Would you trade your soul?
Title: Would you trade your soul?
Pairing: Ohmiya
Summary: Would you be willing to exchange your soul in order to get your dearest wish?
Rating: PG-13 for kissing?
Disclaimer: The plot is mine. Helped by zazasukie
Genre: AU, Fantasy
Words count: 4565
AN: betaed by beastlover Thanks!
“I-I’ve decided what I want in exchange for my soul,” Nino gulped, extending a trembling hand with the document he had prepared last night. He had been hesitating, weighing up the pros and cons of his decision for days. Was he doing the correct thing? He wasn’t sure, but he knew that he was almost running out of time. Would the demon grant his wish? The thought of losing his chance made his heart beat painfully in his chest. He desired it with all … no, that wasn’t correct; he needed it no matter the cost. And so, he had finally decided to leave behind his doubts and worries and ask the demon for his dearest wish, hoping that the creature would accept his request.
The demon looked at him with a solemn expression, “If you are sure that this is what you want...”
Extending an elegant hand, he took the crumpled paper from Nino’s sweaty hands. With a last look at the young student, he lowered his gaze and began to read the contract.
Nino waited, squirming nervously. Would the demon accept his request? The young student wrung his hands unable to calm himself.
When the demon finished reading the paper, he raised his gaze to Nino with a strange expression on his face. “I’ll ask you again. Are you sure that this is what you want in exchange for your soul? Once the contract is signed, you won’t be able to change your mind.”
Nino nodded slowly. He was completely sure that his wish was worth the price he would have to pay.
The demon smiled and his eyes began to shine, their red light brightened up the dark room. “O.k.” he softly replied in a deep voice, “In exchange for your immortal soul, I, Ohno Satoshi, will grant you, Ninomiya Kazunari, your dearest wish.”
With a small gesture of his hand, the demon materialized a golden feather from nowhere.
Nino was trembling uncontrollably. He tried to relieve the sudden dryness of his throat, feeling a bit dizzy. There was no way back now.
The demon slowly licked the point of the feather with his eyes fixed on Nino, letting the young student glimpse a glint of his sharp fangs. With a smirk, the devil pricked his own finger with the sharp point of the feather. A single drop of liquid, as black as onyx, poured from the small wound.
The demon dipped the point of the feather in the blood. “Allow me to make just a small modification,” he winked at Nino mischievously. He crossed out something that the student had written in the contract and replaced it, showing the modification to Nino, who gasped, surprised.
After that, the demon smirked, satisfied, and signed the contract under Nino’s signature.
A second later, everything vanished in a bright, white light and Nino fainted, collapsing on the floor of his room.
~~
“What was that thing you wanted to show me so badly that it couldn’t wait until we finished class, Aiba?” Nino asked grumpily, entering the room of his tall, enthusiastic friend. He was sure that all this fuss was a prank to punish him for not coming to his basketball match earlier that day.
In class, his friend had raved about his incredible discovery, making sure that Nino would accompany him to his house without fail the exact moment the class ended. That alone hadn’t bothered Nino too much; after all he was accustomed to his lanky friend's eccentricities. However, when the teacher, alerted by Aiba’s loud whispers, had approached them, discovering Nino playing his NDS in the middle of the class, his mood had soured considerably. The angry teacher had confiscated his gaming device and had punished him with extra homework that would last him at least a month. Understandably, Nino wasn’t too receptive to his friend’s antics at that moment.
“Look, Nino!” Aiba exclaimed excitedly, without paying attention to his short friend’s sour mood.
The enthusiastic student opened the upper drawer of his desk, taking a thick, old book out.
Nino eyed the black, leather bound book with a frown. “What is this?” he pointed to the book in Aiba’s hands. “You made the teacher punish me just to show me a book?” he asked, getting angrier by the seconds.
“No, no. Look at it carefully. It’s not a normal book,” his friend exclaimed, pointing at the strange figure drawn on the cover of the old book. “It’s a book of black magic,” he gushed.
Nino examined the five-pointed star surrounded by circles and other geometric figures with over elaborate details that decorated the cover of the book. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Sho told me the same thing,” his friend protested, disappointed. “And he refused to come today, ‘my football practice is more important’ he said,” Aiba humpfed, remembering Sho’s reply. “But it’s true! It has an index with spells, it even has a spell to summon a demon!” he exclaimed, opening the book and showing Nino the index, written in strange and elegant handwriting full of loops and lines.
“Where did you get that?” Nino asked, looking mockingly at his friend with an eyebrow raised. “Did someone sell it to you affirming that it was a bargain? A shady, short man, covering his figure with a dark cloak, maybe?”
“For your information, I found it in the school library, in the upper shelf of the bookshelf at the corner, mixed up with the horror novels. And it isn’t a scam!” Aiba angrily stamped his foot on the floor. “I’ll prove it to you, right now!”
Under Nino’s sceptical look, Aiba began to prepare the ‘invocation’ spell, drawing a five-pointed star on the wooden floor of his room with a piece of blue chalk.
“I don’t think your mother will appreciate the new decoration and the drops of wax on her clean, polished, wooden floor,” Nino commented, watching his friend place some candles made of black wax on the points of the star. “By the way, where did you get all those things?” he asked, mildly interested.
“In the supermarket, of course!” exclaimed Aiba, finishing his preparations and lighting the candles. “You can make fun of me now, but I’ll be the last to laugh!” he affirmed, turning off the light.
Nino sighed, waiting for his friend to recover his senses.
“I summon you, Creature of Darkness. Leave your Demonic Realm to answer my call,” Aiba began the incantation, reading the spell in the book under the faint light of the candles.
“You’re going to ruin your eyesight if you keep doing that.”
