Chapter 2

Dazai yawned and stretched, his muscles feeling like hell. But for
the first time in a long time, he was warm. He had become so
used to waking with the cold having seeped into his bones. He
crawled out from under the kotatsu. Chuuya was still sitting by it
and eyed him suspiciously as if he expected him to do something.
He shifted into his more human form.

“Nice place you’ve got here, demon. Why would a being like you
settle in a shrine of all things?” Dazai asked. Demons generally
stuck to less populated areas and were incredibly uncomfortable
around anything relating to the gods. Chuuya shrugged. Dazai
admired the way his muscles flexed with every movement.

“The god has abandoned this place and I was looking for
somewhere to stay. It’s also close to a town. The humans there
seem especially gullible,” Chuuya said as he blew smoke from a
cigar he was smoking. Dazai wrinkled his nose, both at the smoke
and the demon’s taunts at humans. He was right, of course, but his
kind were the ones making them stray.

“Do you just spend time tormenting them? Is that all you do?”
Dazai couldn’t contain his curiosity. Every meeting he had with a
demon in the past was incredibly hostile. He knew he couldn’t
trust Chuuya but his curiosity won.

“I spend most of my time here, actually. I’ve been around for a

long time, just like you. It gets less fun the more you do it. But I
do mess with them from time to time,” Chuuya explained, tapping
his black nails on the top of the kotatsu. Dazai followed the
movement with interest. The demon was extremely attractive and
Dazai felt like he could easily get lost in him. “You keep staring at
me. Like what you see?”

“As if! You’re so repulsive it’s hard to not notice you. You
demons are always so overconfident,” Dazai huffed. He sat down
across from the demon, his tails whipping the floor in irritation.
Chuuya chuckled, the sound rumbling in his throat.

“Sure. Whatever you say, little kitsune,” Chuuya taunted. Dazai

bristled, his ears flattening to his head and his tails raising
threateningly. He didn’t like being looked down on. “What are
you still doing here anyways?”

“I haven’t woken up to a warm place in a long time. I guess I’m

basking in the moment. Let me have my time,” Dazai rolled his
eyes. He definitely wasn’t planning on leaving for now. It was
comfortable here. It brought back the short amount of time when
he was allowed to be comfortable. When he lived in a shrine
much like this one. One with a god inhabiting it, of course.

“You act like you own this place. This is my shrine,” Chuuya
growled. Dazai shivered at his tone. It felt like a caress across his
skin.

“No, this shrine still belongs to the god who once inhabited it. It
no longer does but if it ever came back you would be chased away
like na unwanted pest,” Dazai huffed. Chuuya growled as he
stood. Dazai’s eyes trained on his exposed abdomen. The demon
grabbed him by the front of his kimono and hauled him up.

“Don’t fucking speak to me like that when you’re in my territory,”

he snarled in Dazai’s face. Dazai’s automatic instinct was to fight.
To show the demon just how strong he really was. But he could
tell that Chuuya didn’t have any actual violent intentions. He was
all bark and no bite.

“Of course your highness,” Dazai couldn’t help but pick on him
more. He hadn’t had many chances to socialize and annoy anyone
recently. Chuuya released him with a huff. Dazai collapsed to the
floor and dramatically groaned in pain. It was true that he was in
pain since his aching muscles protested the harsh treatment but it
wasn’t nearly as bad as he tried to make it seem. “Ow! Chuuya is
so harsh! Throwing me down like that!”

“Stop being dramatic. You act like a child for a creature who has
lived for hundreds of years at this point,” Chuuya growled. Dazai
stood with a genuine groan as his thighs protested. God his whole
body ached. All the running had really caught up with him.

His eyes once again looked around the shrine. Chuuya clearly
took great care in maintaining it. It was a beautiful shrine. It made
Dazai wonder why the god would abandon such a beautiful
shrine. Maybe the humans weren’t coming?
“Where’d you come from? Kitsunes have na easy time with
humans. So why are you running?” Chuuya snapped him out of
his thoughts. He flicked his ear and crossed his arms.

