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Every parent warns their child away from demons; Takao Kazunari’s mother was no exception. “Never make a bargain with Beasts, my son,” she said. “Live a virtuous life and demons will never cross your path.”
But Takao Kazunari had never been good at living a virtuous life.
*
The fifth day the demon comes to his village, Takao decides to talk to him.
“What kind of demon needs glasses, anyway?” he says as his opening line.
The demon looks at him with a mixture of disgruntlement and curiosity. “Demons do not need glasses. I wear these for luck.”
Takao bursts out laughing. “That’s even crazier! What kind of demon needs luck?”
“I do,” the demon says, stiffly. “I am a fortune type demon. I create luck, or dispel it.”
“Fascinating,” Takao says, mulling this over.
“And who are you?” the demon asks.
Takao shrugs. “Just the resident village madman. Every village has one, didn’t you know?”
“Takao, who the hell are you talking to?” Miyaji the baker asks.
Takao points to the demon.
“You’re talking to a frog?” Miyaji asks.
“Is that what he is? Good to know,” Takao replies cheerfully.
Miyaji opens his mouth, but Otsubo the blacksmith claps him on the shoulder. “Ignore him, you know there’s no point.”
Takao turns back to the demon and grins. “See?”
“I do,” the demon acknowledges. “You have the Sight, and the fools around you don’t appreciate your value.”
“To be fair,” Takao says affably, “Seeing things others do not is generally an indicator of insanity.”
“That does explain how you were able to see my true form.” The demon doesn’t seem all that interested in being fair to the other villagers.
*
“So, a frog, huh? I guess that makes sense.” The demon is green, after all. Green hair, green eyes, ridiculously tall. No one would think twice about a frog sitting on the edge of the village well, and that certainly explains why there wasn’t an outcry over the demon’s appearance in the village.
“What are you here for anyway? Are you going to attack the village? Poison the well? Carry off the children?”
“Of course not,” The demon says, sounding disgusted. “Such things have little interest to me.”
“So you’re just people-watching then?”
The demon doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, and when he replies his demeanor shifts. “I am a fortune demon, I make bargains with those in need of luck. Do you need luck, human?”
“Hm, not particularly,” Takao replies. “I’m the village madman, there’s not much I require.”
“But clearly you need your luck turned around,” the demon insists. “I could make it so you were the most respected person in all the realms, I could make sure you have power and wealth beyond imagination. I could make you a prince. You need only name your desire, and I could make it happen.”
Never make bargains with Beasts, my son.
“Well, that is a tempting offer,” Takao says with a grin. “But I’m not sure what it is I want yet. Tell you what, how about you came back here tomorrow, and maybe we can make a deal then.”
“Very well,” the demon says. “Then I will meet you tomorrow, Takao.”
*
The demon returns to the well the next day. Takao knows he should keep away, he knows there are some things in life that should not be treated as a game, but he cannot resist. Life would not be worth living if he couldn’t enjoy himself, and what better enjoyment could there be but to dare what others fear?
“Surely, you must have other things to do than wait around here,” Takao says.
The demon pushes up his glasses (Takao wonders what others see—is there a frog wearing glasses, per chance?) “I enjoy visiting. My presence here has nothing to you.”
“Of course not,” Takao concedes. “You were here before we talked, after all. Are you waiting for something in particular?”
“No,” the demon says.
Takao des not believe him.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you like,” the demon says. “Have you settled on something you desire?”
“There are just so many things,” Takao says cheerfully. “I am just a poor madman. However could I pick just one thing to improve my circumstances, when blessed with such opportunity?”
The demon regards him with deep suspicion, as if he guesses Takao is not being serious but cannot prove it.
“What would you ask for, demon-san?”
“I would not ask for anything,” the demon replies. “I make my own luck.”
Takao isn’t sure why he finds this so hilarious—perhaps because it is a fortune demon claiming to make his own luck, perhaps because this demon has got to be the absolute worst seducer into temptation there ever could be—but Takao bursts out laughing regardless.