Aiba didn’t pay him attention and kept reciting the spell. When he finished, he looked expectantly at the centre of the star.
Some seconds later, Nino turned on the lights and walked toward his disappointed friend, “I told you, didn’t I?” He took the book from his friend’s hands and cursed when a sharp page made a small cut on his thumb. He closed the book with a bang, licking his injured finger.
Suddenly, the room got very dark and a cold gust of wind blew out all the candles except the one that Aiba was holding. In the middle of the star, a growing cloud of dark grey smoke was forming, filling the room with its sulphuric scent. Inside the cloud, a dark figure was getting more and more solid with each passing second.
Nino, with his thumb still in his mouth, looked at the dark figure inside the smoke cloud with his eyes wide open. Beside him, Aiba was trembling uncontrollably, gaping at the centre of the cloud where a pair of red eyes where looking back at them evilly. “A-A d-demon…” Nino heard his friend whisper in awe.
The cloud slowly vanished, leaving only the dark figure, with his features hidden in the darkness of the room, looking at them. Shivers ran down Nino’s spine, freezing his blood.
As suddenly as it has gone out, the light returned, lighting the room and making both students cover their eyes in pain.
Nino gulped. What would he find when he looked at the creature waiting in the middle of the room? Maybe a hideous creature, with pointed horns, sharp fangs and leathery wings like an enormous bat? A monster that would tear them apart with his sharp claws the moment their eyes met? Trembling, Nino peeked through his fingers… and felt his jaw drop.
In front of them stood a man… no, scratch that, a boy, looking at them with a sleepy expression. The creature looked even younger than them!
The demon was dressed in a worn out black T-shirt, with grey jeans and sandals. He had dark, spiked hair and tanned skin, and was even shorter than Nino! He had a blank expression on his drowsy face and he looked like a baby with his soft, puffy cheeks. The only thing that gave him away were the red shinning pupils and the tail, ended in a triangle, which waved lazily behind him.
“Hi,” the puffy-cheeked demon said, raising a hand. “It has been ages since someone summoned me,” he grinned at the astonished students, letting them get a glimpse of his sharp, white fangs.
“W-what?” Nino looked incredulous at the sleepy creature in front of him. This must be a joke. Even his sister’s cat looked more devilish than him!
He was going to protest when Aiba’s excited blabbering interrupted him, “Are you a demon? The one I summoned reading the spell written in this book?”
“Yes and no,” the demon replied nonchalantly, scratching his arm distractedly.
“Yes and no?” Aiba repeated, puzzled by the strange reply.
“Yes, I’m a demon. No, you aren’t the one who summoned me. He was.” The tanned demon pointed at Nino, who gasped, surprised.
“I was the one who summoned you?” the short student asked indignantly. “I didn’t do anything!” he protested.
The demon shook his head, fixing his gaze on the grumpy boy, “Yours was the blood offered in sacrifice, the most important part of the ritual and the thing that binds the demon to the summoner.”
“My blood?” Nino frowned and he was beginning to deny it when he remembered the cut on his finger. “This tiny scratch?” he asked, showing his injured finger to the demon.
The demon nodded, “Yep, a single drop of blood is more than enough.”
Nino was going to protest again when the demon interrupted him. “My name is Ohno Satoshi. I apologize for my informal attire, but you summoned me when I was in the middle of my holidays. Please, take my business card,” he offered the two boys cards, bowing apologetically.
“B-Business card?” Aiba asked, astonished, taking the elegant card from the demon’s hand.
“Yes,” the short creature nodded, “we are proud to offer the best service to our customers. A simple and straightforward exchange between the interested parties.”
Nino looked at the astonishing creature who was giving them informational brochures, summoned from nowhere, about - what the heck was that?
The brochure explained in great detail the different deals a human could make with a demon, what the human could offer and what he could get in exchange, specifying a large variety of wishes and explaining the exceptions and rules of the deal clearly.
“What is this exactly?” he asked, puzzled, pointing at the informational brochure.
“Our informational brochure,” the demon beamed at him, “after too many years of shady deals and huge piles of complaints, we finally summarized and specified everything in those little pamphlets. It makes things much easier.”
“A valuable material possession, after being adequately appraised, can be exchanged for one of the following wishes: an increase of X% in the exchanger’s salary during the following four years (the demonic part doesn’t guarantee that the human will keep their job during this period), grabbing the attention of the loved person during X days (after that, the exchanger doesn’t get more help from us, but we undertake not to change the outcome of his/her efforts during that period of time)…” Aiba, astonished, began to read the first page of the pamphlet.
“Well, I must go now. Please, read those pamphlets carefully before summoning me to grant one of your wishes. And don’t forget to have a look at the special offers and profitable discounts for our regular customers at the end of the pamphlet! Bye.” The demon disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke; leaving the stunned students looking open-mouthed at the point he had been occupying a second before.
~~
[The first deal]
“How did I end up in this situation?” Nino wondered, not for the first time.
Believe it or not, everything started as an innocent attempt to avoid failing an exam. Though the creature had piqued Nino’s curiosity since their first encounter, - O.k. he thought the demon was cute, are you happy now? - he hadn’t intended to summon him again.
He had ignored both; Aiba’s pestering and Sho’s warnings. Surprisingly, the latest had been the most insistent. Terrified of the ability to summon a demon, Sho had refused to believe in the feigned good nature of the puffy-cheeked creature. “What a joke!” humfped Nino. If that demon was dangerous, then almost half of mankind was formed by crazy psychos seeking your blood.
Normally he didn’t need help to pass his exams, but that time was different. The teacher who had set the pop quiz had an irrational dislike for him - hey, he wasn’t the only instigator of the innocent prank that left the teacher covered in honey and feathers! Besides, he hadn’t studied for that subject lately - he had been too occupied saving poor Princess Peach from the evil Koopa!
