Second Chances {Doukaza}

2

Douma's POV
"It's a date!"

What was I thinking? Now he might not come! Douma went back to his room and sat down in front of his floor-to-ceiling mirror. When my face was close to his... I felt weird. Like there were butterflies in my stomach. He tugged at a few stray strands of his platinum blonde hair, twirling it between his fingers. Was it an emotion?

"Ugh. Why is this so.... What's the emotion for how I feel right now?" Douma stared hard into the reflection of his rainbow eyes. "I've been teasing him for years, why does it suddenly feel different?" He asked himself. Maybe theres something wrong with me. I should ask someone, right? Yeah. Douma stretched his hands up into the air and fell onto his back, his legs still in a criss-cross position.

He spent the next hour debating asking Daki about it, along with some flopping around and generally being impatient. Finally, he got up off the floor and went to find the girl. Douma wandered the infinity castle for a while, checking empty rooms and spending waaaay too much time thinking about a certain striped demon. In fact, he was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Kokushibu in front of him until he walked face-first into the six-eyed demon's back. He shook his head and looked up at Kokushibo with his usual 'I'm pretending to be happy, no real emotions here' smile on.

"Hello, Kokushibo-san! I was looking for Daki, have you happened to see her?" Douma clapped his hands together once and tilted his head a tiny bit.

"She's in the lounge with her brother," he responded in a calm and flat tone.

"Alright! Thank you!" Douma turned around and headed towards the lounge, where the uppermoons spent most of their free time during the day. If they weren't sleeping, of course.

When he arrived in the room, he spotted Daki and Gyutaro talking to Kaigaku, a young demonslayer-turned-demon who was staying in the infinity castle due to his interesting blood demon art. They were laughing together and having fun. Gyutaro noticed Douma standing in the doorway and gave a small smile in his direction. Daki noticed her brother's diverted attention and followed his gaze, coming up to look at Douma. She smiled and waved for him to sit with them. Douma walked over and took a seat between Kaigaku and Daki, the latter of which leaned over and hugged him contentedly. He smiled a real, genuine smile, and hugged her back.

When Douma had turned the siblings into demons, the girl had asked if he could be her friend, since he was the demon who saved her and her brother. He had obviously said yes, and had shown the two young demons the ropes of using their new abilities, and teaching them some combat techniques. They were perhaps the only people he was ever himself around.

"Hey Daki?"

"Hmm? What is it, Douma?"

"I wanted to ask you a question about... emotions.."

Gyutaro got up and grabbed Kaigaku's arm. He nodded once at Douma and Daki before leaving, dragging a very confused Kaigaku behind him. The pair watched them walk away, then turned back to the conversation.

"So?" Daki moved in front of Douma and leaned forward with anticipation. "What do you want to know?"

Should I really ask? "So, Akaza got back from his mission today."

"Yes yes, I knew about that," Daki interrupted.

Douma waited a second to make sure she was finished. "And I was waiting for him in his room. We... we talked, and I asked him if he wanted to eat together tonight."

Daki let out a little happy gasp. "You asked him out on a DATE?!"

He waved his hands in a frantic 'no' gesture. "No no no... I-" he remembered what he had shouted back at Akaza as he left. A warm blush slowly spread onto his face. "I mean, I did tell him it was a date. But I didn't mean it like that! At least, I don't think..." He paused. "At one point, our faces got really close, and I felt really weird, like there were butterflies in my stomach."

At this point, Daki was on the verge of fangirling. "Did you kiss?"

Douma let out a dry laugh. "He punched my face off, he'd never let me get close enough."

Daki sat back with a huff. "I guess you have a point. Did he agree though?"

Douma nodded. "I told him to meet me by my room when the sun goes down."

The white-haired demon clapped excitedly. "So do you want to know what you were feeling earlier?"

"Yes, please."

"You said you felt butterflies." Daki grinned. "So you probably like him!"

"What... what emotion is that?"

"That emotion, my friend, is love."

"Love?"

Daki nodded enthusiastically.

I pulled out one of my battle fans and fanned myself lightly, lost in thought.

Doesn't that mean I... 'love' Akaza-dono? I wonder what it feels like to be in a relationship like that. What would it be like to be with him that way?

I stood up and thanked Daki for her help, exiting the room quickly. Hearing a strange noise akin to a squeal, I looked to my left and saw Gyutaro and Kaigaku doing... something. Gyutaro was sitting on the younger demon's back, pinning him to the floor while Kaigaku protested loudly. The older demon was laughing quietly, and I watched curiously as Kaigaku stopped struggling and said something inaudible that made Gyutaro blush and jump off him immediately. He buried his face in his hands when Kaigaku chuckled and put a hand on his shoulder. I noticed that the short, black-haired demon had a similar shade of red across his face.

I wonder why they're acting like that. Maybe I'll ask them... I watched them tease each other for a few more seconds. No, I should leave them be. As I headed back to my room, a thought hit me. Are they in... love? I pondered the thought while I walked. Maybe.

I turned a corner and almost walked into Kokushibo for the second time that day. "Oh, hello Kokushibo!"

He sighed. "Hello Douma."

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Nearly nightfall." Kokushibo nodded and walked past me.

I should hurry. I sped up, eager to get back to my room before Akaza did.