Chapter Text
When Izuku first saw Kai, he was sure he was about to be killed or handed off to his attacker. So was the way of life in this miserable town for demons. The angels took and did whatever they wanted, and the demons had to shut up and deal with it. They were soldiers, protectors of humanity, and some of them had nothing better to do than make sure the demons barely strayed too far from home.
Izuku had known that his free time was coming to an end for months now.
You see, angels couldn’t love each other, couldn’t love humans, and they couldn’t procreate. Any violation of those rules would send them falling from the heavens to join the demons. They long since found their compromise. As long as they took on a demon for a bride or groom, they were well within their rights to get off their sexual urges. It didn’t matter if the demon was forced into the marriage, it didn’t matter if it was consensual in any way, they were absolved from sin the second those I do’s were said. They couldn’t divorce, but were free to take on as many spouses as they desired.
Demons had to ride a hard line between good and evil. If they were too evil, they were killed, too good and they were picked off by the angels for pleasure.
Sin showed on demons, an ever evolving fall from grace. It started from one fallen angel, they reproduced, and their growing grotesque features would be passed onto their child. Skin would dull or turn an ugly red, their wings would lose their feathers, horns grew from their head, and so on.
Izuku had always been an odd one out, being the reason his mother fell from grace. He was born “angel-perfect” according to Inko, despite his blackened wings.
Izuku could’ve made himself look horrible. He could’ve stopped caring for his wings until they became a fuzzied, useless mess. He could start committing crime and let his body grow demonic as the weight of what he’s done piled on. But his mother always told him he had a soft heart, and there was nothing wrong with that.
This also meant Izuku barely entered his teenage years before he noticed the way the angels were starting to watch him. It was only a matter of time before one made a move… and today was that move.
At first he just asked persistent questions, what Izuku’s name was, how old was he, if he was already engaged. Izuku tried his best to be polite, to get home, but the angel didn’t make it easy. When things got more pushy, Izuku pushed back harder. Then the angel started getting angry, and Izuku tried to run.
He barely got into the air before suddenly his wings were snagged shut and he got sent to the ground. The tangled trap of a loose net only got worse the more Izuku panicked and struggled to free himself. Things only got worse when the angel drew a blade, threatening him to stop struggling so much. Izuku fought back anyways, but his courage tipped out as the blade sliced down his arm.
If Izuku was honest, he did not at all feel bad about kicking the angel in a sensitive area before running, hand trying to cover the bleeding wound.
That’s when he ran into Kai.
Kai was no ordinary angel, that was obvious enough even to a frantic Izuku. He carried the same beauty all angels did, as well as the toned body of a soldier. This angel in particular was a high ranking one, four pairs of wings resting on his back.
His gold eyes were cold as he looked over Izuku, flicking up to look at the other angel as he finally managed to catch up.
“O-oh!” The angel straightened up. “Good evening, sir!”
Kai didn’t look very impressed, gaze turning back to Izuku who could only stare, courage long since having run out.
“What did this one do?” His voice matched the coldness in his eyes, unfeeling and calculated.
“He attacked me, sir.”
Izuku slightly shook his head, unable to speak up for himself more than that. Why would an angel believe a demon over one of their own?
Finally, some emotion slipped onto Kai’s face. He stepped closer to Izuku, and the poor demon knew there was no point backing away as he wouldn’t be getting any further away from a threat. The angel’s hand raised towards his face.
“Open your mouth.”
Eyes wide with terror, Izuku listened despite being certain harm would follow.
A gloved thumb swiped his teeth, making him flinch away.
Kai looked back to the other angel. “You mean to tell me that a demon that doesn’t even have fangs randomly decided to attack a soldier?”
Fangs, Izuku faintly thought, one of the first things sinful demons grow.
The assailant stuttered, trying to make excuses, but quickly clammed up under Kai’s glare.
“I know what you were really trying to do, so don’t bother with your excuses.” The ice in his voice was enough to make Izuku shiver. “I don’t want to see you chasing after demons like this again, understand?”
“Yes, sir!”
The second he was dismissed, the other angel bolted, but Izuku didn’t feel much safer. Just because he chased off the other angel didn’t mean he didn’t have the same exact intentions.
Kai’s attention turned back towards Izuku, eyeing the rope in mild disgust. “How barbaric…” he muttered. “I’d burn the rope off, but I’d damage your feathers.” He seemed to consider something for a moment, glancing around at the narrow walls around them, before quite easily picking Izuku up.
Izuku squeaked, instinctively wanting to kick and free himself, but soon he was too high in the air to want to risk being dropped.
Setting down on a rooftop, he let Izuku down. “Sit down and face your back towards me, it’s going to take a while to get that rope off.”
The angel carried such a commanding voice, one Izuku instinctively wanted to obey. Instead, he shifted anxiously between his feet, debating on if he ran, would this angel just let him go.
“If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve,” he said, sounding a tad annoyed. “Now, turn around and sit down.”
Not wanting to test the angel’s temper, Izuku wordlessly did as he was told. Between the constant thrum of terror going through him from having snagged wings and the bleeding wound on his arm, Izuku was surprised he wasn’t crying yet. Normally he was so quick to tears, and this definitely felt crying worthy.
He could hear the angel moving behind him, and he shuddered at every scuff. Demons simply did not leave themselves exposed to threats like this.
No blow came, but Izuku still jolted as Kai’s hands came in contact with his wings. It felt so wrong to allow someone to touch his wings. Izuku took great care to keep them oiled and functional, a task only his mother did beforehand. It had been so annoying, people feeling entitled to touch him just because they hadn’t seen a demon with functional angel wings.
