Chapter Text
Four moons decorated the void of night.
There used to be six, maybe even more, but according to NASA the fifth and sixth moon had collided and destroyed one another in the past. They were still there, technically, but they were too small to officially be considered as moons. Their debris was still orbiting earth, however.
Ryo tightened his coat as he looked up at the moons. Like every other time he did so, his heart was filled with melancholy. For what, he didn't know.
He finished his cigarette and stubbed it out in the ashtray. He took one last look at the night sky and walked back inside.
A sigh escaped Ryo's lips as he closed the balcony door. It was pointless to try to decipher his seemingly reasonless feelings. They've been haunting him his entire life and so far he had found no answer. No point in dwelling on it.
What there was a point to was direct action - Ryo took a seat on his lounge sofa and grabbed his phone from the coffee table. His thumbs moved rapidly over the display as he typed.
(TODAY)
'Akira I'm back in Japan. I need to meet up with you. Are you free?'
(21:42)
Not a minute later, his phone pinged with an enthusiastic reply.
'RYO!!!!!! :star-struck: :hugging face:'
(21:42)
'u didnt tell me u were coming back?? r u staying for good???'
(21:43)
Ryo snickered. Akira's texts were always so lively. It was hard not to smile. He had last seen Akira in-person before he left Japan, at age 14 to study in the United States. Akira had cried, as he tended to do, when he hugged Ryo goodbye at the airport. The fact that someone would miss him enough to cry at his departure warmed Ryo's heart to this day.
He replied.
': ) Yes, I'm staying in Japan for the time being. I'm sorry I didn't let you know sooner.'
'Things were a bit hectic lately so I didn't have the time to let you know.'
(21:44)
'thats ok!!! im just happy youre here!! so since when are u back?'
(21:44)
'My flight landed two hours ago. I've been back home for about half an hour.'
(21:44)
'omg arent u tired??'
'u should rest for tonite'
'oh but now im too excited to sleep :laughing:'
(21:45)
Ryo covered his mouth to hide his goofy smile. Akira was too cute. He pinched his own cheek to reign himself in. Control yourself.
'If it's alright with you, I could come pick you up now. It's the weekend. We could hang out and catch up.'
(21:46)
'!!!!'
'wait pick me up?'
'didnt you say your parents are doing research in peru?'
(21:46)
'They are. I have a driver's license.'
(21:47)
'dude!!! alright!!! :star-struck:'
'wait youre not 18 yet?? ryooo'
(21:48)
'I have my ways.'
(21:48)
':unamused face:'
'did u bribe the driving teacher -_-'
(21:48)
'Akira, don't ask questions you don't want to hear the answer to.'
(21:49)
'So do you want me to pick you up or what?'
(21:50)
':rolling eyes: of course i do!'
'just gimme a sec to tell the makimura's im leaving and yknow pack my stuff and im good'
(21:50)
'Alright then. I should be there in about 20 minutes.'
(21:51)
- - -
Ryo hadn't even parked properly before Akira ran out of the Makimura's house, with a big smile on his face. Ryo couldn't help but smile back. What a goof.
Akira fidgeted with the strap of the overnight bag hanging off his shoulder as Ryo positioned his fancy sports car on the sidewalk. He set the parking brake in place, unbuckled his seatbelt, had a quick look in the mirror to check if his fringe looked right, and got out.
"Akira!" Ryo dramatically opened his arms. Akira grinned and returned the hug.
"Ryo! It's so good to see you again! How've you been?"
Akira still had his hands on his waist. Ryo tried his hardest to ignore how it made his heart beat faster. Akira was always like that - kind and sweet, at times touchy, but always oblivious. He didn't know what the simple contact did to Ryo.
Ryo patted Akira's arm in a friendly manner. Because they were friends. Buddies. Akira's best platonic buddy boy, Ryo Asuka. Yup, that's him.
"Oh, you know. Same old, same old."
"Ryo, how is studying in a foreign country on your own the same old." Akira laughed and shook his head.
Ryo grinned toothily. "Touché."
He gave Akira one last pat on the arm and walked back to the car. "Come on, we can catch up on the drive back."
- - -
"So uh... why aren't we at your parents' house, Ryo?" Akira took of his shoes and put on the indoor slippers.
"It'd feel weird without them there. I'm renting this apartment instead." Ryo said as they both walked into his spaceous living room.
It didn't really look lived in yet. As expected, when Ryo had only been back to Japan for a couple hours. Akira instantly made up his mind to help his friend make his new apartment feel more homey. The corners of his mouth tugged up at the thought.
"What're you smiling about, silly?" Ryo flicked Akira's head. "You can leave your bag where ever. C'mere and help me pull out the sofa bed - I don't wanna do that shit when we're about to fall asleep."
Akira clapped his hands. "Oh yeah, let's have a slumber party, like old times!"
His timid nature instantly caught up with him though, and he flushed in embarassment at his childish outburst. "I mean..."
Ryo had to bite back a grin. So cute.
He doubted he was going to be able to sleep peacefully, but he could never deny Akira anything.