“I told you. You aren’t getting my traumatic backstory yet. You

have to work for that,” he said as he teasingly tilted the demon’s
chin up. Chuuya snarled and snapped his head away.

“Don’t test me. I have no problem killing you if you continue

being a nuisance,” he growled. Dazai brightened.

“Perfect! Can you make it quick and painless? I’m sure a strong
demon like you can do that! I won’t struggle so you don’t have to
worry about a big mess,” Dazai’s tails wagged in excitement.
Chuuya stared at him like he was insane. Maybe he was.

“You’ve lived for over 900 years and you can’t even find a way to
die?” Chuuya asked. Dazai shrugged.

“Since I can’t die of old age, all the ways to die are painful. Not to
mention that even those methods would have a hard time
successfully killing me. It’s such a pain,” Dazai groaned. He
didn’t get why Chuuya wasn’t jumping at the opportunity to kill
him. He was a demon after all.

“You’re strange,” the demon hummed as he sat down. Dazai

sighed. He wouldn’t be killed any time soon. It was like the world
was working against him. He wished he were born human.
Humans were so fragile. They could die so easily. Dazai sat next
to the demon.

“Yup! Strangest kitsune you’ll ever meet. You’re pretty strange

yourself. You should be happy to kill me. I’m a kitsune! We’re
practically enemies by nature,” Dazai huffed. Chuuya rolled his
eyes and took a swig from the alcohol bottle he had. It looked like
wine.

“I don’t care about all that shit. Never have. I’ve been alone for a
long time,” Chuuya rumbled. Dazai could sense a deep sense of
loneliness from the demon. He was trying to play it off and say he
enjoyed being alone but that wasn’t the case. But Dazai didn’t
care.

“Enough with the sad shit! You look like a lost puppy,” Dazai
growled. Chuuya narrowed his blue eyes. But he soon recovered
and rolled his eyes.

“You’re really annoying. If you’re running from someone, I don’t

blame them for trying to kill you when you’re this damn
annoying,” he huffed. Dazai smirked. He wished it were that
simple. His eyes strayed to the entrance to the shrine. What would
happen if they found this place? Chuuya could surely survive but
the shrine would likely be burnt to the ground. He could imagine
the turmoil as they found him. The yelling, the grabbing, the
fighting. He shivered. He would have to leave this place soon. But
he couldn’t deny the sense of comfort he felt here. He hadn’t felt
that in at least a hundred years. The warmth of the shrine was
seeping into him and making him feel content. That was a
dangerous feeling for someone like him.

“… Hey. Have you ever heard of someone named Oda

Sakunosuke?” Dazai spoke his thoughts. Chuuya looked at him
for a moment before humming in thought, leaning back as he did
so. Dazai’s ears were pricked as he waited for the answer. He
thought he had gotten over this. He was so pathetic.

“I don’t think so. I told you, I don’t socialize much. But I can’t
remember ever hearing that name,” Chuuya hummed. Dazai
sighed in relief. If Chuuya didn’t know him, that was a good sign.
He leaned back against the demon, feeling the warmth of him
against his tails. Chuuya let out a little shocked sound. It was cute.

“I see. Thanks,” he said, simply. Chuuya seemed completely lost

on what to do and say. Dazai chuckled. He hadn’t felt this fond of
someone in a long time. But he couldn’t say. He would have to
leave soon. But maybe he could stay just a little longer? He
picked at the bandages on his arms as he tried to sort through
everything in his head. He felt Chuuya shifting against his back.
This shrine and the demon inhabiting it really put a dent in his
original plans. He stared at the ceiling of the shrine, allowing his
mind to wander. He completely zoned out as he concentrated on
what was going on in his mind.

He yelped as the stability against his back was suddenly gone and
he fell backward. Chuuya looked down at him from above with a
raised brow.
“I’ve been calling your name for the last five minutes. I thought
you passed out or some shit,” he complained. Dazai chuckled as
he got up.

“Sorry. I was zoned out,” he said with a little laugh as Chuuya

continued to stare at him.