“What’s your name?” Kai asked, slowly working the rope off and snapping whatever snagged too tightly.
“Izuku/” His voice sounded pathetically weak to his own ears, still processing everything.
“I’m Kai,” he offered in return. “Can you flex your wing right here?”
After Izuku showed that he could still move it, nothing was broken, Kai continued to work.
“I’ve seen a lot of demons over the years, but I’ve never seen one that looks like a freshly fallen angel,” Kai commented.
“How do you know I’m not?”
Kai snorted. “An angel as weak and young looking as you would’ve never been created.”
Ouch.
“No, you were definitely born, not created,” Kai continued. “But born demons don’t normally look like this.”
Izuku had long since gotten tired of explaining why he was the way he was. Still, he answered if only because he wasn’t sure how the angel would take him being unresponsive. “Both my parents were angels. They had a secret relationship and she ended up getting pregnant with me. When it was discovered, they both fell.” It never made Izuku happy to think about the fact that his very existence caused his mother so much pain. She always said that bringing him into the world was worth it and she’d never change it. Still, he recalled hearing how off the rails his father went, how much he blamed Inko for getting pregnant. Apparently he had transformed into a truly nasty demon.
At least his mother fared better. Her feathered wings were battered, her skin lost it’s glow, and she lost the body of a soldier. The hardships she faced when she had Izuku and needed to care for him were the cause of most of her mutations. It was not easy to raise a child alone, and it was also not easy to be hated by the community for once being an enemy. Fallen angels were a rare occurrence, so most of the demons in town were many generations down from their angel ancestor.
She was still beautiful to Izuku, and he was so grateful for everything she had done.
Kai hummed softly in response, having worked all the rope off one wing. “That would explain the lack of mutation, but still odd that you’re practically spotless.”
“I think it’s odd that angels can hurt us and still be resolved from sin,” Izuku bitterly snapped back, “It’s a surprise more of you don’t fall.” Then he shouldn’t have talked back. In a second, he was on his feet and warily eyeing Kai.
He didn’t look mad, but then again, he didn’t seem particularly expressive.
“You have a fair point,” Kai shrugged. “As soldiers, violent actions aren’t counted against us unless it’s done to another angel or a human.”
It was a blatant double standard when he came to demons. Demons committing violent actions would cause them to mutate. If Izuku recalled correctly, it was a generational curse that was placed on the fallen angel.
“I don’t want to hurt people. I’m not inherently bad anymore than angels are good,” Izuku said firmly despite barely being able to hold Kai’s gaze.
Kai nodded. “Apologies.” He gestured to Izuku to sit back down, “I’m not finished yet.”
Anger ebbing away, Izuku sighed and listened. It’s not like he could get away right now.
They fell silent after that, the only sound coming from the rope becoming undone.
As the last of it came off, Kai’s hand briefly went through the feathers. “Alright, stretch out your wings all the way.”
Izuku obeyed, and slightly winced at the twinge in one of his wings.
“Does it hurt?”
“Just a little, but I don't think it's broken.”
“Alright then, face me,” Kai said. “I saw that nasty cut on your arm earlier.”
Although Izuku would prefer to leave now before this somehow came to bite him in the ass, he figured he might as well let Kai take a look at it if they’ve come this far.
Kai took hold of Izuku’s arm, frowning at the cut. “Funny how he wanted you as a bride, but wounded you with a blade meant to kill demons. This wound will take years to heal naturally” He met Izuku’s eyes. “I can heal it, but since you're a demon, it will hurt a lot for a brief moment.”
Izuku simply nodded, preferring to take brief pain to years worth of it.
The angel’s hand hovered over the wound, and Izuku nearly screamed as his hand started to glow. It was like he could feel his body stitching itself back together, and it forced a few tears to his eyes as he whimpered and bit down the scream.
When it stopped, Izuku let out a shuddering breath of relief, eyes falling closed.
“Thank you,” Izuku finally said, but still wasn’t sure of Kai's intentions. “I… I have to ask if I’m expected to do anything in return.”
Kai shook his head, pulling out a handkerchief and taking Izuku’s hand. “I’m new to this town. Things like this happening where I’m from wouldn’t slide. That’s not how I was raised to command, at the very least.” He wiped the blood off the palm of Izuku’s palm. “I suppose I’m not doing this because I’m particularly kind, but because it’s expected of me, what my senior officer would want.”
Well, at least he was honest.
The knot that had formed inside Izuku had loosened a fraction, and it was like he could finally breathe. He’d be able to walk away from this.
“I’d still be careful, though,” Kai said, leaving the handkerchief in Izuku’s hand. “I’m not at the top of the chain, so I’m only allowed to stop things as I see them.”
Izuku hadn’t really anticipated things changing, if he were honest. Even if Kai had managed to stop the angels from harassing people overnight, it would take a long time for the town to heal. None of the young demons that were taken would ever be returned.
Standing up, Kai’s wings unfurled. It was almost unfair how beautiful angels really were. Izuku would be able to stare at those wings for hours if what they were attached to wasn’t the problem. “Get home safe,” Kai said, without any particular sincerity.
In a flash, he was gone, the wind from his take off blowing back Izuku’s hair.
The relief of being alone was instant. Before Izuku could really process it, he was crying. Maybe Kai scaring off the other angel would keep the others away from him, maybe the others wouldn’t be so bold… but Izuku knew he was officially on the market to be an angel’s bride.