A Dark Kiss ((Kamukura X Komaeda))

Act 4; Hell's Fire

At first, there was darkness.
But darkness was not to be feared, for, within the darkness, there is hope for a flicker of beautiful light, like the stars twinkling upon the blanket of the midnight sky.
For it is when there is light one must be afraid.
Within the light, there are lies, and those lies trick the eyes into believing in their beauty.
When one cannot see, they can hear, they can feel, they can slash at the lies presented as a neatly tied box of beauty.
Komaeda reached his arm into the dark abyss, no fear piercing his heart.
His fingers stretched over a soft coat of feathers that covered him like a safe shell.
He exhaled, and in turn, felt the warm breath of the demon breathing as well.
With his other hand, he reached up, and ever so carefully, caressed his fingers across his tall horns. They were as smooth as water, but the point pricked his finger, sharper than a blade.
Still, he gave a breathless laugh before wrapping his arms around Kamukura in a tight hug.
"I'm yours, I'm all yours."
The demon's hand cross over his back, pulling him into a hug in return. His long hair tickled Komaeda's skin, but he didn't mind in the slightest.
"Yes, you are mine. Am I yours?"
"Yes," He whispered back into Kamukura's ear. "I'm so lucky to be able to say that. You saved my life twice now, after all. I really don't deserve it."
Kamukura pulled back from the hug to meet Komaeda's green eyes, the short eye contact ending with a warm kiss. The demon softly grazed his lips with his tongue, and the man was quick to give in, allowing their tongues to mingle.
A demon's dark kiss... It tasted of chocolate, but so pure, the kiss from a man that had never uttered a word until a mere day ago.
The moment of peace would not have been able to last long though as a panicked cry made Komaeda flinch and pull away in a panic.
Not that he wanted it to end, but then again, he had no idea where they had landed, after all.
It had been a... Crashlanding, that ended with Kamukura wrapping his wings around him for protection.
But what had caused it?
Instead of wiping away the small dribble of their saliva off his lips, Komaeda couldn't help but lick it himself before beginning to pull himself up and off of Kamukura where the demon had fallen on his back.
At the very least, he didn't seem hurt enough to say anything about it, but he did still feel bad about adding the extra weight atop him.
As he sat up, Kamukura's wings cracked open, and light flooded Komaeda's eyes, allowing him to take in the sights of the town's Church.
The irony...
The worshipers there all had risen from their benches and backed away, leaving the men in a wide, spacious circle as they all watched with terrified eyes.
"It's a demon..." Someone whimpered. "A demon fell from the sky!"
"Look at his horns, he's hideous!"
Komaeda was quick to ignore their harsh words, he knew better by now. But as he returned his gaze to Kamukura, his eyes quickly widened and he scrambled off.
"Yo-Your wing-!" He knelt beside the demon, seeing the cause for their painful landing.
Someone had shot an arrow clean through, the arrowhead now stabbing into the ground with his wings spread.
"It does not hurt," He sat up, but frowned slightly looking at it. "I will not be able to fly us an escape though."
"He's helping a demon," Someone whispered from the crowd.
Still, Komaeda shook his head. "It doesn't matter if it doesn't hurt, it's not right. You're not like the demons they're scared of, they just need to see..." He swallowed, carefully wrapping his hand around the arrow. "I shouldn't pull, the arrow will just hurt coming out."
Saying that, Komaeda carefully bent, then broke the arrow in two. As he pulled one half out, the arrowhead itself fell, revealing a bleeding hole within his wing.
He wasn't a professional medic, but he had witnessed the nuns helping with hunting accidents the same way. But bandaging a massive wing wasn't something he knew to do.
Without a word, he looked to Kamukura, who returned a calm look in turn.
"Someone do something already!" The cry of a woman brought Komaeda back to reality and he pulled himself to his feet.
"Please, you're wrong about them!" He tried, "He saved my life! They're not bad!"
"Liar!"
"Kill them!"
"It is useless," Standing up on his own, Kamukura's wings melted away, though he did hiss in pain, suddenly feeling the injury.
Without warning, Komaeda's own arm burned and he looked down to the feather marking, glowing a soft red.
He was hurt so... Komaeda would feel the pain as well.
They were linked more than he first realized, but Kamukura helped him enough, it was Komaeda's turn to live up to his end of the deal.
He looked up to the roof where the large hole above them let in some stray sunlight, and couldn't help a smile.