The demon does not appreciate this.
*
“So what do I call you, demon-san?”
“Midorima Shintarou,” the demon says, in a voice that would be a sulk in a mortal man (but surely demons are above such petty resentment).
“Hmmm,” Takao muses. It is a very serious sounding name for a demon who seems so absurd. “I’m going to call you ‘Shin-chan.’”
“No, you will not,” the demon says.
“No, I’m pretty sure I’m going to,” Takao says, grinning.
The demon stares at him for a very long time. “You are a very irrational human,” Midorima says finally.
“I did tell you I was the resident madman,” Takao says.
“That you did,” Midorima acknowledges.
*
Midorima returns the next day to ask if Takao has something he desires, to which Takao replies he still needs more time. They spend the rest of the day discussing red bean soup, which against all odds, the demon enjoys quite a bit.
*
The next day, Takao still needs more time to settle on his wish, but they have an enjoyable conversation about a game Takao used to play as a child, and one that Midorima seems to have very strong opinions about, for a demon.
*
By the next day, Takao is beginning to realize the demon is not quite so demon-like as should be expected.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Shin-chan,” Takao says delicately. “But have you always been a demon?”
Midorima falls silent, and Takao almost regrets asking the question. He is surprised by how much he enjoys these conversations (a sure sign of insanity, if ever there was one).
“Whatever I used to be does not matter,” Midorima says. “What I am now will never change.”
And Takao should leave it alone but he can’t. “Do you wish it could?”
Midorima doesn’t reply. When he does he says only, “I will see you tomorrow, Takao.”
The day passes without Midorima asking Takao if he wants to make a bargain.
*
The demon, in fact, never asks Takao to make a bargain again, but he returns to the well every day. Takao keeps returning too, even if he’s no longer sure why. He feels like he should ask why the demon no longer offers a bargain, but he’s afraid if he does that will ruin the careful balance they have now.
“Why do you keep talking to that frog?” Miyaji asks one day.
“He’s a stunning conversationalist and really fun to tease,” Takao responds.
Miyagi considers this. “You laugh a lot.”
“I like to laugh,” Takao says, although he’s not sure he likes where this conversation is going. He is used to everyone ignoring his strange behavior. Being insane is the next best thing to being invisible.
“You seem happy, is all I’m saying,” Miyagi says with a shrug.
*
Takao isn’t sure if it is stranger that his best friend is a frog or a demon, but mostly, he thinks it strange that he has a best friend at all.
And he should know better.
Demons offer false promises, they are incapable of love. That is what his mother told him as a child, that is what every mother tells their child.
But before he met a demon he would have said that it was common knowledge that demons did not wear glasses, or like red bean soup, or have opinions about children’s games.
Midorima Shintarou is a very uncommon demon.
*
As the seasons shift to winter, Takao thinks that surely things can’t go on like this. (And how terrifying it would be if they can’t go on like this).
So one day, when the air is crisp and the snow has just begun to fall and Takao has to stuff his hands in very thin pockets for warmth, he approaches the demon with a grin and dangerous desires.
“You know, Shin-chan, you haven’t asked if I want to make a bargain with you lately.”
The demon tenses. “It was very clear that you did not have something you wished for. I do not believe in wasting my time.”
And yet he still came back to the well, again and again. Surely that meant—?
“You’re right. I didn’t have a wish then, but I have something I wish for now.”
The demon hesitates, and he doesn’t look at Takao when he says. “I see. It is colder now, and you wish for your luck to turn.”
“It is colder now,” Takao admits. “But I am used to frozen winters.”
“You do not wish to make a bargain with me,” Midorima insists. “You are smarter than that.”
Takao sits down on the rim of the well. “Are you trying to talk me out of making a bargain with you?”
Midorima meets his gaze straight on then, looking at him in a grave yet urgent way. “You do not wish to make a bargain with a fortune demon. It never ends well.”