Finally, after some time pondering pros and cons, he decided to summon the demon and exchange his beloved NDS for a passing grade on the exam.
The demon was so happy to have finalized a deal successfully that he hugged the surprised student, promising that he wouldn’t have to worry about that subject for the rest of the year - Such a cute and helpful little guy ♥ … Wait a moment… Did he say that? Heart mark included?
~~
[The second deal]
“Well, everything seems to be all right,” the demon said, reviewing the contract they had just signed. “I hope you are satisfied with this deal,” the creature said, grinning at the nervous student. He rolled up the contract carefully and put it in the inner pocket of his elegant, black leather jacket. The same worn out jacket that sinfully outlined his slender figure and made Nino salivate unconsciously.
Nino swallowed, trying to relieve the sudden dryness of his throat, and looked at the devilish creature, which was patiently waiting for him, out of the corner of his eye.
“I’m ready when you are,” the demon commented, snapping Nino out of this trance. The creature smiled placidly, as if he wanted to calm Nino’s fast beating heart.
“D-do you often do this kind of deal?” he stuttered.
Widening his eyes, he quickly slapped his hands over his mouth, surprised and mortified about his own words. It was true that he was exchanging his first kiss, but it was also rather stupid of him to expect that his ‘partner’ was as inexperienced as him.
The demon shook his head, “I’m rather new in this department so this is my first time finalizing a deal of this kind. My last boss, Nakai, suddenly decided that I needed a change of scene and he transferred me from the ‘Complaints Department’ to the ‘Deal Department’. I think he just wanted to get rid of me,” he confided to Nino with a mischievous wink.
“O.k.” the nervous student nodded, gulping. He moved close to Ohno, feeling strangely happy about the demon’s reply. He would be lying to himself if he said that this time, he was more interested in what he could get instead of what he would have to pay in exchange. Especially when teaching a lesson to those bullies - hey, they were a nuisance and he was just a good boy trying to save the school - wasn’t one of his top-ten priorities when he had conveniently picked the ‘first X exchange’ deal…
All right, who was he kidding? He had made up that excuse to be able to kiss the cute demon. Maybe that way, he would be able to forget his pretty, sleepy face and the warm embrace after their first deal.
Deciding that they had waited enough time, the demon fixed his shinning eyes on Nino’s face, licking his lips unconsciously, and slowly raised a hand to caress the student's cheek softly. He slowly closed the distance between him and Nino and delicately pressed his soft lips against Nino’s.
Nino felt flushed and warm all over. Who would have guessed that the lips of the sleepy demon, often shaped in a cute pout, were so warm and soft? He got lost in the warmth and hesitantly cupped the back of the demon’s head. The short devil took that movement as an invitation to deepen things and increased the pressure of his lips; moving them slightly and making Nino’s heart skip a beat. When they finally pulled apart to breathe, Nino, feeling a bit dizzy, had to hold on Ohno’s shoulder to steady himself.
The demon blinked and slowly licked his lips, as if he was tasting Nino’s flavour on them. “This trade was interesting,” he purred. “Really interesting,” he repeated with a growing smile.
Hearing the demon’s sultry whisper only a few centimetres away from his ear, Nino blushed hotly and tried to move away, only to be stopped by the slender hands of the fiend holding his waist. “Next one is on the house,” Nino heard the demon murmur before kissing him for the second time.
~~
[An unexpected event]
Two months and dozens of dates later… I meant dozens of invocations later... to make sure he correctly understood all the options described in the brochure, Nino faced, surprised, a completely different demon when he tried the usual invocation.
“Who are you?” he asked the tall demon with a fiery expression in front of him. “Where is Oh-chan?”
“Oh-chan?” the elegantly dressed, demonic creature snickered, “My, my, how things have changed since I last came to the human realm.” He examined Nino from head to toe. “What could he be thinking?” he murmured, “Well, it doesn’t surprise me; I always knew that he wasn’t cut out for this kind of job.”
“What are you talking about? Where is Ohno?” Nino asked again, getting more and more worried with each passing second.
“My name is Matsumoto Jun,” the demon interrupted him, “I have come here to tell you something important, so be a good boy and listen to me carefully.”
Nino frowned, not registering the superior tone of the demon. What was this demon talking about? And why did he appear instead of Oh-chan?
“My friend, who knows why, has been answering too many of your useless calls without finalizing a deal. I don’t think you realize it, but travelling between realms is really expensive and we can’t allow useless travel that doesn’t end in a deal.”
“But we closed som-” Nino began to protest when he was interrupted again by the irritating demon.
“Although Ohno has finalized some small deals with you, they aren’t enough to reimburse the cost of the travels. Therefore, our boss Taka, who is very understanding and really appreciates Ohno, has decided that he will only be allowed to answer your summons one more time. After that invocation, you will never meet him again.”
“But-” Nino tried to protest but the tall demon disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
“It can’t be,” Nino whispered, incredulous. The simple thought of not being able to meet Ohno again made his heart tighten painfully in his chest. Trying to swallow the lump in his throat, the student frantically revised the book of enchantments and the pamphlet.
There must be a way to prevent Ohno’s disappearance from his life… he just needed to find it.
~~
[The last deal]
“In exchange for my soul, I want to spend all my life with you.”
Nino looked nervously at the piece of paper he had written last night after lot of thought. “I suppose this sums it all up,” he sighed, frowning. But would the demon accept his deal? He finished the preparation of the invocation and recited the spell with a trembling voice.
When the cloud of smoke cleared, Nino greeted the demon, nervously crumpling the contract between his clammy hands.