For what, he wasn't sure, but at that moment, he wanted to smile.
Kamukura was as still as a statue once more, so that probably meant forces were closing in around the Church, and there wasn't anywhere to run this time.
A few mothers were protectively holding their children, the men tense and looking like they were ready to fight.
Not even the Priest of the Church knew what to do, he kept himself kneeling on the floor, hands clasped in prayer.
And then the doors opened, and only Peko stood.
She dropped the bow she was carrying and as calm as ever, entered the Church like it was simply another day.
"I did not say you could run," She frowned, hands neatly clasped. "You will return to the village, and you will perish for your crimes."
Komaeda wanted to speak, but quickly thought better of it. She already looked scary enough without him upsetting her more.
Kamukura shot a glance to the man, speaking no words, but held hand out to the woman in a kind gesture.
"Fighting in a place like this assists nobody. If you are intent on it, we can go outside."
Peko paused her walking, only to furrow her eyebrows.
"The fact that you stand here now taints this hall enough."
"Mother Peko, please!" Komaeda bowed his head to her, finally speaking up. "He's not like the demons we fear, please, listen to him."
"You are to remain silent, this does not concern you right now. Your time will come later,"
She slowly tucked her hand into the sleeve of her robe and as she pulled back, what came with was a glittering golden sword.
The small bands holding her silver hair in braids over her shoulders came loose, freeing her hair to tumble down around her face, but as her sword sparkled, blinding Komaeda, he was forced to turn away.
But he couldn't just avert his eyes for long, of course he was a part of this right now, and he wouldn't just abandon an innocent.
It... It wasn't a crime to exist!
But as he turned back to Peko, he almost couldn't believe his eyes as white wings spread across her back, her eyes shining redder than real rubies.
But... How was that possible? He had known Peko almost his entire life, how could she have been an angel!?
As if reading his mind, Kamukura narrowed his eyes,
"Did that book of yours happen to contain transformation spells?"
"Yeah..." Komaeda couldn't lie about that, "I only wrote down what the witches told me, I... I wasn't planning on using any but the summoning."
"So she is not a real angel,"
"Real enough..." He swallowed, finding himself shuffling behind the demon. "I thought she was planning on burning the book. Fuyuhiko must have given it back when everyone left. But she looks... Serious."
"You don't need an assumption for that," Peko rose her sword, taking a fighting stance. "Unfortunately, I see myself at the advantage right now. You can stand down now and die with honor or try to fight and die a loser."
The demon kept himself quiet, not quite appearing like he was thinking too hard about it, but not like he accepted it either.
More like he was... Waiting.
But for what?
Suddenly he rolled his shoulders and gave a small glance to Komaeda,
"There is a lantern hanging beside the doors outside, might you give a... Warning to the town?"
"Even now you try to pretend you're doing good, but that won't save you." The woman began to inch her way closer, her sword aimed for his throat, but he didn't move, simply kept his eyes locked on her.
What sort of warning was he talking about though? If it was some sort of code...
He wasn't so smart as to understand.
Though as Peko moved closer, Kamukura backed up, bumping his shoulder into Komaeda and pulling his attention back.
"Wave the lantern around, tell people to stay away. But don't do it too close to the Church though. This place is made purely of wood."
What was he...
Suddenly it clicked what he was trying to say, and Komaeda nodded, hurrying outside as quickly as he could.
Just as Kamukura had said, a lantern hung beside the Church, guiding all to the doors.
He would return it later, but for now, Kamukura needed his help.
As he pulled it off the hook, he couldn't help glancing inside where Peko had taken to the air and was swinging her sword with ferocious speed. The demon was dodging it easily, but how long would be able to keep it up? It wasn't as though he had a weapon of his own, and he wasn't able to fly if needed.
Hopefully though...
What he was going to do wouldn't harm Kamukura. He had only just accepted he had feelings for him after all.
He took a deep inhale, ready to throw it towards the walls, when suddenly Komaeda's arm burned as though it had just been scorched.
He couldn't help a hiss, dropping the lantern to coddle his arm and looked to the window to see Kamukura had been cut across his cheek, blood now dripping down his face.
Still, he felt a sense of relief it wasn't worse, but Komaeda needed to hurry.
Picking up the lantern, followed by quickly stomping out the small fire that had attempted to take the grass, he tossed it towards the Church.
The lantern hit the wall with a clank, and a small fire started to spread, but not fast enough.
Damn it, why couldn't anything go right?