Takao gapes at him. “You are trying to talk me out of this. What kind of demon are you?”
“A very bad one, perhaps,” the demon allows. “Trust me on this, Takao. You should not make a bargain with me.”
And it is a sorry sort of world when demons give the same advice as Takao’s mother.
Takao looks down at his feet, frustrated and more filled with longing than before. “Will you come back tomorrow?” he asks.
“Yes,” the demon promises.
“And—things will be the same as before?” Takao doesn’t want things to change.
“Things will be exactly the same as before.”
*
But Midorima lied. Things are not the same.
Because the next day, the princess comes to the village.
*
The princess enters their village with the same majesty as a thunderstorm. Her presence is loud, impossible to ignore, and completely disruptive, with the potential to bring ruin in her wake, but absolutely no one can deny that she has a very powerful demeanor.
Takao doesn’t expect her to remain long in their village; royalty have made such stops before. And he certainly doesn’t expect to see her at the well.
And he would have never, not in a million lifetimes, thought the princess would talk to Midorima.
*
He freezes in his spot; just close enough to see and hear what is happening, but far enough away that he could never be mistaken for being included in this exchange at the well.
It is irrational, Takao knows, to feel possessive of a particular spot by the village well, and even more illogical to feel a proprietary claim over a demon. But it burns to see the princess where he should be; it aches in his very soul to see the two conversing.
He has never met another person with Sight like his, and he thinks it strange to find such an ability in royalty, but then he overhears the princess say, “And why should I listen to you? You’re just a disgusting frog.”
“But I can help you,” Midorima says. “I can swim to the bottom of this well and retrieve what you lost. But if I do, you must make a promise to me in return.”
The princess considers this, and Takao thinks her mother must not have warned her about making bargains with demons, because she does not have any fear about her position.
(And what, Takao wonders, does she think is happening right now? Does she believe she is conversing with a talking frog? Does she find nothing wrong with the existence of a talking frog? Or is that part of a princess’ daily life?)
“What would I have to do in return?” the princess asks, revealing that she does have some common sense after all.
“You must keep me as your companion for all your days,” Midorima says.
Takao’s entire body grows cold.
*
“Why would I want to keep a frog as a companion?” the princess asks, even as Takao wants to scream, “But that is what I wanted! That is all that I ever wanted!”
He can’t believe what is happening.
“If you do not want my help…”
“No, fine! I’ll do it! I just want my golden ball back!”
Takao is not sure what the princess or anyone else sees, but he watches Midorima lean over the well and come back with a dagger.
“My ball!” the princess says. “It is my most favorite toy.”
“And now you must keep your side of the bargain,” Midorima reminds.
The princess scrunches her nose and says, “Yuck. I am not going to keep a frog with me, and you can’t make me.”
She turns and strides away like a haughty whirlwind.
Midorima’s expression is calculated; he watches the princess leave with the same intent a cat might watch a mouse.
Takao knows two things: clearly, no one ever did warn the princess about making bargains with demons.
And Midorima is going to leave the village to follow her.
*
The night before the princess is set to leave the village, Takao goes to the well for what he can’t help but feel is the last time.
Midorima confirms this almost right away, when he stares at Takao intently and says, “I’m leaving in the morning, Takao.”
Takao tries to smile and fails. Instead, he puts his hands behind his head, leans against the well, and stares up at the night sky. “Yeah, I know. You’re going after that princess, right?”
“We made a bargain. No one can escape a bargain, once made.”
I tried to make a bargain, and you wouldn’t let me. But Takao can’t say those words, not out loud. He feels too much like a petulant child for just thinking them. Or worse, like a spurned lover.
“Takao, do you trust me?”
Takao forces himself to meet Midorima’s gaze. Midorima looks at him like he never wants to look at anything else.
There are so many answers to that question. “No, of course I don’t trust you, you’re a demon.” Or, “How can I trust you, you don’t tell me anything,” and most prominently, “You’re running off to chase after some princess who drops things down wells and make bargains with random frogs, how am I supposed to ever trust you again?”