“So, this is the last time we will see each other?” Ohno murmured sadly, almost inaudibly, after greeting Nino.
“I want to make a deal with you… our last deal.” The boy licked his lips nervously.
The short demon nodded, pouting a bit, and looked at the paper Nino was holding.
This is my last chance; I have to try my best! Nino encouraged himself, “I-I’ve decided what I want in exchange for my soul.”
Ohno blinked a bit surprised by Nino’s words - it wasn’t usual for a human to exchange his soul so easily - but he quickly changed his expression into a solemn mask, adequate to the importance of the moment, “If you are sure that this is what you want...”
Extending an elegant hand, he took the crumpled paper from Nino’s sweaty hands. With a last look at the young student, he lowered his gaze and began to read the contract.
Nino wrung his hands, unable to calm himself, waiting for the demon’s reply.
A few seconds later, when he finished reading the paper, Ohno raised his gaze to Nino with a strange expression on his face. “I’ll ask you again. Are you sure that this is what you want in exchange for your soul? Once the contract is signed, you won’t be able to change your mind,” he warned Nino.
Nino nodded slowly. He was completely sure that his wish was worth the price he would have to pay.
Ohno’s radiant smile and red eyes brightened up the dark room. “O.k.” he softly replied in a deep voice, “In exchange for your immortal soul, I, Ohno Satoshi, will grant you, Ninomiya Kazunari, your dearest wish.”
With a small gesture of his hand, he materialized a golden feather from nowhere and slowly licked the point of feather with his eyes fixed on Nino’s. With a smirk, Ohno pricked his own finger with the sharp point of the feather and dipped the point of the feather in the black blood. “Allow me to make just a small modification,” he winked at Nino mischievously. He crossed out something written in the contract and replaced it, showing Nino the change.
With blood pounding in his ears, Nino lowered his gaze and read the modified contract.
“In exchange for my soul, I want to spend all my life eternity with you.”
The student gasped and looked, surprised, at the demon.
In response, Ohno smirked, and signed the contract under Nino’s signature.
A second later, everything vanished in a bright, white light and Nino fainted, collapsing on the floor of his room.
~~
[Next morning]
The sudden weight of his noisy friend interrupted Nino’s slumber, making him grunt in pain.
“Nino, you promised to come to my basketball match!” Aiba whined, shaking Nino’s form hidden under the blankets.
“What are you talking about? The championship ended two months ago,” Nino growled, pushing Aiba out of the bed.
“What? But today is our first match!” protested Aiba from the floor, rubbing his elbow with a pained expression. “Are you o.k.? Did you play too much with your NDS yesterday night?”
“My NDS? It had been ages since I gave it to Ohno! And what’s all that talk about your first match?” Nino replied, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
“Your NDS is beside you, on your bed table as always,” Aiba said, pointing at the above-mentioned device. “And who is Ohno?”
“W-What?” Nino exclaimed, surprised, turning his head in his bed table’s direction. It was true; his beloved NDS was indeed on the table. “B-But…”
“Do I know that Ohno person?” Aiba asked with curiosity, grabbing Nino’s attention again. “He must be a very good friend of yours if you were going to lend him your NDS…”
Nino paled, feeling his heart stop in his chest. “Ohno Satoshi,” he repeated slowly, almost imploringly, “the demon you summoned, remember?”
“A demon!? You have the strangest dreams, Nino!” Aiba exclaimed with wide eyes. “But I’m sure that a thing like that would be interesting,” he murmured to himself after pondering the idea for a while.
Nino jumped out of his bed and quickly put some clothes on. Without bothering to wash his face or teeth, he left a surprised Aiba behind him and run towards the school library as fast as he could. Inside his head, he was repeating the same words time and time again; “Please, tell me this wasn’t a dream. Don’t let it be a dream, please.”
He arrived at the library and rushed towards the horror section, dodging students and teachers on his way. He anxiously scanned the upper shelf of the bookshelf at the corner. Nothing, there was no trace of the black leather bound book. The short student quickly scanned the rest of the bookshelf without success. Had the last two months been just a dream as Aiba was saying?
Two hours later, Aiba found him on the roof of the school, looking disheartened at the lively playground below them through the rusty railing that surrounded the terrace roof. “What’s the problem Nino?” he asked with concern.
Nino just shook his head without giving him a reply. After a few seconds, he moved away from the railing. “It’s nothing… just a dream I had. A wonderful dream that didn't last long enough,” he sighed unhappily, “Let’s go to class.” He left the roof followed by a confused Aiba.
~~
“Pay attention, please. Today we’re going to greet a new student to our class.”
Nino sighed, resting his head on his crossed arms and looking out through the nearest window. He couldn’t care less about his teacher’s words.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” a voice woke him from his reverie.
Nino turned his head around. “No, th-” his eyes widened in shock when he saw the cute pout of the student waiting in front of him. He was the very image of Ohno -minus the pointed tail, the fangs and the red eyes that now were brown.
Could this be possible? Nino thought, his heart beating painfully in his chest. Could this student be his adorable demon? Had been his wish finally granted?
Without paying attention to Nino’s shock, the new student sat on the free seat beside him and took out a notebook from his bag.
Would he be the same person? Would he remember him? Nino gulped. “O-Oh-chan?” he hesitantly whispered.
“Yes, Nino?” the boy answered turning his head towards him. Seeing Nino’s hopeful and shocked expression, the boy grinned, “What happens? Did a demon get your tongue?” he asked with a mischievous wink and a radiant smile.
Nino sighed in relief and smiled back. He took Ohno’s hand under the table and intertwined their fingers.
“Yes, but it was the cutest demon you could imagine, so I forgave him.”
