Chapter Text
Yuji could not explain how he found himself in a traditional snow-covered estate, sitting across from a four-armed demon who easily dwarfed his size. Two sets of eyes dipped in silver stared down at him, with one set of arms crossed over his chest while the other two rested on his legs.
The servant who had found him face down in the snow outside the demon’s estate sat between them, kindling the fire that must only be for his benefit, as Yuji found himself the only one leaning ever closer to take advantage of its warmth. Neither the servant nor the demon who wore nothing above his waist showed any sign of shivering as Yuji did. All he had covering his skin was his spring yukata. A pastel green decorated in cherry blossoms—The perfect outfit for an early spring festival, and by no means was it meant to withstand the cold of winter.
What had stopped Yuji from getting closer to the flame was the aforementioned behemoth, unamused eyes taking note of every twitch Yuji made while in his presence.
“How did you infiltrate my domain?”
The demon finally spoke with a voice that would have surely shaken Yuji's core if he wasn’t already so annoyed by the snow that came without warning. The weatherman on the news never mentioned the slightest chance of snowfall. It was already bad enough he’d been wandering the woods on his own, but to become lost while the sky dusted the ground in a blanket of white had only made him wish he would have just stayed home.
And now he was in the presence of a demon. A very pissed-off demon, who looked none too pleased with the person before him.
“I, uh…” A bead of sweat rolled down Yuji’s neck. Domain? Did the demon mean the estate? “Walked, well stumbled, actually, and found… it?”
“That’s impossible. I’d closed the barrier surrounding my domain to prevent outsiders from ‘stumbling’ in. You don’t possess nearly enough cursed energy to have broken through, and even if you did, I would have been made known of a breach. Do not lie to me again.”
“But I’m not lying!” Yuji puffed up his cheeks, offended at being dismissed as a liar so quickly. Barriers? Cursed energy? What the hell did that even mean? “I swear, I didn’t know someone was living out here, or else I would have taken a different route home—!”
“—Watch your tone!” The demon’s servant snapped, prompting their master to shout above them both.
“Enough!”
A jolt went up Yuji’s spine, snapping his jaw shut as the demon raised one of his hands in preparation for… something. Whatever it was, Yuji would not know as the demon paused to look him over once more, before grunting at his own thought while climbing to his feet. The lost teenager swallowed back his fear, awaiting the demon’s impending judgment.
“Uraume will take us to the path they found you on, and you will personally demonstrate to me how you ‘stumbled’ into a place few are permitted to tread.”
Oh. Was that all…?
That was easy!
“Gladly!” Yuji jumped to his feet, happily flexing his newly thawed-out toes as he pointed up at the demon. “Then you’ll have no choice but to believe me!”
Now determined to clear his name, Yuji kept up pace with the demon and his servant as best he could through the snow, ignoring the chills running through his veins. He continued to exhale over his fingers for warmth, curing himself for not wearing sneakers instead of the sandals he was stuck with, but at least he had some foresight to wear socks, even if they were too thin to truly keep the heat where it needed to be.
It did not take long before the set of footprints they’d been following had become a messy amalgamation where Yuji had previously tripped and fallen over only to be caught by the demon’s servant. The messy trail that continued on from here was his own making, leading the trio further away from the estate until the absence of footprints to follow marked only the vague direction where Yuji’s journey had presumably begun with snow now covering the steps he’d taken before its fall.
Still a bit unsure on how he hadn’t noticed a rather sizable amount of snowfall from the sky, his confusion was made worse by the lack of any familiar trail markers. The rows of torii gates along his chosen path were absent, doing well to bolster the seed of doubt growing in his stomach.
Shit.
Did he really come from this direction?
There weren’t any other paths through the trees…
“Well?” The demon had noticed the sudden halt in Yuji’s steps, no doubt questioning his hesitation to move forward. “Prove your honesty, brat.”
“Obviously, I came from this direction.” His wavering confidence was supported by his own refusal to be made a fool of, pushing Yuji to continue forward, stepping through the same dents in the snow he’d created not too long ago.
Yuji understood that demons were not considered a friendly bunch, but honestly, this guy was being unnecessarily harsh. How could they not know about the festival taking place so close to their home? They couldn’t be more than ten or fifteen minutes away from the festival grounds. In fact, Yuji was more surprised they couldn’t hear any of the music or chatter that should be drifting into the area. Had the snow driven everyone away?
He kept walking forward, neck craned back just enough to keep the demon within his sight.
The path felt eternal, but fortune would eventually smile on him as bright vermilion poked out from underneath the snow. A singular torii gate awaited them. He could have sworn there had been more, but Yuji was so thankful to find even one that he picked up his pace and got this 'demonstration' over with. Before getting too close, however, Yuji glanced behind him for the pair's approval, squinting at the servant's poorly hidden whispers to their master from behind their hand. Whether they were saying something good or bad, he couldn't tell and that made him all the more agitated.
He waited for the demon to gesture for him to continue.
“As I said, I was on my way home when—”
The snow gave way under Yuji’s feet the moment he passed under the gate, no longer an obstacle to wade through. Its absence sent Yuji fumbling forward, catching himself before coming face-first with the stone path he had originally taken. As he raised his head, all Yuji could believe was that the entire world had shifted around him, ushering in a warm breeze that matched the spring season he’d sorely missed.
What the…?
It was just snowing a second ago, wasn’t it?
Not a hint of frost clung to the cherry blossoms above bobbing in the wind above his head. The sun, now clearly visible in the sky, was en route to set, leaving Yuji disoriented as he spun around twice over to assure himself that what he was seeing— feeling —was genuine.