What he says instead is, “Of course I trust you, Shin-chan.”
Midorima raises his hand and stops; his hand so close to Takao’s face Takao can almost feel the warmth of his fingertips. Slowly Midorima drops his hand to his side and says, “I trust you, Takao. You are the first and only person I have ever trusted.”
And with just that, Takao would do anything Midorima asked. It’s pathetic, he knows it’s pathetic, but he has been the village madman for so long he’s forgotten what it’s like to be trusted, and with this he could traverse mountains.
“I am leaving tomorrow,” Midorima says again. “But I will come back to you.”
Don’t believe the lies that demons tell, Takao’s mother had warned him.
But trust, Takao is realizing, isn’t always something you choose, no matter what your mother tells you. Sometimes it just happens.
“OK, Shin-chan. Do what you need to do and come back.”
*
The princess departs in the morning, with Midorima trailing after her. Once again Takao wants to know what other people see—some lonely frog hopping desperately after a carriage perhaps.
Takao does not see a desperate frog, but a man on a hunt.
It is he who feels desperate. But this is a story about princesses and frogs, where things like demons and enchantments have starring roles.
From the beginning, Takao had no place in this story.
*
Takao thinks a lot about stories, and what kind of story he would like to have.
There are stories of people who wait. The left behind. They are usually rewarded for their fidelity, unless they pine away and die.
Takao is not the kind of person who pines. But there is a pain in his heart that he doesn’t expect. The days that pass without Midorima are agonizing in their slow seconds and each day the pain in Takao’s heart increases, so much so that he begins to feel weighted down by his own misery.
Finally, the weight is too much. He really might die from it.
And he decides that this is not the kind of story where he waits after all.
*
It is not difficult to find out which kingdom the princess lives in. The journey is long, especially so because he is on foot, but Takao feels better now with a goal in mind. He walks, and he whistles as he walks, and he sleeps in trees when night falls, and when he sleeps he dreams about Midorima.
*
“Princess,” Midorima calls, “Princess, you have made a bargain with me, and it is one you must keep.”
“Never,” the princess says. “You are a disgusting frog and I will never keep you at my side.”
“Princess, princess, you must fulfill your bargain; you must keep me at your side for all your days. We made a bargain, you and I, and you must keep your side as I have kept mine.”
“Daughter, is this true?” the king asks. “Did this frog help you? Did you give your word?”
“And what of it?” the princess shrugs. “What does it matter, if I have only made a promise with a frog?”
“You are a ruler, and you must keep your word to everyone,” the king commands. “Take this frog and keep him as your companion.”
The princess obeys with a wrinkle of her nose.
*
Takao wakes, and he does not quite understand what it is he dreamed.
But the closer he walks to the place where Midorima is, the more he dreams about the demon.
*
“I hate you,” the princess curses. “I cannot bear to have you near me.”
“You have made a bargain with me, princess. And a bargain must be kept. I have kept my side of the bargain, and so you must keep yours.”
The princess is pale now. Not just her skin, but her hair and her eyes too, like the color is fading from her.
“Go away,” she says. “I would rather die than have you with me.”
Midorima smiles, small and catlike, and Takao is sure he is the only one who notices.
*
He is killing her, Takao realizes. Because that is what demons do. That is what demons are.
And maybe this should be a warning for Takao. Surely, this is what his mother meant with all her cautionary tales.
A wiser man would bow out now. Midorima spared his life once; Takao would be a fool to keep pursuing the company of demons.
But Takao is a fool. He is the village madman, he is unwise. How could he possibly turn around now?
The next day he meets another demon.
And he is very foolish indeed.
*
Takao knows what demons look like now, so the sky blue eyes and hair makes the Beast easy to spot in a crowd.
Takao speaks without thinking, “Wow, you are short for a demon,” and then immediately regrets his life choices. His mother would despair over his survival instincts.
The demon looks at him in surprise, “You can see me?”
