Y/N was scared of the night.
When there was nobody else to talk to or no sound of swords clashing from everyone training, she didn't like that silence.
When she was alone with her thoughts, she couldn't help but being afraid.
But now wasn't the time to cry or to be scared, today she needed to know the whole truth of what happened in the day Akaza left.
What had Douma told him? If his objective from the start was just to bring Akaza back, then he already reached it, so why does he still appear almost every day to see her?
He says that 'likes' her, but she can't believe him.
But that was something she would have to ask directly to the demon, so when the night came, Y/N waited.
She sat down on her bed, and waited for him to come, like he always did.
“Oh my, you look pretty downcast today! I suppose you followed my advice and asked what happened to Daki?” He suddenly appeared beside her, jumping back when she quickly swung her sword at him.
“Why is it each time we meet you get more and more violent? One day, you might actually end up hurting me, you know?”
“Use your brain, dipshit! I AM trying to hurt you!” She attacked him again, which he defended.
“My feelings will be hurt like that~”
“It doesn't look like they are hurt to me!” She exclaimed back.
“You look cute even while angry!”
“Shut up!”
“At least try to consider my situation!” Douma kept casually talking to her while avoiding her continuous attacks. “I did all that before I realized how great you were!”
I think I like this guy.
'NO. YOU DO NOT. SHUT UP ETHER.'
“Who cares if it was before or after?! It's already done! And by the look you have on your face, I have a feeling you don't regret it one bit!” Y/N was righteously furious.
“Don't be so angry, why not try to talk, huh?” Even so, Douma kept smiling at her and not taking the girl seriously at all.
She took a few steps back, her hands still harshly gripping the handle of her sword as she took tired deep breaths.
“See? Doesn't matter how angry you are, you won't manage to hit me, so-”
Blood dripped down his cheek. There was a cut in it.
Now that he looked closer, the tip of her blade had a little blood in it.
That was… weird. No, really weird.
She was barely strong enough to approach him in their first meeting, and now she managed to lay a hit on him?
It was a very superficial cut, but it was still not normal for a human to get stronger so quickly.
“You told Akaza something in that day, didn't you?! What was it?!” She raised her sword again after catching her breath, seemingly ready for another attack streak.
“...” Ignoring her question, he reached his hand out to his face with a dazed expression, swiping his thumb across the cut as it quickly closed and then staring blankly at the red liquid in his hand.
“Hey! Are you listening?! Did you never see your blood before?! Hey! Hey! Tell me what you did! Hey!”
Y/N, I don't think he's listening to you…
“Aaargh! Look, be traumatized later, okay?! Just tell me what I want to knowww!” She grabbed his clothes, shaking him back and forth as he was still frozen.
“That…”
“That what?!” Y/N angrily questioned, starting to lose patience. (Not that she had much in the first place)
“That was really impressive! But it was too much of a small cut for me to feel pain! Next time, be sure to do a more profound wound, okay?” He smiled happy at her, approaching her face until their noses were almost touching.
“Whoa whoa whoa!” Y/N quickly backed away. “How many times do we need to have this talk?? Stop invading my personal space-”
“Eeeeeh??” He pouted. “But I really like seeing your beautiful face up close-” he took a step further.
“Nooo!” She aggressively shook her head negatively. “It's the complete, TOTAL opposite to me! I don't like you and your skittles eyes-”
“What's a skittle?”
“It's a- Wait! Stop distracting me!” Y/N jumped when she realized what she was doing. “What did you tell to Akaza?!”
“Even if you ask me, I just told him what the lord told me to say-”
“Which was?”
“Look, all I know is that the lord wanted to negotiate with him.” Douma shrugged. “Since he didn't come back, I suppose he succeeded.”
“......oh.” Y/N said, dejectedly putting the sword back in its hilt. “I guess that's how it is…”
Douma stared at her, tilting his head. He couldn't really understand why that made her so upset, I mean, you should expect that from an oni, shouldn't you?
“Don't be upset, Y/N! You still have me, isn't that great?” Even though he still didn't understand, he approached her and said this, it was a futile and terrible attempt of offering comfort.
Y/N stared blankly at him, and then sighed. “For YOU, of all people, to try to comfort me, I wonder how pathetic I must be.” She frowned.
It didn't look like she was going to cry, it looked more like she was tired.
She emotionless sat down on her bed, still blankly staring ahead of her.
“… I won't be getting rid of you any soon, will I?” Y/N suddenly asked.
“Nope, I intend to bother you for a long time.” He cheerfully responded.
“Then, may I ask you something?”
“You sure can!"
“I suppose, as much as I hate saying this, you're probably the best person I have to ask this.”
“Am I?” He tilted his head.
“Because you have no emotions and have no tact in handling people, you won't try to spare my feelings or something, right? You will be able to answer me honestly.”
“… I guess so?” Even he was starting to get confused now. Wait, didn't she just insult him?
“…can you please tell what's wrong with me?” She bit her lip, frustrated. “Why do I…? Why do I keep trusting people and getting used by them? Why do I always do it again? Why do I never learn? I am really that stupid?”
'That's a lot of questions… and they are all weird, too.' Douma thought.
He simply couldn't understand her reaction to Akaza's leaving.
When a subordinate betrays you or fails, then all you have to do is replace them, right?
Why was she so upset then?
..... Oh. that's right.
She didn't saw him as a subordinate, she genuinely saw him as a friend.
She probably really believed that Akaza was a good person.
A fool in all types of ways.
He should have realized this sooner, after all, if she truly wanted to gather subordinates, then she wouldn't treat him, who was stronger than Akaza, so rudely all the time.