Pulling out some grass from the ground, Komaeda crouched beside the lantern, blowing some air to get it growing, then tossed in the grass, which was quick to burn and feed the small fire.
His arm burned once more, and panic took over.
The fire wouldn't be fast enough, he needed to...
His eyes landed on the bow Peko dropped, and Komaeda ran over, scooping it up and attempting to set the arrow in it once more.
She must have set it right after she shot them down, in case she missed, but there were no spare arrows to be seen, he only had one shot, and if he hit Kamukura...
No, he couldn't think about that.
That demon was his hope now, his reason to move on. It wasn't as though he wanted to harm Peko, but if she were knocked back to the ground, she wouldn't have as big an advantage.
He pulled the bow back, keeping the arrow as steady as possible.
Admittedly... Komaeda had never fired a bow, there was never a need, but it couldn't be that hard right?
She kept herself in the same spot as she hit her next attack, which Kamukura dodged again, and Komaeda shot.
At first, the arrow seemed to vanish, and he was almost convinced he'd missed.
But Peko let out a cry, and her wings gave out, causing her to collapse upon the floor and drop her sword as she tried to pull the arrow out of her pristine dove wings.
It was impossible not to feel bad, he never wanted to fight her in the first place, let alone shoot her, but he did feel a little happy about catching her wing.
It would be her karma for doing the same to Kamukura, well, he'd like to think that's what it was, and that he didn't just shoot the nun that raised him.
Kamukura didn't waste the opportunity to grab her sword away and step back, allowing her a chance to pull the arrow out of herself and stand up again, biting back the pain yanking it likely just caused.
The smoke from outside was growing, and the terrified people still in the Church could smell it just as easily as Komaeda could.
Forgetting their fear of the demon, they hurried out the door, crying over each other to the point Komaeda couldn't make out what anyone was saying.
A few people bumped into him, nearly causing him to fall but everyone safely evacuated.
The only ones that didn't was Kamukura, and Peko, who was blocking him from running away.
Blood was dripping down her white feathers, and a few scratches on Kamukura also bled, but neither was willing to attend to them with the enemy before them.
"You have to leave!" Komaeda tried. "The fire is growing!"
"Not until I rid this place of the demon!" Peko clenched her fists, then tried to swing, but her barrage of attacks with the sword likely tired her out, because Kamukura caught her effortlessly.
Although, it looked like he had become tired too, the demon panting lightly in attempts to get his breathing stable once more.
She just... Didn't want to give up, did she?
Swallowing his fears, Komaeda entered the Church, the crackling of the growing fire becoming louder. Then he broke into a run, capturing her in a hug from behind, and catching her off guard.
"Please, just leave, will you? He's not your enemy, nobody is! Nobody wants to fight you, nobody wants to die. Please just be my Mother again, please listen to his words, he's good."
His tears were soaking the back of her robes, but Peko did not turn around.
She remained standing, frozen like a statue.
Komaeda thought he had upset her as she began to shake when without warning, she dropped her face in her hands.
"Komaeda..." Her words could barely be heard over the flames, and breathing was becoming difficult with the smoke.
Suddenly Peko collapsed, and he had to be quick in shifting his hug to supporting her from falling.
Kamukura approached, ever so carefully maneuvering one of her arms around his neck.
"She breathed in a lot of smoke while she was flying,"
"Are you okay?" Komaeda moved himself to take her other arm, to which the demon nodded.
"Do not forget I came from hell; smoke is nothing. But I suggest we step out before you end up in the same position as her."
Although he wanted to talk more, Kamukura was right, the smoke was already getting to him, and the structure of the Church was getting more dangerous with every passing second.
The men started to the doors, carrying Peko along with.
Even after stepping outside, the smoke continued to fill the hot air, he couldn't even focus on the townspeople who were watching them just then, all he knew was they needed to get away from the Church as fast as possible, and Peko was getting increasingly heavier as he was becoming more exhausted.
"Here," Kamukura stopped once they were decent enough away and the two gently placed the woman on the ground.
Komaeda was quick to follow, dropping himself beside her to catch his breath again.
The demon, on the other hand, remained standing beside him, arms crossed and watching him quietly.
"Are you in pain?" He questioned slowly; which was funny coming from him, still bleeding.
So funny, Komaeda couldn't help a smile while leaning against the wall.
"Hearing a demon ask if I'm alright, it... It makes me happy. But I do want to ask something."