Pairing: Ohmiya
Summary: Would you be willing to exchange your soul in order to get your dearest wish?
Rating: PG-13 for kissing?
Disclaimer: The plot is mine. Helped by zazasukie
Genre: AU, Fantasy
Words count: 4565
AN: betaed by beastlover Thanks!
“I-I’ve decided what I want in exchange for my soul,” Nino gulped, extending a trembling hand with the document he had prepared last night. He had been hesitating, weighing up the pros and cons of his decision for days. Was he doing the correct thing? He wasn’t sure, but he knew that he was almost running out of time. Would the demon grant his wish? The thought of losing his chance made his heart beat painfully in his chest. He desired it with all … no, that wasn’t correct; he needed it no matter the cost. And so, he had finally decided to leave behind his doubts and worries and ask the demon for his dearest wish, hoping that the creature would accept his request.
The demon looked at him with a solemn expression, “If you are sure that this is what you want...”
Extending an elegant hand, he took the crumpled paper from Nino’s sweaty hands. With a last look at the young student, he lowered his gaze and began to read the contract.
Nino waited, squirming nervously. Would the demon accept his request? The young student wrung his hands unable to calm himself.
When the demon finished reading the paper, he raised his gaze to Nino with a strange expression on his face. “I’ll ask you again. Are you sure that this is what you want in exchange for your soul? Once the contract is signed, you won’t be able to change your mind.”
Nino nodded slowly. He was completely sure that his wish was worth the price he would have to pay.
The demon smiled and his eyes began to shine, their red light brightened up the dark room. “O.k.” he softly replied in a deep voice, “In exchange for your immortal soul, I, Ohno Satoshi, will grant you, Ninomiya Kazunari, your dearest wish.”
With a small gesture of his hand, the demon materialized a golden feather from nowhere.
Nino was trembling uncontrollably. He tried to relieve the sudden dryness of his throat, feeling a bit dizzy. There was no way back now.
The demon slowly licked the point of the feather with his eyes fixed on Nino, letting the young student glimpse a glint of his sharp fangs. With a smirk, the devil pricked his own finger with the sharp point of the feather. A single drop of liquid, as black as onyx, poured from the small wound.
The demon dipped the point of the feather in the blood. “Allow me to make just a small modification,” he winked at Nino mischievously. He crossed out something that the student had written in the contract and replaced it, showing the modification to Nino, who gasped, surprised.
After that, the demon smirked, satisfied, and signed the contract under Nino’s signature.
A second later, everything vanished in a bright, white light and Nino fainted, collapsing on the floor of his room.
~~
“What was that thing you wanted to show me so badly that it couldn’t wait until we finished class, Aiba?” Nino asked grumpily, entering the room of his tall, enthusiastic friend. He was sure that all this fuss was a prank to punish him for not coming to his basketball match earlier that day.
In class, his friend had raved about his incredible discovery, making sure that Nino would accompany him to his house without fail the exact moment the class ended. That alone hadn’t bothered Nino too much; after all he was accustomed to his lanky friend's eccentricities. However, when the teacher, alerted by Aiba’s loud whispers, had approached them, discovering Nino playing his NDS in the middle of the class, his mood had soured considerably. The angry teacher had confiscated his gaming device and had punished him with extra homework that would last him at least a month. Understandably, Nino wasn’t too receptive to his friend’s antics at that moment.
“Look, Nino!” Aiba exclaimed excitedly, without paying attention to his short friend’s sour mood.
The enthusiastic student opened the upper drawer of his desk, taking a thick, old book out.
Nino eyed the black, leather bound book with a frown. “What is this?” he pointed to the book in Aiba’s hands. “You made the teacher punish me just to show me a book?” he asked, getting angrier by the seconds.
“No, no. Look at it carefully. It’s not a normal book,” his friend exclaimed, pointing at the strange figure drawn on the cover of the old book. “It’s a book of black magic,” he gushed.
Nino examined the five-pointed star surrounded by circles and other geometric figures with over elaborate details that decorated the cover of the book. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Sho told me the same thing,” his friend protested, disappointed. “And he refused to come today, ‘my football practice is more important’ he said,” Aiba humpfed, remembering Sho’s reply. “But it’s true! It has an index with spells, it even has a spell to summon a demon!” he exclaimed, opening the book and showing Nino the index, written in strange and elegant handwriting full of loops and lines.
“Where did you get that?” Nino asked, looking mockingly at his friend with an eyebrow raised. “Did someone sell it to you affirming that it was a bargain? A shady, short man, covering his figure with a dark cloak, maybe?”
“For your information, I found it in the school library, in the upper shelf of the bookshelf at the corner, mixed up with the horror novels. And it isn’t a scam!” Aiba angrily stamped his foot on the floor. “I’ll prove it to you, right now!”
Under Nino’s sceptical look, Aiba began to prepare the ‘invocation’ spell, drawing a five-pointed star on the wooden floor of his room with a piece of blue chalk.
“I don’t think your mother will appreciate the new decoration and the drops of wax on her clean, polished, wooden floor,” Nino commented, watching his friend place some candles made of black wax on the points of the star. “By the way, where did you get all those things?” he asked, mildly interested.
“In the supermarket, of course!” exclaimed Aiba, finishing his preparations and lighting the candles. “You can make fun of me now, but I’ll be the last to laugh!” he affirmed, turning off the light.
Nino sighed, waiting for his friend to recover his senses.
“I summon you, Creature of Darkness. Leave your Demonic Realm to answer my call,” Aiba began the incantation, reading the spell in the book under the faint light of the candles.
“You’re going to ruin your eyesight if you keep doing that.”