Takao debates ignoring this and pretending he can’t actually see him, but he recognizes there is not much merit in that now. “Yup. It’s kind of easy, you know. Your hair really stands out.”
This new demon looks at him passively with a face that is practically expressionless. He seems so different from Midorima in almost every way, except for the fact that like Midorima, Takao didn’t really feel like he’s in danger when he talks to him. In fact, he seems even more non-threatening than Midorima.
“You seem very calm about meeting a demon,” the light blue demon remarks in a neutral tone.
“Pft,” Takao snorts. “Do you think you’re my first demon? I’m the resident village madman, I’ve seen demons you wouldn’t believe.”
The blue demon does not seem particularly impressed by this comment. “Yes,” he says slowly, “I see that now. A demon has marked you as his own.”
Takao blinks and feels a warm flush at the thought, immediately followed by horror at his own psyche. Clearly, he has failed his mother in so many ways.
“Midorima-kun, correct?” the blue demon asks.
“Er. Yes. You know Shin-chan? Do all demons know each other?”
“We do not all know each other,” the blue demon replies. “But I happen to know Midorima-kun very well.”
It is impossible to read more into such a flat voice, but Takao decides right then and there that he does not like this new demon. At all.
“Midorima-kun is doing something very dangerous,” the new demon says suddenly. When Takao looks at him, the demon continues.
“It is very likely that Midorima-kun will die.”
*
Takao stands there for a moment, not thinking anything at all. It takes a few moments for his mind to start functioning again, and when it does all he can process is the slow creep of horror that dulls all his senses.
“What did you say?”
“Midorima-kun is currently risking quite a lot with his new target. One wrong move and he could die.”
“But—he’s just doing what demons do, right? Targeting a human princess?”
“She is not someone any demon should make a bargain with; the royal family of that kingdom carry the blood of beast hunters,” the demon replies. “I do not understand Midorima-kun’s choice in this matter. He is not usually one to risk when he is not absolutely sure of the results. And I do not see how he could be sure in this situation.”
Takao swallows, his throat dry. Midorima is not the kind of person who would risk. Not unless he was sure.
“There must be something I can do to help him,” Takao cries out without thinking. “He can’t die!”
The sky blue demon regards him curiously. “Would Takao-kun do anything to help Midorima-kun?”
“Yes, of course I would,” Takao says. It does not occur to him then that he never gave the demon his name.
“Even if it meant tying your life to his?”
“That’s all I ever wanted,” Takao replies helplessly.
“I see,” the blue demon says, “Then I will help you.”
And then he thrusts his right palm towards Takao’s chest. It passes straight through Takao’s flesh, and the demon’s fingers wrap around Takao’s heart.
*
There is a hand gripping his heart, but it is more surprising than it is painful. Takao’s eyes widen and he is caught in this surreal moment where he cannot quite believe what is happening and also he’s not sure if he’s dying.
“You wish to be tied to him,” the light blue demon says, his face still unfairly passive through this whole exchange. “And so you shall be tied to him.”
The demon removes his hand from Takao’s chest and Takao falls to his knees, gasping for breath he didn’t even know he was holding. Now, he is in pain. Now he is sure he is dying. His heart is heavy in his chest, and no air is reaching his lungs no matter how much he struggles for breath. He grips at his chest and finds no open wound, no scar, no sign that a demon had gripped his heart.
He also finds that his heart is no longer beating.
The pain, the heaviness, the strike to his chest, all leave Takao to conclude that this must be what dying is like, and he is sorry he never got to see Midorima again.
The blue demon just stands there, watching passively as Takao slowly dies at his feet.
*
It is only after ten minutes pass that Takao begins to accept the fact that he is not dead after all.
“What did you do to me?” Takao asks as he slowly stands up again. He rests a hand against his heart. The pain is no longer as intense, but his heart still feels unnaturally heavy, and it is most definitely not beating. He also realizes that he is not technically breathing anymore, which is why his struggle for air produced no results.