He rose his eyes to Kamukura, who waited for his question patiently.
"When I begged you to take me to Hell, I said I would give anything at all for it. I wanted you to take my life, and you saved me, before I even accepted your deal. Why did you... Why did you do that?" The smoke was hurting his lungs, but he needed to ask anyway. "Why even ask for a deal anyway? Why... Save my life? Surely it wasn't just because you knew I was attracted to you."
"No," He cocked his head, allowing his black hair to fall over his shoulders. "It was the other way around. You are... Very fluffy. I did not care to harm you. The fact you accepted the deal baffled me the most. But..."
He kneeled down beside the man and offered his hand to take, to which Komaeda did without a second thought.
"A deal is not needed anymore, wouldn't you say?" Kamukura placed his other hand over the dark marking. "You said it yourself, you found that beauty. And you fulfilled your end as well, I am pleased with the humans. But that means we will both be staying here. Is that alright?"
Komaeda bit his lip, looking to the still sleeping Peko, then back to him.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to leave her now anyway, I think she needs me too. Which is pretty ridiculous to think anyone may need me but-"
He stopped himself as the demon gave him an unreadable look. He didn't even have to say anything, the two people that meant the most to him were right beside him.
He exhaled, allowing Kamukura to wipe away the feather, but he didn't wait a moment more when the demon pulled back to wrap him in a hug.
"That was amazing," A familiar voice brought the two to look up to Makoto, eyes shimmering excitedly. "You saved an angel from the fire! I said you were nice, I knew it!"
Another quickly hurried over, the woman grabbing her son's hand. Her eyes flickered in hesitation upon being before a demon, but she cleared her throat and stood up tall to face him.
"I don't know why you did it, I'm not even sure I can trust you, but the kids told me about you and... Himiko spoke when she got home so I can only assume you had something to do with it-"
Himiko... That child that looked into his eyes?
"Himiko never said a real word before that!" Makoto interrupted, earning a quick shush from his mother as she continued,
"But you saved that angel, something a demon to be feared would never do. So... Thank you." She bowed her head, and one by one, more people approached, but nobody's eyes were filled with hatred.
A few attempted to touch Kamukura's hair, others were more focused on the angel, but it felt... Safe.
Suddenly, someone approached, larger than the other people. Her arms crossed and revealing her strong muscles.
"Mother Sakura!" Someone cried out, causing the excited crowd to fall silent.
The woman looked like she could have been built with three of Komaeda, maybe more. Her hair long and as white as snow, and her eyes were... Angry.
At least he thought they looked angry.
"A demon in my village," She ushered, looking him up and down, before catching a glance to Komaeda, "And you brought him here, yes? That is what the other nuns mentioned."
"Y... Yes,"
There was no denying she was scary, was she going to order a burning for them or something?
Sakura remained quiet a long moment as she thought with her eyes closed, then opened them once more, focused entirely on Komaeda.
"Your demon rescued Mother Peko, who appears to be an angel," He wouldn't mention anything about the book, a real angel was earning them more appreciation than hate. "It was something he had no business doing. So tell me, is your demon safe?"
An odd question, but Komaeda swallowed back from his burning lungs and gave a confident nod.
"He saved my life twice, I would trust him around any elder or child."
"I see..." She kept quiet a moment more, then flicked her gaze to Kamukura. "Then you are welcome here for as long as you wish to stay. But other towns won't be pleased to hear we are protecting a demon. Keep yourself hidden, and..." She looked to Peko and gave a wave to some of the townspeople. "Take her to the doctor."
He almost couldn't believe his ears, Komaeda wanted to cry at the news, they would really be safe here?
He pulled Kamukura into another hug after he hid his horns once more.
"Did you hear that? We can actually stay here, and... Maybe even live here?"
"Are you requesting that to be together?" The demon pulled back with a raised eyebrow, suddenly making Komaeda feel self-conscious. He looked away quickly before he let himself reply.
"Of course, but only if you want to, I know I could be pretty repulsive so if you'd rather live with someone else-"
He was swiftly cut off with a short kiss, earning a few surprised gasps from the townspeople, but he didn't care about explaining their relationship just then.
As he pulled back, Komaeda exhaled and gently wiped some drying blood off the demon's face. "You're still hurt,"
"They will heal," He whispered, "But I will not accept living with anyone but you. I love you."
His heart pounded hearing those words he had never heard before.
"I..." Komaeda rose his eyes to meet his, "I love you too."