“P-please...D-Don’t hit me...” he begged, turning his tear-streaked face against the roughness of the brick, feeling like his heart was about to break out of his ribcage.

But Lucas said something that made Jinan’s breath catch in his throat.

“I’m not trying to hurt you,” he sighed. “I’m just trying to calm you down.” 

The grip on him loosened. Jinan gulped, eyes flicking wildly in the shadows, trying to see.

He was very shaken when Lucas suddenly, but very gently, took off his glasses and licked the tears that had trickled down his cheek, lapping them up. 

Pecking at the very corner of Jinan’s eyelid, the taller boy slowly grazed the long dark lashes with his lips.

“It’s alright...” he said. “Go ahead and cry. Give me all of it...all your feelings. I’ll take in every single one until it’s all mine.”

Jinan’s brain numbed, unable to process what the taller boy was saying.

“All of it tastes good...you taste good...” the voice whispered in his ear, taking on a curiously husky quality. Lips feathered against his throat, teeth nipping and teasing at the skin there.

What...?

“Let me go!” Jinan cried, breaking out of his daze. He struggled, but the vise like grip tightened again, holding him like a fluttering bird trapped in a snare.

“Don’t hold it in, Julian. Just let it go...let it all out...so I can eat every single last drop...your rage, your pain...your everything.”

Lucas stroked fingers along his cheek while Jinan tried to make sense of what was happening. He could feel the weight of those tawny eyes in the dark, and for once in his life, he looked up, and was startled to find that the eyes were glowing.

“Didn’t you want someone to look at you? To tell you that everything is going to be alright?” asked Lucas. 

How did you know...?

Jinan felt the resistance bleed out of him, and then both boys were sliding down the wall together. It took a moment for Jinan to register that Lucas was holding him in his arms. He should have been embarrassed, should have been afraid, but he felt none of these things. It was like this was the most natural thing in the world.

“I’ll be right here...so go ahead and let your feelings out.”

“I still don’t understand what’s happening,” Jinan whispered. 

“There’ll be time for that,” said Lucas, reassuringly. “So, listen: you’re not useless. Or worthless...even if that’s how you feel right now. It’ll be ok.”

Jinan felt his breath hitch. He should have been struggling to get away, but all his senses screamed for him to hold on. That tiny tremulous flicker inside him reached out with desperate grasping hands...crying out.

As if in answer, fingers tilted his chin and lips brushed over his face, forehead, and eyes. Even he could feel the overwhelming gentleness of these small touches.

Jinan teetered over the precipice.

“Oh,” he murmured as a hot tear splashed the top of his left wrist.

“That’s it...let it all out for me...” whispered Lucas, as he stroked Jinan’s trembling shoulders, letting him weep his fill as the boy’s emotions flooded him like an unending storm.

---

“How do you feel?” came a curious voice from above his head.

There was a pause.

“Dry,” Jinan croaked, stirring. 

Lucas chuckled, letting the other boy sit up. He could tell that he was disoriented, his pretty dark eyes swollen from crying. 

“What...time is it? We’ll be late for class...”

“It’s not been that long. Do you feel better, Julian?”

Jinan did feel better...lighter...but irritation swept through him.

“My name’s actually Jinan. My mother named me after watching the sun rise from a cliff over the ocean...the light catching the water turned the coastline into a brilliant colour...casting it in gold. So, my name means ‘golden coast’. Except my father insists that I use Julian for school.”

“Jinan. It’s a beautiful name,” said Lucas softly.

Wiping his eyes, Jinan leaned back, and Lucas instantly released him, giving him space to gather himself. The glasses were put neatly back in place.

“What are you?”

“Oh...” laughed Lucas. “You sure you want to know?”

“You’re not denying it then...that you’re not human...”

Lucas smirked.

“What gave it away?” he asked.

“Your eyes...they were glowing in the dark just now...”

“So, then what would be the point of denying it? Anyway, you didn’t answer. Do you feel better?”

A pause.

“I-I don’t like that I can’t see you, can we move into the light?”

“But I can see you perfectly fine here,” replied Lucas, eyes glowing again. He bent his head down and pecked Jinan affectionately on the side of the cheek and was rewarded with a flustered blush.

Lucas wanted to hide him away in the dark forever, but he knew that wasn’t the way to go about things. Slowly, he drew Jinan out from the shadows, holding his laugh when the other boy squinted against the light.

Cute, thought Lucas, looking down at him. Now that I can see his eyes and his face, he’s actually even better looking than I thought. How adorable.

“I should be mad at you for all this, but I’m not. I really do feel better…as if a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders,” Jinan admitted, albeit reluctantly.

“That’s because I ate it all...” said Lucas, sounding proud of himself. 

“You...ate it?”

“Yes...I’m a demon that eats emotions. Your sadness, your rage, your loneliness, your hatred...I ate it all.”

“How do you do that?”

“Well, proximity is good, contact is better, and the best is...well, maybe I should explain a few things before we get to that part...” Lucas frowned suddenly.

“Ah. I-I see...” said Jinan. He really didn’t, but there wasn’t any point in saying that. “Well, then...thank you...I should get going.”

“No!”

Jinan looked startled at the outburst.

“No...?”

“Sorry...that’s...” Lucas said hastily, looking sheepish. “Now that I’ve found you, I have to keep eating your emotions until all the miasma around you has cleared. So, you’re kind of stuck with me for now.”

“...What?” Jinan blinked.

Lucas looked frustrated as he struggled to explain.

“Something happened to you six months ago...didn’t it? I came here because it drew a huge miasma here. Whatever it was reverberated all the way back to Kagami and caused quite an uproar in my world. It’s my duty to clear it as this depth of darkness doesn’t belong in the human realm. Since it’s clearly clinging to you, I have to get rid of it before I return. Until it’s fixed, I should stay next to you, otherwise something bad might happen.”

Useless.

Worthless.

Rice was wasted on you...

“Six months ago, I tried to kill myself.”

Lucas looked shocked, but then his eyes narrowed in speculation.

“Well...then maybe you’re not an ordinary human being, which might explain why it took so long for me to find you. A normal human can’t send shockwaves into the netherworld or gather this much miasma.”

“No?”

“No.”

At that moment the bell rang, and at the same time Jinan’s stomach growled. He flushed in embarrassment, looking torn. On the one hand, he had to clean up the mess he’d made and retrieve his lunchbox, and on the other hand, class was starting in five minutes.

His stomach growled again, making him want to bury himself in the ground.

“Let’s feed you,” Lucas decided, breaking into a smile. “Once you’ve eaten, I’ll explain everything…”

“But we’ll be late!”

Lucas snapped his fingers and then grabbed the boy by the shoulder steering him towards an exterior door.

“I’ve just taken care of all that...your lunchbox, everything. Now, come with me! No arguments.”

“So, you really aren’t a normal high school student, are you?” sighed Jinan, drooping.

“Hell no...” Lucas chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. “Not at all...”

Well then...thought Jinan.

“Hey…do you like ram-don…?”

“What’s that?” Jinan asked, as he followed Lucas out into the sunshine.

“Jjapaguri. Spicy noodles with steak…”

“Oh...sure.”

“…Because right now anything is better than rice…right?” Lucas confirmed softly.

Jinan finally broke into a small smile.

“Yay,” he replied. “That’s right.”