“I have wrapped three metal bands around your heart,” the blue demon replies calmly.
“Oh, is that all?”
“The metal bands tie your life to Midorima-kun’s. So long as he is alive, you are alive. And so long as you live, so shall he.”
“That’s not—that doesn’t mean anything,” Takao protests, although he is not sure what that does mean.
“You wished to be tied to him. Now you are bound, for as long as you both do live.”
It’s like a marriage ceremony, almost, except the offhand way the demon pronounces this sounds more sinister than anything else. As long as you both do live.
“And what do you get out of this?” Takao asks, rubbing his chest. He’s sure that he can feel the metal there, but that is probably just his imagination. “That’s how this works, isn’t it? The demon always gets something in return for a bargain.”
“I have made a bargain,” the demon agrees. “But I never made one with you, Takao-kun. Farewell, I am sure we will not meet again.”
Takao blinks and the demon is gone, as if he was never there.
Now Takao is alone, not breathing, with three metal bands around his heart and a bargain he does not understand.
*
But he does not mind.
For the next day, he reaches the kingdom where the princess lives.
The kingdom that Midorima is in.
*
When Takao finally reaches the kingdom it is very strange to be surrounded by people again and he spends a fair amount of time wondering if the light blue demon killed him after all.
No one seems to be able to see or hear him.
He shouts and waves his hands and stomps on the ground, but nothing he does draws anyone’s attention. He places a hand over his heart, the metal bands heavier than ever. Your fate is tied to his now. He is a ghost in this story still; frozen in time until Midorima’s fate is decided. Perhaps no one can see him because he does not matter. Perhaps no one can hear him because he has nothing to add to this narrative.
He thinks it fitting, really, that he should have lived his life seeing things no one else could only to become one of those unseen things. If this is how his story ends, he can take some small comfort in the dramatic irony of it all.
With nothing to stop him, he walks right into the palace to find his demon and the princess.
*
It is bitterly disappointing that even Midorima does not see him. If his heart could still beat it would be breaking.
Midorima looks right through him like the ghost he is, and Takao learns all over again why you should not make bargains with demons.
He recovers quickly enough. This situation could also have a bright side. As it is, Takao takes this opportunity to observe the demon up close. Takao never really had the chance to notice how long Midorima’s eyelashes were, or how pale his skin was under lamplight; and also that the tall man possessed well-honed muscles and calluses on his fingertips like someone who worked very hard for his living.
Takao has to take a step back from Midorima; he is a little too overwhelmed by his own thoughts around the demon. Unseen, unheard by everyone, he might do something embarrassing if left unchecked, like place a kiss on the demon’s cheek to see if he would notice.
The princess, on the other hand, looks terrible. She was a beautiful, delicate creature when Takao had first seen her at the well; a faded, sickly version of that woman when he’d seen her in his dreams. Now she is barely recognizable as human; she is skin stretched over bones, gaunt in her misery; hair falling out in clumps. But her eyes—her eyes burn with a frightening vivacity and the fierce anger of someone who has walked through hell. Her eyes reveal that she is very much still living, and Takao has never been so terrified of another living creature. The demons he has met seem so gentle in comparison to the hell that is in her eyes.
“Princess, princess,” Midorima says softly, “Won’t you keep me by your side for always? Won’t you honor your bargain with me?”
“Never,” the princess says; and her voice is a howl, a shout in the wind, an echo in dark caverns that declares loudly her intent to keep on living. “I will never keep you with me, I will not honor bargains made with a creature such as you.”
Takao is, a little bit, impressed despite himself.
He wonders what exactly he is supposed to do now. No one can see him, not even Midorima; is he supposed to live out his life as the invisible observer? Witness first hand as this demon slowly drains the life out of this princess? And what then?
He is too busy wondering about his fate that he barely notices when Midorima reaches out to touch the princess’ wrist.
But all of the sudden, the princess shrieks, outraged and disgusted, and with a strength Takao would not have thought a healthy princess capable of, much less this skeletal thing—she shoves Midorima with tremendous force and flings him straight into a wall.