So, there was the answer to all of her questions :
Y/N is a fool. Easily influenced. Easily tricked.
..... But, even though he knew the answer, for some reason, he found it really hard to say it out loud to her.
Why was that?
Y/N, noticing that he was quiet for a suspiciously long time, raised her head to stare at him while still frowning.
“So? Can you answer me?”
He jolted. “Uh-… I-”
It was a weird feeling. Is this what being nervous feels like? He wasn't sure, it was probably the first time in his life that he didn't know what to say to a human.
His heart was beating so fast, it was a feeling similar to when they met for the first time, and she lectured him.
But it was different… Because this human was just so… so… pitiful… he felt an unknown feeling by only looking at her and at her puppy-like sad eyes.
“Hey, I still hate you, but you creep me way more when you are quiet like this than when you're babbling around, what's wrong?” Y/N approached him.
He jolted with her sudden approach, quickly backing away from her.
'What the-' Y/N was perplexed. I mean, generally she's the one who's avoiding him, what's with this sudden change of roles?
“Hey, are you okay?” She frowned.
Douma still seemed to be lost in thought, covering his mouth with his hand and his face completely covered in a pink color.
His heart was beating so fast, why? What was this?
“I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really starting to get worried, did you hit your head or something?” Y/N commented, not trying to approach him this time.
Sure, he did like the way she looked angry, but how did he never realize how adorable she actually was?
Making friends with demons while disregarding their past and awful personalities, how adorable was that?
How adorable it was that even though she kept being betrayed, she kept believing in others?
Y/N was just too adorable for him.
“Look, if you're sick, I am already clarifying that I am not going to treat you, and if you're going to pass out do it in your cult or whatever, I don't want demon corpses in my room, okay?”
“I have an answer for your question now.” Douma suddenly smiled at her, a smile that made her feel weird.
There was something really… really odd about that smile. It looked just like the others he always gave her, but somehow, it felt different.
“The fault is not ours, Y/N.”
“Huh?”
“That's right. The fault lies in the others that used and betrayed you, so you're not stupid.”
“I-Is that so? Uh- This answer doesn't sound very believable to m- Gyah!” Y/N jumped when he grabbed her hands.
“Be sure to never change, okay? Stay like this forever.” He smiled brightly at her.
“… You're grossing me out. A lot.” Her surprised expression went back to the usual cold one she always gave him. “Can't believe I really got worried a second ago, of course you're still the same annoying demon...”
Even though she said all that, Y/N was suddenly feeling a sense of danger, like she was in deep trouble.
Douma already looked weirdly happy around her, probably because of his masochism, but it was different now.
“… Y/N, you love the humans from the corps, right? That's why you're always getting hurt, right? For their sake.”
“…” She gulped, she had an awful feeling about where he was going with that.
“But the more I think about it, the more it annoys me. If it keeps going on like this, aren't you just going to die because of them?” He commented, reaching out both of his hands to her face and grabbing her cheeks.
“It's the right thing to do.” Y/N sternly said in response while directly staring at his eyes, where was he going with this conversation?
Though his smile widened, he seemed to be… mad?
“As I thought, I really don't like this.”
“Who cares if you like it or not?” She grabbed his hands, who were still resting gently against her face. “Let me go.”
“Ah! I know! What if I kill all of them?”
Y/N froze, her grip on Douma's hands trembled. “...w…what…?”
“If they don't exist anymore, then you won't have to worry about saving anyone, right? It's better like this, right?”
She stared at him, wide-eyed and unable to respond. He couldn't be serious… could he?
“Actually, I believe I will do it right now! Why don't you rest peacefully while I go? I promise I will finish it quickly.” He finally let go of the girl.
Her weakened legs made her fall down on the floor.
'Kill… who…?'
She silently watched him go, approaching the door while humming.
'… everyone…?' It was starting to become difficult to breathe again.
'He's going to kill everyone…?' Her trembling hand reached out to her sword.
No.
No.
NO.
NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO-
Y/N. CALM DOWN.
She froze.
You remember what I told you, right?
'…I do.' She looked down.
Then now is the time.
The upper moon was about to leave the room, but froze when he heard a sweet voice. “Douma.”
He silently looked over his shoulder.
Y/N looked up, smiling so sweetly at him that he had to catch his breath for a second. He had never seen her smile before.
She gently opened her arms. “Come here.”
He blankly turned away from the door, walking over to her in a dazed state and crouching in front of her.
“There, there.” She gently wrapped her hands around him, resting her chin on his shoulder while kindly patting his head. “You're doing this for me, right? Thank you. I guess I was too mean to you before. What a good boy you are, Douma....”
His eyes looked hazy, her smell and sweet words were making his head fuzzy.
Y/N's expression didn't match her voice or words, her eyes looked cold, almost dead. It's a lucky thing that he couldn't see her face in the position they were.
Some time ago, Y/N had refused to indulge him.
But now it was different. The situation changed, he was acting too unstable.
“You don't need to kill anyone for me, okay? All you need to do is listen to what I tell you, you will do that for me, right?”
She wondered if using his feelings like this made her a hypocrite, or as much of a villain as Muzan was.
But whatever… if it was for the sake of the people she cared about, then she would accept being the villain. That was fine.
'Be sure to fall even deeper in love with me, and when the time comes, please die quietly for me, okay Douma?' She kept gently patting his head, her cruel thoughts not matching the gentleness of her touch.
Y/N was afraid of the night.
Yet more importantly, she was sometimes afraid of the person she turned out to be.