Aiba didn’t pay him attention and kept reciting the spell. When he finished, he looked expectantly at the centre of the star.
Some seconds later, Nino turned on the lights and walked toward his disappointed friend, “I told you, didn’t I?” He took the book from his friend’s hands and cursed when a sharp page made a small cut on his thumb. He closed the book with a bang, licking his injured finger.
Suddenly, the room got very dark and a cold gust of wind blew out all the candles except the one that Aiba was holding. In the middle of the star, a growing cloud of dark grey smoke was forming, filling the room with its sulphuric scent. Inside the cloud, a dark figure was getting more and more solid with each passing second.
Nino, with his thumb still in his mouth, looked at the dark figure inside the smoke cloud with his eyes wide open. Beside him, Aiba was trembling uncontrollably, gaping at the centre of the cloud where a pair of red eyes where looking back at them evilly. “A-A d-demon…” Nino heard his friend whisper in awe.
The cloud slowly vanished, leaving only the dark figure, with his features hidden in the darkness of the room, looking at them. Shivers ran down Nino’s spine, freezing his blood.
As suddenly as it has gone out, the light returned, lighting the room and making both students cover their eyes in pain.
Nino gulped. What would he find when he looked at the creature waiting in the middle of the room? Maybe a hideous creature, with pointed horns, sharp fangs and leathery wings like an enormous bat? A monster that would tear them apart with his sharp claws the moment their eyes met? Trembling, Nino peeked through his fingers… and felt his jaw drop.
In front of them stood a man… no, scratch that, a boy, looking at them with a sleepy expression. The creature looked even younger than them!
The demon was dressed in a worn out black T-shirt, with grey jeans and sandals. He had dark, spiked hair and tanned skin, and was even shorter than Nino! He had a blank expression on his drowsy face and he looked like a baby with his soft, puffy cheeks. The only thing that gave him away were the red shinning pupils and the tail, ended in a triangle, which waved lazily behind him.
“Hi,” the puffy-cheeked demon said, raising a hand. “It has been ages since someone summoned me,” he grinned at the astonished students, letting them get a glimpse of his sharp, white fangs.
“W-what?” Nino looked incredulous at the sleepy creature in front of him. This must be a joke. Even his sister’s cat looked more devilish than him!
He was going to protest when Aiba’s excited blabbering interrupted him, “Are you a demon? The one I summoned reading the spell written in this book?”
“Yes and no,” the demon replied nonchalantly, scratching his arm distractedly.
“Yes and no?” Aiba repeated, puzzled by the strange reply.
“Yes, I’m a demon. No, you aren’t the one who summoned me. He was.” The tanned demon pointed at Nino, who gasped, surprised.
“I was the one who summoned you?” the short student asked indignantly. “I didn’t do anything!” he protested.
The demon shook his head, fixing his gaze on the grumpy boy, “Yours was the blood offered in sacrifice, the most important part of the ritual and the thing that binds the demon to the summoner.”
“My blood?” Nino frowned and he was beginning to deny it when he remembered the cut on his finger. “This tiny scratch?” he asked, showing his injured finger to the demon.
The demon nodded, “Yep, a single drop of blood is more than enough.”
Nino was going to protest again when the demon interrupted him. “My name is Ohno Satoshi. I apologize for my informal attire, but you summoned me when I was in the middle of my holidays. Please, take my business card,” he offered the two boys cards, bowing apologetically.
“B-Business card?” Aiba asked, astonished, taking the elegant card from the demon’s hand.
“Yes,” the short creature nodded, “we are proud to offer the best service to our customers. A simple and straightforward exchange between the interested parties.”
Nino looked at the astonishing creature who was giving them informational brochures, summoned from nowhere, about - what the heck was that?
The brochure explained in great detail the different deals a human could make with a demon, what the human could offer and what he could get in exchange, specifying a large variety of wishes and explaining the exceptions and rules of the deal clearly.
“What is this exactly?” he asked, puzzled, pointing at the informational brochure.
“Our informational brochure,” the demon beamed at him, “after too many years of shady deals and huge piles of complaints, we finally summarized and specified everything in those little pamphlets. It makes things much easier.”
“A valuable material possession, after being adequately appraised, can be exchanged for one of the following wishes: an increase of X% in the exchanger’s salary during the following four years (the demonic part doesn’t guarantee that the human will keep their job during this period), grabbing the attention of the loved person during X days (after that, the exchanger doesn’t get more help from us, but we undertake not to change the outcome of his/her efforts during that period of time)…” Aiba, astonished, began to read the first page of the pamphlet.
“Well, I must go now. Please, read those pamphlets carefully before summoning me to grant one of your wishes. And don’t forget to have a look at the special offers and profitable discounts for our regular customers at the end of the pamphlet! Bye.” The demon disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke; leaving the stunned students looking open-mouthed at the point he had been occupying a second before.
~~
[The first deal]
“How did I end up in this situation?” Nino wondered, not for the first time.
Believe it or not, everything started as an innocent attempt to avoid failing an exam. Though the creature had piqued Nino’s curiosity since their first encounter, - O.k. he thought the demon was cute, are you happy now? - he hadn’t intended to summon him again.
He had ignored both; Aiba’s pestering and Sho’s warnings. Surprisingly, the latest had been the most insistent. Terrified of the ability to summon a demon, Sho had refused to believe in the feigned good nature of the puffy-cheeked creature. “What a joke!” humfped Nino. If that demon was dangerous, then almost half of mankind was formed by crazy psychos seeking your blood.
Normally he didn’t need help to pass his exams, but that time was different. The teacher who had set the pop quiz had an irrational dislike for him - hey, he wasn’t the only instigator of the innocent prank that left the teacher covered in honey and feathers! Besides, he hadn’t studied for that subject lately - he had been too occupied saving poor Princess Peach from the evil Koopa!