Then she pounces on him, and drives a knife in Midorima’s neck.
*
It is not a scream that escapes from Takao, but a completely inhuman noise of pain, outrage, and despair.
“Shin-chan!” he yells, pushing his way past the princess. She looks startled, both by the movement and by her own actions. But Takao has no attention to spare for her.
“Shin-chan,” he says, as he drops down to Midorima’s fallen form, not sure where to grab or touch. He lifts Midorima so that the demon’s head rests in his lap, as he desperately holds his hands to Midorima’s open wounds as if to stop the blood from coming.
Does Midorima see him? Hear him? It’s impossible to tell, because Takao is crying and he cannot see through his tears.
“Shin-chan, hang in there. You can’t die. You promised you were going to come back to me, remember? So come back to me.”
Midorima doesn’t react at all. His eyes grow dim, his body heavy in Takao’s arms.
Takao leans in, placing his forehead against Midorima’s, and feels his own death coming upon him now.
You are tied to him. As long as you both do live.
This is every bit the ending his mother always promised would come by interacting with demons. Takao closes his eyes.
*
There is a loud crack! sound that fills the air, startling Takao so badly his eyes fling open. He grips his heart as the pain there intensifies, and it feels, a bit, like it’s beating again.
crack! Another sound shocks him; it’s the sound of breaking, just as the pain in his chest intensifies and suddenly he can breathe.
It is the iron bands around my heart, Takao thinks, but he does not know what that means.
crack! And there is the third band breaking, falling away from him, and Takao is alive again; heart unbound; breathing.
Midorima gasps for air, moving in Takao’s arms.
“Shin-chan!” Takao exclaims.
Midorima takes in deep breaths as the wound on his neck disappears.
“Takao,” he says, reaching out to touch Takao’s cheek, marveling as if he was looking at some infinitely precious thing. “Takao, you beautiful fool. You really did it.”
“Who are you?” the princess exclaims. “Both of you? Where did you come from?”
Takao whirls on her, ready to defend Midorima from further attack.
Midorima stands up slowly and Takao follows him. Midorima bows to the princess. “I was the frog by your side, princess I am sorry for the trouble I caused and thank you for your aid. You will be well again soon enough.”
“The frog?” The princess looks like perhaps now she would not object to keeping him at her side. Takao presses close against Midorima, possessively.
“I wish you happiness,” Midorima says, bowing again.
And then he (and Takao trailing after) walks outside.
*
“I don’t understand,” Takao says. The people are staring at both of them. Midorima, the tall, green-haired man with blood on his shirt, is attracting quite a lot of attention. “They see you now.”
“That is because I am human now,” Midorima replies, pushing up his glasses.
“What?”
“You asked me once. If I had always been a demon. The answer is no, I was not. I didn’t think I would ever want to be human again. Until I met you.”
Takao warms at the thought, but he is still thoroughly confused. “But how?”
“You,” Midorima stares at him, and being the object of his incredible focus is dizzying. “My demon self needed to die. To do that, someone from the royal line needed to kill me.”
“That’s all it took?” Takao asks.
“Of course not,” Midorima says. “I would have died, except for you. As long as you lived, I would live. My human self was restored because a human offered up his humanity.”
It takes awhile for Takao to process everything Midorima is saying. “So, that blue demon—”
“Kuroko. I made a bargain with him. So that he would bind you, if you asked.”
“But you didn’t know I was coming!” Takao bursts out. “You told me to stay and wait! You had no idea I would come at all! How could you risk so much?”
Midorima cups Takao’s chin and lifts it, meeting his gaze. “I never take risks. I believed in you. There was no risk there.”
“You—” Takao starts. “You’re mad.”
“Then we are well matched,” Midorima says, smug.
And the only thing to do with that is to grab Midorima’s cheeks and pull him down and kiss him thoroughly, desperately, completely.
So that’s what Takao does.