"That's a great idea actually. Now come help me with the sofa so we can start our retro slumber party."
Akira nodded and helped Ryo tug out the sofa bed. Then they covered it in blankets and pillows. Ryo switched off the main light and turned on one of the decorative table lamps.
Akira sat down and let himself fall backwards into the cushions. A happy sigh escaped his lips.
"So comfy..."
"You're not already gonna fall asleep on me, are you?" Ryo poked Akira's side.
Akira flinched and flailed his arms. He was a bit ticklish. He sat up and crossed his arms carefully to protect himself from any future tickle pokes.
"No way, I haven't seen you in two years. I'm still waiting on that update of yours - how was America? Did you make any foreign friends? What are you going to do now? You never told me much about that stuff in our texts either." Akira pouted.
Ryo seated himself more comfortably in the sea of pillows. He thought carefully about how to answer. After all, he wanted to have at least one more normal peaceful weekend with his friend, before he revealed the horrid truth he now knew about.
Ryo tugged at a strand of hair as he talked.
"America was alright. I don't know, there's not much to tell, really. My parents came to visit me twice and the rest of the time i lived with our secretary, Jenny.
People are louder and more direct over there. I didn't really befriend anyone - I prefer your company."
Ryo looked over at his friend and ah, there it was. A sweet, goofy grin.
"Aw, Ryo, you're my favourite friend too." Akira bumped his shoulder with his.
Ryo lightly bumped him back. "So, what's new with you?"
"Hmm..." Akira gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. "I pretty much always told you what happened when it happened....unlike someone", Akira looked purposely over at his friend, "I try my best to keep my best friend in the loop."
"Alright, alright, I get it."
Akira grinned and his gaze turned sneaky. "Is that so? Then you wanna tell me why you smell like cigarette smoke?"
Ryo pulled out a lighter from his trousers' pocket. "Might have something to do with this."
Akira pouted.
"Ryooo, you know smoking's bad for you."
Ryo ignored the statement. He got up and waggled the lighter between his fingers.
"Well, since you got me, I might as well go out for a smoke. Are you coming with?"
Akira sighed loudly as he got up. "Fiiine."
He followed Ryo outside, onto the balcony.
- - -
Ryo lit his cigarette and took a drag. He huffed out the smoke and watched as it curled upwards. Akira frowned a bit at the smell, but didn't say anything.
They both leaned against the wall and looked up at the moons. Neither spoke for a while.
Just when Ryo was about to take a last drag from his cig, Akira turned to him and spoke in a serious tone.
"Ryo, I feel like you're not telling me something. Is there something bothering you?"
Oh, Akira. He could never keep things from him, not for long. Ryo sighed and smiled sadly at the other.
"You're right, there is something. A big Something. I wanted to have a normal fun weekend with you before I delved into that. But it seems I'm not as good at hiding secrets as I believe myself to be."
Akira's brow creased in worry. He grabbed Ryo's hand.
"You can tell me anything." He reassured him.
Ryo gave him a weak smile. "What I'm about to tell you is... not pleasant. It's horrible, in fact."
Ryo stubbed out his cigarette.
Akira steeled himself. So did Ryo.
"Alright, here I go. The truth is-"
- - -
"Ready to do this?"
Akira tugged Ryo into a quick but tight hug. He then softly pushed Ryo by his shoulders and nodded solemnly at him.
"Let's go."
Ryo opened the heavy warehouse doors. The both of them were instantly assaulted by a bass line so loud you could feel it in your bones. Akira struggled to adjust to the many strobe lights moving in hectic patterns across the otherwise dark room.
Together, they walked inside, towards doom.
- - -
Ryo was already gripping an empty wine bottle, ready to bang it on the next hard surface and use it to slice the party goers bloody. Demons loved blood! But a sudden gut feeling made him stop in motion.
He shouldn't do that. Akira won't like it. Akira won't understand his reasoning. Akira would despise him for injuring these people, even if they were mindless pleasure-seekers bound to be dead soon.
Ryo didn't know where this bad premonition was coming from but he was not going to question it. Better be on the safe side. He didn't want Akira to dislike him.
Ryo broke the bottle in half. He took his jacket, shirt and binder off.
'Welp, here goes nothing.' He thought, then proceeded to stab himself with the broken bottle.
Blood gushed from his abdomen.
Ryo hissed in pain. Something told him he needn't worry about injuries putting him in actual danger, so he continued to slice his arms and chest up. Not too deep wounds, just enough for the blood to surface and entice the demons.
Ryo looked down at himself. Blood was running down his chest and stomach. It was kinda enticing to look at, in a grotesque sort of way. Fear trickled down his back, and he grinned sharply in response.
Let the bloodbath begin.
- - -
Not long after, you could hear the first screams.
- - -
Ryo quickly put his coat back on and tied its belt sloppily to keep it in place while he ran.
He had lost Akira in the ensuing chaos. Demons were bursting out of people left and right, and Ryo tried his best to avoid them as he stumbled across the dance floor. The cuts on his body were deeper than he had intended - they stung with every heavy step.
