. Kei could feel it. If that were the only reason would the beast have spat out such a thing? Kei might actually need to talk to Sugawara about this. He’d tried desperately to stay away from that world. It was too much, but Sugawara Koushi had a knack of keeping people he wanted around. And in this case it seemed it would benefit Kei for once.
“You use a lot of conditionals,” Kei noted as he wrote.
“No two contracts are alike,” Kuroo played with the corner of the calendar mat.
“Why do demons contract? Why have the Grimmories?” Kei asked.
Kuroo’s head whipped back up to study him. “I’m hardly going to tell you all the inner workings of my world.”
“How am I supposed to know my desire’s limitations if I don’t know the workings of the place that is apparently going to give it to me?”
“Trust me, if you wanted the world, I could aid you in getting it, but desires are a dangerous thing. They drive men mad,” Kuroo drew out the last word. His eyes were sparkling as if he were just putting something together. As if he knew.
Kei took off his glasses to clean them, narrowing his eyes at the intruder in his office. “Good thing I don’t have any desires then, isn’t it? Then that puts us at what? An impasse?”
“Yes, it does. It also means my job is to figure out what it is you do desire.”
Kei’s stomach immediately dropped.
“What?” he choked out.
“Grimmorries are binding contracts. I’m hardly going to hang about and do nothing,” he replied as he picked up the geode paperweight on Kei's desk.
“It didn’t say anything about demons meddling,” Kei remarked irritated.
“It didn’t?” he asked nonchalantly while tossing the rock up in the air, only waiting for it to come back down and land gracefully in his hand again.
Kei shot up and swiped the geode from the demon mid arc, placing it carefully back on his desk exactly where it was supposed to be.
Kuroo’s brow creased. He studied Kei for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
“I would prefer it if you did not touch or play with the things in my office. And if you are going to be here I would also prefer you to be silent. I actually have work to do,” he stated.
It was a challenge. He needed to know where the line was with this demon and what could potentially happen if he crossed it.
“Alright,” his eyes were narrowed at the blond. “But I do want you to remember something too.” He stood and leaned forward on the desk, face closer to Kei than he ever liked anyone to be. “I can grant wishes and make dreams come true, but I can also destroy them. Your life is a blip. A small insignificant, infinitesimal piece of time in the grand scheme of the universe. I’ve lived longer than you can possibly imagine. So I’d watch what you say if I were you.” With that he pushed off the desk and went to sit in the chair located in the corner of the office.
Kei hadn’t noticed the satchel at his side, but the demon pulled out a book before plopping down and making himself comfortable. It irked him how at ease the being was in his office. He eyed him a moment longer before turning back to his actual work. Shoving the damned Grimmory into his desk drawer where he didn’t have to look at it.
Kei hadn’t even gotten all the answers he wanted. Not even all the ones he needed, but then again he guessed he was dealing with a demon here. He shouldn’t expect this to be easy.
He looked down at his notes again. This was… a lot. He was certainly going to need to pay Sugawara a visit, he glanced at the demon in the corner again, if he ever got a moment of peace to himself.