Finally, after some time pondering pros and cons, he decided to summon the demon and exchange his beloved NDS for a passing grade on the exam.
The demon was so happy to have finalized a deal successfully that he hugged the surprised student, promising that he wouldn’t have to worry about that subject for the rest of the year - Such a cute and helpful little guy ♥ … Wait a moment… Did he say that? Heart mark included?
~~
[The second deal]
“Well, everything seems to be all right,” the demon said, reviewing the contract they had just signed. “I hope you are satisfied with this deal,” the creature said, grinning at the nervous student. He rolled up the contract carefully and put it in the inner pocket of his elegant, black leather jacket. The same worn out jacket that sinfully outlined his slender figure and made Nino salivate unconsciously.
Nino swallowed, trying to relieve the sudden dryness of his throat, and looked at the devilish creature, which was patiently waiting for him, out of the corner of his eye.
“I’m ready when you are,” the demon commented, snapping Nino out of this trance. The creature smiled placidly, as if he wanted to calm Nino’s fast beating heart.
“D-do you often do this kind of deal?” he stuttered.
Widening his eyes, he quickly slapped his hands over his mouth, surprised and mortified about his own words. It was true that he was exchanging his first kiss, but it was also rather stupid of him to expect that his ‘partner’ was as inexperienced as him.
The demon shook his head, “I’m rather new in this department so this is my first time finalizing a deal of this kind. My last boss, Nakai, suddenly decided that I needed a change of scene and he transferred me from the ‘Complaints Department’ to the ‘Deal Department’. I think he just wanted to get rid of me,” he confided to Nino with a mischievous wink.
“O.k.” the nervous student nodded, gulping. He moved close to Ohno, feeling strangely happy about the demon’s reply. He would be lying to himself if he said that this time, he was more interested in what he could get instead of what he would have to pay in exchange. Especially when teaching a lesson to those bullies - hey, they were a nuisance and he was just a good boy trying to save the school - wasn’t one of his top-ten priorities when he had conveniently picked the ‘first X exchange’ deal…
All right, who was he kidding? He had made up that excuse to be able to kiss the cute demon. Maybe that way, he would be able to forget his pretty, sleepy face and the warm embrace after their first deal.
Deciding that they had waited enough time, the demon fixed his shinning eyes on Nino’s face, licking his lips unconsciously, and slowly raised a hand to caress the student's cheek softly. He slowly closed the distance between him and Nino and delicately pressed his soft lips against Nino’s.
Nino felt flushed and warm all over. Who would have guessed that the lips of the sleepy demon, often shaped in a cute pout, were so warm and soft? He got lost in the warmth and hesitantly cupped the back of the demon’s head. The short devil took that movement as an invitation to deepen things and increased the pressure of his lips; moving them slightly and making Nino’s heart skip a beat. When they finally pulled apart to breathe, Nino, feeling a bit dizzy, had to hold on Ohno’s shoulder to steady himself.
The demon blinked and slowly licked his lips, as if he was tasting Nino’s flavour on them. “This trade was interesting,” he purred. “Really interesting,” he repeated with a growing smile.
Hearing the demon’s sultry whisper only a few centimetres away from his ear, Nino blushed hotly and tried to move away, only to be stopped by the slender hands of the fiend holding his waist. “Next one is on the house,” Nino heard the demon murmur before kissing him for the second time.
~~
[An unexpected event]
Two months and dozens of dates later… I meant dozens of invocations later... to make sure he correctly understood all the options described in the brochure, Nino faced, surprised, a completely different demon when he tried the usual invocation.
“Who are you?” he asked the tall demon with a fiery expression in front of him. “Where is Oh-chan?”
“Oh-chan?” the elegantly dressed, demonic creature snickered, “My, my, how things have changed since I last came to the human realm.” He examined Nino from head to toe. “What could he be thinking?” he murmured, “Well, it doesn’t surprise me; I always knew that he wasn’t cut out for this kind of job.”
“What are you talking about? Where is Ohno?” Nino asked again, getting more and more worried with each passing second.
“My name is Matsumoto Jun,” the demon interrupted him, “I have come here to tell you something important, so be a good boy and listen to me carefully.”
Nino frowned, not registering the superior tone of the demon. What was this demon talking about? And why did he appear instead of Oh-chan?
“My friend, who knows why, has been answering too many of your useless calls without finalizing a deal. I don’t think you realize it, but travelling between realms is really expensive and we can’t allow useless travel that doesn’t end in a deal.”
“But we closed som-” Nino began to protest when he was interrupted again by the irritating demon.
“Although Ohno has finalized some small deals with you, they aren’t enough to reimburse the cost of the travels. Therefore, our boss Taka, who is very understanding and really appreciates Ohno, has decided that he will only be allowed to answer your summons one more time. After that invocation, you will never meet him again.”
“But-” Nino tried to protest but the tall demon disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
“It can’t be,” Nino whispered, incredulous. The simple thought of not being able to meet Ohno again made his heart tighten painfully in his chest. Trying to swallow the lump in his throat, the student frantically revised the book of enchantments and the pamphlet.
There must be a way to prevent Ohno’s disappearance from his life… he just needed to find it.
~~
[The last deal]
“In exchange for my soul, I want to spend all my life with you.”
Nino looked nervously at the piece of paper he had written last night after lot of thought. “I suppose this sums it all up,” he sighed, frowning. But would the demon accept his deal? He finished the preparation of the invocation and recited the spell with a trembling voice.
When the cloud of smoke cleared, Nino greeted the demon, nervously crumpling the contract between his clammy hands.