Lost in hazy thought, Ryo didn't pay attention to his surroundings for a minute.
A terrible mistake.
There was a monstrosity right across from him, only a couple metres away. Ryo quickly pulled out his gun.
As the demon rushed at Ryo, seemingly impertinent to his bullets, Ryo's eyes widened in fear. He didn't know why, but his ever present gut feeling told him that fusing with a demon wasn't a possibilty for him here. Was this how it ended for him?
Just as the demon was about to reach him, hideous spiked claw arm readily raised to slice him open, Ryo's vision whited out.
Next thing he knew the demon was nowhere in sight and he was standing there completely unharmed.
What just...?
But there was no time to contemplate what the hell just happened - he had to find Akira. Now that pandemonium had broken loose, he had to ensure Akira stayed alive. Sweet, kind, gentle Akira... Ryo clenched his fist in determination and ran into the next best direction.
And then a blood curling roar shook the warehouse.
Ryo's breath stuttered out a breath. Amon, his mind provided.
He pulled his jacket tighter over his naked upper body and continued running towards the direction of all the noise.
- - -
He was staring.
"Akira...?" Ryo softly called out to his friend. At least he hoped it was still his friend, and not a demon. He wasn't entirely certain, with all the demon bits decorating the dance floor.
At the sound of Ryo's voice, Akira turned around.
Ryo was suddenly overcome with the feeling of this being a bit different than how it usually went. Than usual...?
It's not like Best Friend Fuses With Demon was a regular occurence. What a silly thought. Ryo mentally brushed it off, ignored that undefinable feeling in his chest.
He took a good look at Akira as he ran towards Ryo. Akira looked like a child beast - wings on his head framed his face, sharp teeth and claws gleamed, fluffy fur covered his lower half - all very contrary to his rounded face still not changed by puberty. His tail swished lazily behind him.
It was, frankly, adorable.
Ryo reached towards one of the wings on the boy's head. "How's it feel? You okay?"
Akira's now black framed eyes met his. His grin really showed off his new fangs.
"I feel so strong!!" He flexed his arms in excitement. "Fighting feels incredible!"
He grinned at Ryo, and Ryo weakly smiled back. No point in worrying his friend about his injuries, Ryo was going to be fine. Akira hadn't noticed yet anyway.
Akira suddenly frowned. His nose twitched as he lowered his arms.
"What is...that awful smell..?"
He turned his back to Ryo to take a look at the carnage left in his wake. Akira's happy mood evaporated instantly. He walked forward, taking in the horrid view before him.
Colourful demon guts were scattered all over the dance floor. The electronic equipment was utterly destroyed, the turntable broken in half. Most of the light system was broken, with a couple strobe lights still weakly flickering on and off, a mockery of the mindless fun and pleasure that happened here not an hour ago.
The floor was decorated in piles of demon and human corpses.
Akira's expression fell. His body shifted back into his mostly human form. The only visible demonic features where his darkened eyes, sharpened teeth and fingernails.
"Ryo, I just killed people."
He looked down at his clawed hands. Yellow blood was sticking to his fingers.
Ryo grabbed one of his hands to wipe the blood off with a tissue. Then he repeated the action with the other hand.
"No. You killed demons. You're protecting people, Akira."
Ryo squeezed Akira's fingers in reassurance.
"You did amazing work. I knew your heart was pure - this just proved it."
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly to form a crooked smile.
And then Ryo's legs gave out under him.
"Ryo!" Akira caught Ryo before he could split his head open on the glass splinter covered floor. "What's wrong?"
Ryo felt too dizzy to answer. Forming words suddenly felt impossibly hard. A vague murmur was all he could muster. He was so tired. It seemed that his status of shock that had kept the pain at bay was evaporating rappidly.
Akira carefully kneeled on the ground with Ryo in his arms. He noticed red stains of blood seeping through Ryo's coat.
"Ryo?"
Akira hesitantly untied and opened Ryo's coat. He was momentarily surprised by the sight of soft rounded breasts.
"Wha-?"
But before he could blush, his sight jumped to the blood seeping from various cuts on Ryo's body. He could be confused about Ryo's breasts later. Now wasn't the time.
Akira shifted Ryo a bit in his arms to get a better look and Ryo hissed in pain. They both frowned, in worry and in pain respectively. He gently wrapped Ryo into his coat again and stood up, carrying his friend in his arms in a princess carry.
He tried to make eye contact with Ryo.
"I'm gonna take you to the hospital."
Ryo wanted to complain but his hazy mind wouldn't let him. He 'mmph'd instead.
Akira took careful steps back out of the warehouse. They'd need to take care of the mess in there later on. How, he didn't know - but Ryo usually found a way for things like that.
He shifted back into his mostly human form and rematerialized his pants with his newfound powers. Amon sure had some weirdly specific abilities... but he wasn't going to look a gift demon in the mouth.
Akira folded out his wings, leathery and black as the void. He readjusted his grip on Ryo, who seemed to barely stay awake, and took off into the sky.