Kou stepped back onto the street, his pack empty of glass but heavy with the metals and powders he had traded them for. Emery had even managed to get his hand on some nickel, and Kou was excited to make more black glass. It was his favorite and most expensive glass to make, and Emery gave him all the shavings at a discount, as long as Kou promised to trade him a sheet.

The streets were still lively as he worked his way back out of town, but Kou simply nodded and apologized as people came to trade him for his glass. All the interaction was starting to tire him out and by time he reached the edge of town again, Kou was longing for his quiet and solitude. On top of that, the rumor and talk of Truth’s Corruption Stat was on everyone’s lips and the more Kou heard, the more he wanted to get away from it. 

As he walked back by the Angel’s hut, Kou was surprised to see the Angel was no longer alone. A tall dark shape blocked the open doorway and for a moment, Kou thought the being had put up some sort of sheet for privacy. But then it moved and Kou slowed, unable to help his awe. 

It was a demon. 

It had long red hair, done in a braid that trailed against its dark clothing. He couldn’t see its face, but the way it moved was all the proof Kou needed. After all, he would never forget how it looked, how terrifying and beautiful it was to watch a demon fight. Staring at the demon’s back, Kou felt like a child again, struggling to crawl away from the beasts that had once been his parents, pain and blood filling all of his senses. And yet, he never forgot how the demon looked as it fought to protect him, how gracefully it moved, and–

“Hello Kou.”

The angel’s voice brought Kou back to the present, and he realized he had stopped directly in front of the Angel’s home. He glanced around and caught the flash of red as the demon disappeared into the trees, clearly hunting its prey in the forest. His forest. 

“H-hi.”

“Would you like to know your Stats?”

“No, but… did…?” Kou turned to look at the angel and noticed the sad look on their face. It took a deep breath before speaking, turning its face in the direction the demon had walked.

“Not from our town, but there are monsters nearby. No one seems to have noticed them, so I called for a demon.” the angel explained and Kou nodded, glancing back to the trees. It was an angel’s duty to summon a demon if a human became fully corrupted and turned into a monster, and Kou knew their angel took their duties seriously. They often called for a demon a few days before a person turned, and Kou just happened to be unlucky that his parents had tried to hide and run away with him until the very end. 

“Be safe, Kou.”

“Oh, I will be. After all, you already got a demon on it,” Kou grinned, waving to the angel as he headed back into the trees. A day at most; the demon wasn’t going to waste time and would likely hunt and kill any monster before the sun rose again. A part of him was upset that demons never seemed to want to interact with humans despite protecting them, but that was just how Itris had made them. It was why it was one of the Rules of a Human Life:

One must never harm an Angel or Demon.

Kou scoffed, kicking a rock that dared be on his path as he worked his way home. He didn’t believe in the rules, didn’t like the weight everyone put on them. No one could even remember where the rules had come from, and no one could agree on it either. Of course his town believed Itris had created them, one of the merchants from a mountain village insisted they were a creation of angels and demons and yet another traveller had said he had proof humans came up with them.

All guesses. None of it truth.

Kou walked through his garden again, glancing over to his hearth. It was the only part of his home built with stone and Kou considered the nickel in his bag. He would need to gather some wood, but he lived in the forest. Wood was the easiest thing to come by. 

“Got nothing better to do while there are monsters around,” Kou shrugged, quickly dropping his bag as he walked toward the nearest tree. He started by gathering all the decent sized sticks on the ground, occasionally reaching up to break off a few branches to make up for any rotten wood. Once he was certain he had enough, Kou cast another spell, lifting the gathered pile as he set it in front of his hearth before picking up his bag and heading inside. He quickly pulled out all the jars and pouches, sorting his supplies on his shelf.  Kou went over to his barrel, filling one of his smaller clay pots with sand.

Heading back to the pile of wood, Kou began to sort through the mix, tossing the rotten branches into the unlit hearth and placing the good branches into his burn pit. This was always his least favorite part; having to collect the wood ash. If anything accidentally mixed in with the ashes, the whole mixture would fail and while using magic helped, it was draining and still didn’t lessen the time consuming aspect of watching wood burn. But Kou kept thinking of the beautiful black glass he could make, and he sorted the wood with a smile on his face, casting a quick fire spell to light the dry twigs.

Kou glanced up as he heard a sound, relieved to see that it was just a deer curious to see what he was doing. Its ear flicked and danced before it bounced away, deciding he was too much of a risk. Kou merely chuckled, kneeling next to the fire pit as he placed the pan, quickly dropping the burning wood into the pit. Once he was sure they would burn, he sat on the ground, glancing up at the darkening sky. It was looking to be a long night and Kou closed his eyes, listening to the fire. 

His thoughts, inevitably, turned to the demon that was somewhere out in the darkness of the trees. He had seen the glint of red hair, the sharp outline of its figure in the doorway and now the image rooted itself inside him like a thorn he couldn’t pull free. He couldn’t remember the face of the demon who had saved him all those years ago, and their town didn’t have too many cases of humans turning into monsters. 

“It would be nice, to see their face. Maybe hear their voice…” Kou mused aloud, opening his eyes to check on the burning wood. He nudged it a bit, refreshed the spell to keep the bark lit before leaning back, staring into the forest. He knew better than to try and go find the demon; humans were no match for monsters, and demons fought better when they also didn’t have to worry about protecting someone. But Kou couldn’t deny that he wished he had at least seen its face. After all, they were supposed to have a high Loveliness and he was curious to put a face to his want. His desire to know what it felt like to be held, to be enveloped by that power rather than protected by it, to be consumed by something more powerful than himself.

The thought made Kou groan and he tried to ignore the clench low in his stomach at the thought. He stirred the woodpile absently, checking the slow burn, but his gaze kept flickering to the shadows between the trees. His fantasy was so close, and yet still so impossibly far away and he would give anything to grab it with both hands. To pin it beneath him and take what he wanted.

Another noise made Kou turn, but it was just another woodland creature, scurrying off after noticing he was outside. Kou took a deep breath, nudging the sticks in front of him as he waited for his ash. And yet his thoughts remained the demon somewhere in the dark forest with him.