“So, this is the last time we will see each other?” Ohno murmured sadly, almost inaudibly, after greeting Nino.
“I want to make a deal with you… our last deal.” The boy licked his lips nervously.
The short demon nodded, pouting a bit, and looked at the paper Nino was holding.
This is my last chance; I have to try my best! Nino encouraged himself, “I-I’ve decided what I want in exchange for my soul.”
Ohno blinked a bit surprised by Nino’s words - it wasn’t usual for a human to exchange his soul so easily - but he quickly changed his expression into a solemn mask, adequate to the importance of the moment, “If you are sure that this is what you want...”
Extending an elegant hand, he took the crumpled paper from Nino’s sweaty hands. With a last look at the young student, he lowered his gaze and began to read the contract.
Nino wrung his hands, unable to calm himself, waiting for the demon’s reply.
A few seconds later, when he finished reading the paper, Ohno raised his gaze to Nino with a strange expression on his face. “I’ll ask you again. Are you sure that this is what you want in exchange for your soul? Once the contract is signed, you won’t be able to change your mind,” he warned Nino.
Nino nodded slowly. He was completely sure that his wish was worth the price he would have to pay.
Ohno’s radiant smile and red eyes brightened up the dark room. “O.k.” he softly replied in a deep voice, “In exchange for your immortal soul, I, Ohno Satoshi, will grant you, Ninomiya Kazunari, your dearest wish.”
With a small gesture of his hand, he materialized a golden feather from nowhere and slowly licked the point of feather with his eyes fixed on Nino’s. With a smirk, Ohno pricked his own finger with the sharp point of the feather and dipped the point of the feather in the black blood. “Allow me to make just a small modification,” he winked at Nino mischievously. He crossed out something written in the contract and replaced it, showing Nino the change.
With blood pounding in his ears, Nino lowered his gaze and read the modified contract.
“In exchange for my soul, I want to spend all my life eternity with you.”
The student gasped and looked, surprised, at the demon.
In response, Ohno smirked, and signed the contract under Nino’s signature.
A second later, everything vanished in a bright, white light and Nino fainted, collapsing on the floor of his room.
~~
[Next morning]
The sudden weight of his noisy friend interrupted Nino’s slumber, making him grunt in pain.
“Nino, you promised to come to my basketball match!” Aiba whined, shaking Nino’s form hidden under the blankets.
“What are you talking about? The championship ended two months ago,” Nino growled, pushing Aiba out of the bed.
“What? But today is our first match!” protested Aiba from the floor, rubbing his elbow with a pained expression. “Are you o.k.? Did you play too much with your NDS yesterday night?”
“My NDS? It had been ages since I gave it to Ohno! And what’s all that talk about your first match?” Nino replied, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
“Your NDS is beside you, on your bed table as always,” Aiba said, pointing at the above-mentioned device. “And who is Ohno?”
“W-What?” Nino exclaimed, surprised, turning his head in his bed table’s direction. It was true; his beloved NDS was indeed on the table. “B-But…”
“Do I know that Ohno person?” Aiba asked with curiosity, grabbing Nino’s attention again. “He must be a very good friend of yours if you were going to lend him your NDS…”
Nino paled, feeling his heart stop in his chest. “Ohno Satoshi,” he repeated slowly, almost imploringly, “the demon you summoned, remember?”
“A demon!? You have the strangest dreams, Nino!” Aiba exclaimed with wide eyes. “But I’m sure that a thing like that would be interesting,” he murmured to himself after pondering the idea for a while.
Nino jumped out of his bed and quickly put some clothes on. Without bothering to wash his face or teeth, he left a surprised Aiba behind him and run towards the school library as fast as he could. Inside his head, he was repeating the same words time and time again; “Please, tell me this wasn’t a dream. Don’t let it be a dream, please.”
He arrived at the library and rushed towards the horror section, dodging students and teachers on his way. He anxiously scanned the upper shelf of the bookshelf at the corner. Nothing, there was no trace of the black leather bound book. The short student quickly scanned the rest of the bookshelf without success. Had the last two months been just a dream as Aiba was saying?
Two hours later, Aiba found him on the roof of the school, looking disheartened at the lively playground below them through the rusty railing that surrounded the terrace roof. “What’s the problem Nino?” he asked with concern.
Nino just shook his head without giving him a reply. After a few seconds, he moved away from the railing. “It’s nothing… just a dream I had. A wonderful dream that didn't last long enough,” he sighed unhappily, “Let’s go to class.” He left the roof followed by a confused Aiba.
~~
“Pay attention, please. Today we’re going to greet a new student to our class.”
Nino sighed, resting his head on his crossed arms and looking out through the nearest window. He couldn’t care less about his teacher’s words.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” a voice woke him from his reverie.
Nino turned his head around. “No, th-” his eyes widened in shock when he saw the cute pout of the student waiting in front of him. He was the very image of Ohno -minus the pointed tail, the fangs and the red eyes that now were brown.
Could this be possible? Nino thought, his heart beating painfully in his chest. Could this student be his adorable demon? Had been his wish finally granted?
Without paying attention to Nino’s shock, the new student sat on the free seat beside him and took out a notebook from his bag.
Would he be the same person? Would he remember him? Nino gulped. “O-Oh-chan?” he hesitantly whispered.
“Yes, Nino?” the boy answered turning his head towards him. Seeing Nino’s hopeful and shocked expression, the boy grinned, “What happens? Did a demon get your tongue?” he asked with a mischievous wink and a radiant smile.
Nino sighed in relief and smiled back. He took Ohno’s hand under the table and intertwined their fingers.
“Yes, but it was the cutest demon you could imagine, so I forgave him.”