Wait—
Yuji continued to spin until he was facing the direction he had just come from. Once balance was restored and his newfound dizziness had dissipated, he stepped forward through the torii gate, surprised but no longer caught off guard by the snow brushing over his feet. Before him were the demon and his servant, dumbfounded by the display Yuji had put on for them.
“See?” He gestured toward the general space around him, convinced of an invisible portal of some sort was responsible for this unbelievable event. “I told you. I stumbled in.”
This was, apparently, not the best move as in response to Yuji’s admittedly smug attitude, the demon stomped forward. He appeared angry, but that could just be the intimidating aura radiating off someone who was proven wrong and did not care for how Yuji pointed it out.
Whatever the truth was, the sudden charge spooked Yuji just enough to backpedal into spring, both surprised and relieved that the demon appeared to have not been able to follow him through. Or simply chose not to. Yuji should have been more worried, but the lack of sudden apparitions had led him to believe the former while he attempted to make sense of it.
The thought of this all being a vivid hallucination crossed Yuji’s mind. He quickly went through the list of foods he’d consumed that day, wondering if he ate something he shouldn’t. For all he knew, he had passed out somewhere and this was a dream! But no amount of pinching his skin would wake him up, leading him to declare it real and prompting him to poke his head through what he determined was the dividing line between his world and the one he’d haphazardly discovered. He made eye contact with the demon’s servant, sporting a sheepish grin before reeling back and gripping the sides of his head.
This was insane!
Yuji stepped back, then rushed around the outside of the torii gate to see what would happen if he crossed it through the opposing side. The teenager appeared next to the demon who had failed to follow him the previous time through, growling at Yuji the moment he came into view.
The demon squinted his eyes, composing himself as he carried on with his questions.
“How are you doing that?”
“Trade secret.” Yuji clung to the poorly cobbled explanation, hoping it would cover his own shock with playful amusement. “I think this is the part where you apologize to me.”
“Excuse me?”
“For calling me a liar. Come on, I’m waiting.”
Was he pushing it? Probably, but it was the principle of being accused without evidence that had irked him so much.
“I—” The demon pinched the bridge of his nose, vocalizing his displeasure for Yuji’s demand with a hefty sigh. His servant followed suit, offended on their master’s behalf. “I was quick to pass judgment.”
It wasn’t perfect, but that was as good as an apology he was going to get.
“However,” Yuji’s internal celebration came to a stop as the demon continued, “That does not excuse your trespassing.”
Oh.
Yeah, that’s fair.
“Well, I—It was an accident—!”
Just then, the sound of Yuji’s phone alarm blurted out from deep within his sleeve. The chirping grew louder with every passing second, forcing Yuji to scramble around to get a hold of it in order to shut it off. An embarrassed chuckle escaped his lips for the interruption, yet grateful all the same as he took a glance at the clock and cursed aloud.
“Shit! It’s late—I have to go before he finds out I haven’t made it back yet!” Yuji could already hear his grandfather’s scolding through the phone. A feat only made possible by the kind, yet noisy neighbor who lived next door to him.
“Who? The sorcerer you serve?”
“Sorcerer? What? No!” With frantic nerves sparking unwelcome anxiety through his limbs, Yuji prepared to make a break for it in the hopes that he could catch the next bus or else he’d be forced to run all the way home. “Look, we’ll have to wrap this up some other time, yeah? So—BYE!”
One of the demon’s monstrous hands had reached out to grab him, sharpened claws just barely missing the sleeve of his yukata as Yuji crouched, then lunged backward through the portal. His footwork could have been better, landing him unceremoniously on his ass when he reached the other side. At least no one was around to witness the travesty on display.
“Ow.”
Yuji pulled himself up, his hand unconsciously taking hold where the demon had almost grabbed him. He looked back at the torii gate, bracing himself for any hands out to grab him, only to let out a large sigh of relief when nothing came, and his earlier assumption still rang true.
Sorcerers? Had this all been the work of magic? Was that why the demon thought he was responsible or worked for someone who was? Yuji didn’t believe himself to be magical, at least, he was sure he’d be aware of it by now if he had powers. A certain popular movie franchise had told him he’d get a letter around eleven or twelve to attend some fancy magic school. So, when that didn’t happen, he’d accepted magic as fantasy and moved on with his life. He was already more physically capable than a normal person, so it wasn’t the worst loss of his life.
Oh, but the thought of having powers beyond his strength was such a cool concept.
As much as Yuji wanted to take credit for the portal's creation as some latent ability, he knew in his chest that wasn’t the case. As he told the demon, he’d accidentally stumbled through it. There really was nothing more to it.
“I never got that guy’s name.” Yuji mused as he began jogging to the bus stop which had been his intended destination to begin with. “And now I’m the asshole for not apologizing for trespassing… What a pain.”
Demons could curse people, especially those who have wronged them, couldn’t they?
After seeing one firsthand, Yuji wasn’t entirely sure if he’d consider himself an expert on the subject, but he knew enough to be wary of monsters as much as the next guy. He also knew that most demons were supposed to look much scarier… right? Like horns, or big monstrous animal-like forms—Sure, the four arms and the mask on half his face were intimidating when paired with the guy’s height, but he appeared more like a very large bodybuilder than the depictions of demons he’d read in manga.
Maybe he could bring an offering of food to convince the demon to spare him from beyond the veil? Most demons he’d read about ate people, which was bad. And out of the question. But cooked non-human meat might still work, right? And if things go horribly wrong, he could just bolt again!
“Yeah! I’ll do that!”
Yuji fist-bumped the air, pleased with his new plan of action. With his mood rapidly improving, such positivity would be unrivaled on the big day he had ahead of him.
“Time to make amends and then put this whole thing behind me. Oh man, I have to text Sasaki about this!”